Aaron Boone hypes up forgotten Yankees trade piece's value just before demotion

JC Escarra has been a wonderful story for Aaron Boone's New York Yankees this season. He's risen from obscurity (and a first base role in the Orioles' mid-minors) to become a capable backup catcher on the game's biggest stage. He's lasted the whole season on the active roster and been a positive-WAR presence (by an inch). He's caught all four of the Yankees' 1-0 wins this season, an inexplicable statistical quirk that speaks to his calm under pressure.

He also ... hasn't looked like anything more than a capable backup catcher with a little bit of surprising thunder in his bat. And that's fine! But it's certainly mysterious that Boone is hyping him up as something more 36 hours before the trade deadline, after mixing in additional Ben Rice reps behind the dish in recent weeks and further diminishing Escarra's role.

According to Boone's latest interview, the Yankees manager apparently believes that Escarra has the chops to hold down an everyday catching role somewhere, both offensively and defensively. That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the Padres' stated desire to get an MLB catcher and/or left fielder in exchange for Dylan Cease or Robert Suárez, now would it?

No way. Simply wouldn't. That would be unbecoming of Boone. If you have any follow-up questions on the matter, though, he'll surely take them.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone hypes up catcher JC Escarra at an ironic trade deadline time

As foolish as it would seem for the Yankees to go long-term without a true backup catcher and rely on Rice to fill the void, that's exactly what they chose to do on Wednesday, keeping Oswald Peraza around a little longer and demoting Escarra to usher in Austin Slater's arrival. An Escarra trade would be another possible long-term solution to the incoming conundrum of "how to add an outfielder without DFA'ing Amed Rosario". At this moment, the Yankees seem likely to hang on to Peraza until Judge returns and keep the status quo otherwise.

Now, the question is, will Escarra survive that roster move in pinstripes, or will he be moved tomorrow?

If there's one area of the Yankees' roster where opposing teams can trust their trade tree, it's catcher; the Yankees have provided a pair of starting catchers to needy teams within the past year by sending Agustin Ramirez to the Marlins and Carlos Narvaez to the Red Sox.

If the Padres aren't shooting unreasonably high in their search — eg, Adley Rutschman of the Orioles — then there's no reason Escarra wouldn't be intriguing to them. The only questions remaining: Would he be enough? And could the Yankees manage being short-handed without him?