Brian Cashman fully outed himself in response to Yankees' horrible catching situation

The catcher position has been the New York Yankees' major offensive weaknesses all season long. There's no hiding from the numbers. Entering Tuesday, Yankees catchers ranked third-worst in MLB in wRC+ (59), batting average (.188), and OPS (.564). Hard to believe thee are two more duos worse than that.

Austin Wells has been the poster boy of New York's catcher blues. Wells' defense has been solid, and he's been heating up at the plate since the second week of July, but he's been awful overall this season with a bat in his hand: .167/.269/.290, 59 wRC+ in 78 games.

New York's other two catchers, J.C. Escarra and Ali Sánchez, haven't helped move the needle amid Wells' horrible campaign. Sánchez has been decent enough, albeit in a small sample size of games. Either way, he's not a difference maker. Escarra has been really bad.

The Yankees didn't address their catcher problem at the trade deadline

Back on June 9, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke honestly about his team's catching woes. "It's an issue, clearly," Cashman told the press. Little did Yankees fans know at the time that Cashman wouldn't end up doing anything about that clear issue once the trade deadline rolled around.

Plenty of MLB observers expected Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers to land with the Yankees at the deadline. It didn't happen. Then there was Baltimore Orioles All-Star backstop Adley Rutschman, whom the Yankees reportedly pursued. Rutschman ended up a Red Sox (yikes!), as Boston was willing to pay a steep prospect price for the former No. 1 overall pick. Cashman, meanwhile, revealed that he wasn't willing to meet Baltimore's demands for Rutschman.

When the dust had settled on trade deadline day, and the Yankees were left without an upgrade at catcher, Cashman hilariously/maddeningly provided a quote that went directly against his June 9 declaration. "We do believe we have quality catching," Cashman pronounced on Aug. 3.

Further head-scratching quotes followed from Cashman on the day, leading to plenty of familiar frustration from Yankees supporters. One can rest assured that Cashman, along with Yankees skipper Aaron Boone, will be reminding the media of Wells' defense and/or current hot streak over the next few days. Whatever lessens the blow of a seriously underwhelming transaction cycle.

Lack of offensive production at catcher is bound to doom the Yankees in the postseason

Wells can frame the heck out of every pitch from now until the end of the year, but if his bat doesn't stay warm, the Yankees and their injury-decimated offense probably won't be good enough to advance in the playoffs.

It might sound ridiculous to pin things on Wells here, but the point is that the Yankees need to squeeze every ounce of production out of their lineup moving forward. It's an arduous project that Wells is unlikely to help with much. It looks like the Red Sox were willing to overpay for Rutschman because they believe they can reach the World Series this season. Maybe Cashman simply feels differently about his team.

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