Former Yankees catcher fans regretted trading for one second gets DFA'd by Rays

The New York Yankees traded two players for Jon Berti before the start of the 2024 season and got 25 games, a bunch of injuries, and costly postseason blunders out of him. He was non-tendered in the offseason and ended up with the Chicago Cubs. A "good riddance" situation if there ever was one.

But for a second there, Yankees fans were feeling severe regret. One of the players they traded for Berti was catcher Ben Rortvedt, who ended up with the Tampa Bay Rays (the other was minor-league outfielder John Cruz, who went to the Miami Marlins).

What was the issue? Well, it was the fact the Yankees thought they'd get better offense from the duo of Austin Wells and Jose Trevino, and that couldn't have been further from the reality. In the end, Rortvedt surged during the first half of 2024, hitting .270 with a .733 OPS, while Trevino was awful and Wells only started to get regular playing time.

It looked like the Yankees bet on the wrong veteran in Trevino to help forge their path forward. But then Rortvedt fell apart during the second half and everybody forgot about it.

He continued to unravel in 2025 as well, and it culminated with him getting designated for assignment on Wednesday morning. The Rays could no longer tolerate his .095 batting average and -11 OPS across 26 games as they surged into second place in the AL East.

Rays DFA Ben Rortvedt, the former Yankees catcher who might not be real

Rortvedt's 32 games with the Yankees featured a .118 batting average and 28 OPS+ ... so, yeah, that's more like it. That was, of course, after he missed a full year with injuries (and then another 2.5 months in 2023). That just sums up the Josh Donaldson trade for you, doesn't it?

The Rays have since moved on to Matt Thaiss, who will back up Yankee Killer Danny Jensen. Thaiss was acquired from the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday.

In the end, the Yankees' catching situation ended up just fine. Austin Wells emerged, though he still has a lot of developing to do. Trevino was traded for standout reliever Fernando Cruz, which paved the way for JC Escarra, the feel-good story of the 2025 season, to snag the backup job.

But, man, Yankees fans (yeah, we're guilty of it) invested way too much of our energy on Rortvedt only for him to do absolutely nothing.