Yankees fans should beware of right-handed catching market ahead of trade deadline

The New York Yankees' trade deadline needs are clear. Bullpen help, a right-handed-hitting catcher, and perhaps a new third baseman all could and should be on the docket for Brian Cashman come trade season. The most heavily discussed of the needs among fans on social media has been the various options that could be available around the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Austin Wells has been horrendous at the plate with a .180/.290/.278 line through May 30, so the fervor fans feel for an upgrade is understandable. The time for searching for silver linings in his performance is long gone. Some of the solutions fans have proposed are not realistic, though.

For example, during Saturday night's broadcast against the Athletics, Michael Kay mentioned the possibility of JC Escarra becoming a switch hitter. Yeah ... no thanks.

As for external options, the Baltimore Orioles aren't trading switch-hitting Adley Rutschman to the Yankees. As things currently stand, they're only three games out of the final AL wild card spot. Even if they fall off as the season goes on, they still have another year of control on Rutschman, and with moves over the offseason like signing Pete Alonso, they're not embracing a total teardown yet.

And that brings about two key points. One, the MLB as a whole, and especially the American League, has a glut of teams hovering around the periphery of the race. The longer it takes for the herd to thin, the less likely teams will be to sell at the deadline.

Second, is that catcher is a weak offensive position overall. It's been that way since the dawn of time. The physical toll makes it hard for these players to hit like their non-catcher counterparts, and often the ones who are good hitters usually bring subpar defense along with them. Finding a solid two-way catcher isn't easy, and those who already exist are likely already on contending teams' rosters.

Yankees' best option to fix catching situation is a veteran platoon partner for Austin Wells

There are two likely top options available at the deadline: Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers and Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman. Both will be expensive, and both have some flaws.

Jeffers is a free-agent-to-be and was putting up career-best numbers, hitting .295/.408/.541 with seven homers before breaking the hamate bone in his hand in mid-May. His recovery timeline should have him back in action come July, but hamate bone injuries can sap a player's production for a long time even after they're cleared to return.

Goodman will be extremely expensive. He's only 26, enters arbitration for the first time next season, and doesn't hit free agency until after the 2029 season. He also has some red flags. While not as extreme as some, his home-road splits are pretty drastic for his career. He's posted an .829 OPS at Coors Field and a .728 mark away from the mile-high altitude. He's reversed his splits so far this season, but that's a relatively small sample compared to his career.

In addition to the Coors Field factor, Goodman has struck out 34.9% of the time this season, and owns a 28.8% career K-rate. He doesn't walk often and doesn't make a lot of contact. If he's not hitting for power, he's not going to produce very much.

With all that said, either of these two potential trade candidates will be expensive, and paying top of the market prices hasn't been Brian Cashman's recent M.O. It's unlikely he changes course with the other needs he has to fill.

For as bad as Wells has been, he's actually been decent against right-handed pitching. Against righties, he's posted a 97 wRC. Against southpaws, his wRC+ craters to a -3 mark.

So a cheap way to upgrade would be to simply find a veteran who can mash lefties. That means guys like Eric Haase, former Yankee Kyle Higashioka, and others in their tier who have had success against lefties are the best options given what the Yankees are likely to do.

That might not be eye-catching. But if you can get a veteran who can hit around a league-average mark against lefties to work alongside Wells as he hits at roughly a league-average clip against righties, you've effectively solved the position. You can then save your more premium assets for bigger fish, like a few new high-leverage relievers. Fans might not like it, but it does feel like a Cashman-approved solution that could just work.

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