Yankees' ideal right-handed catcher just hit market after White Sox roster shuffle

The New York Yankees' offseason could end with any number of marginal moves. The central thesis? Get me a righty bat. The possible avenues to attain this goal? Anything from a righty catcher to pair with Austin Wells to a part-time outfielder who'll make more sense on the roster than Jasson Domínguez.

My two cents? Might be worth prioritizing a bullpen arm over building a bench based on perfect handedness, but they don't pay me. They don't pay me any cents.

Recently, I've been leaning Paul Goldschmidt based on clubhouse potency and powerful numbers against lefties, though Randal Grichuk makes a compelling case as well in a post-Austin Hays world. The "righty catcher" option has lurked at the bottom of my power rankings, mostly because the only righty catchers available have been low-upside names with a distinct lack of appeal. The positional need is real, but not if it forces me to choose Alex Jackson or Gary Sánchez over Goldy.

That said ... an actual upside option hit the market on Sunday night, as the Chicago White Sox cleared room for Jordan Hicks and David Sandlin. Drew Romo, a former Top-100 prospect with the Rockies who's still just 24 years old, couldn't even make it through a full offseason with Chicago. He's too talented for that kind of thing; even if he never hits it, there's an actual ceiling here.

It doesn't hurt that he was a childhood Yankee fan (ignore that whole "Astros fan" thing, they were in the NL at the time).

Yankees should target ex-White Sox, Rockies top prospect Drew Romo as right-handed catcher

Romo hasn't hit his ceiling yet in the minors. He hasn't even approached it. There's a reason the Rockies made him available, and the White Sox deemed him expendable. But, in terms of the Yankees' on-the-table options, he's by far the most interesting, as well as the only one who likely still has a chance to evolve.

Romo peaked at No. 80 in Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects prior to the 2023 season, a year in which he hit 13 homers with a .762 OPS behind the dish, split between Double-A and four games in Albuquerque. 2024 was his professional peak, though it was spent in the high altitude of the Pacific Coast League; Romo cut through the thin air repeatedly to the tune of a .297 average and .838 OPS.

His MLB career has been devoid of anything threatening to date, and Hunter Goodman's All-Star/Silver Slugger season officially made him expendable this offseason. When even the Rockies don't see it fit to carry you as a backup catching wild card, you know your reputation has hit a lull.

The White Sox are set behind the plate in multiple ways, with Edgar Quero and Kyle Teel already fighting for air. The Yankees? They wish they had that luxury. Preempting the waiver wire process with a small Romo trade might be their best shot to evolve the final spot on their active roster.