With Jose Trevino out for the season, here are 3 catchers who should be on the New York Yankees' radar moving toward the trade deadline.
It's been a pretty rough season for the New York Yankees, which surely isn't causing much crying for fans of other teams. The are above .500, at 52-47 after a win Saturday, but they entered the day in last place in the AL East.
A struggling offense can't afford to lose anyone at this point. But now, catcher Jose Trevino will miss the rest of the season once he undergoes surgery to fix a right wrist issue he's apparently been dealing with since the spring.
Trevino was an All-Star in 2022. He posted a .248/.283/.388 slash-line at the plate, with 11 home runs and 43 RBI, as he also won a Gold Glove Award for his work behind the plate. That slash-line fell to .210/.257/.312 this year, for more than a 100-point drop in his OPS, perhaps due to the lingering wrist issue.
The Yankees have gotten the fifth-worst OPS from their catchers this season as of Friday. Which is to confirm, even with Trevino struggling offensively the way he was, Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt are not going to cut it for the rest of the season if the Bronx Bombers plan to make a push to a spot in the postseason.
And at just 2.5 games back of the last AL Wild Card spot, after Saturday's win over the Kansas City Royals and pending the rest of the day's action, that kind of push is not out of the question.
Moving toward the Aug. 1 trade deadline, here are three catches the Yankees should target to replace Trevino.
Yankees rumors: 3 catcher trade targets to replace Jose Trevino
3. Yasmani Grandal, Chicago White Sox
It's hard to find a White Sox player with any perception of trade value who hasn't been bandied about in the rumor mill lately.
Grandal's days of hitting 20-plus home runs and posting a .800-plus OPS appear to be done, based on weakened hard contact metrics and a less discerning approach at the plate this year. But he is still putting up a .711 OPS (entering Saturday), with an OPS+ (96) that's near average. Based on what the Yankees have gotten offensively behind the plate this season, the 34-year-old has practically been elite.
The White Sox are among the clearest trade deadline sellers around, it's just a matter of to what extent they do a sell-off over the next week-plus. They may be willing to trade Grandal for whatever they can, at a steep discount, just to get rid of what's left of his $18.25 million salary for this year.
Even with his warts, including declining defense, Grandal makes sense for the Yankees to be interested in search of any kind of offensive boost.
2. Yan Gomes, Chicago Cubs
On the North Side of the Windy City, the Cubs also appear to be set to sell. Gomes is not one of the headliner players they could move, but with depth behind the plate (Miguel Amaya, Tucker Barnhardt) he's certain a possibility to be gone. Between he and Barnhardt, he's the better trade asset.
Gomes has a $6 million club option for 2024, so he's not quite a full-on trade deadline rental for any contending team who may have a need behind the plate and interest in him. But the Cubs are far more likely to buy that option out, for $1 million, than pick it up and bring him back for his age-37 season.
An acquiring team would acquire the same, minimal commitment for 2024, and maybe the Cubs would eat some of what's left of his $6 million for this year if it paved the way to move him.
Gomes is having a solid offensive season, with a 96 OPS+, eight home runs and a .730 OPS over 224 plate appearances (entering Saturday). So it makes sense for the Cubs to try to capitalize on that in a trade if they can and/or as much as they can.
1. Elias Diaz, Colorado Rockies
Diaz earned his first career All-Star selection this year and followed that with a clutch home run to take home MVP of the game. He's having a fine season offensively (.268/.321/.426 slash-line, 10 home runs, 46 RBI going into Saturday) while throwing out an above-league average 27 percent of base stealers thus far.
Diaz has one year left on his contract. And as R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports nicely pointed out the Rockies "often operate in a reality of their own creation." It's a world where they see themselves as a good team, or close to being a good team, without the results or the signs to back up the moves they make.
Actual reality says the Rockies should be a full-on trade deadline seller, with a 39-59 record after a win on Saturday. That reality also says Diaz is a catcher who will turn 33 in November, and thus he's a tradeable asset right now at a current peak in his value.
The circumstance isn't ideal, obviously, but the Yankees are fortunate to have several possible trade targets to replace Trevino. General manager Brian Cashman is surely already considering offers, it's just a matter of finding a fit and getting a deal done.