00:00It's a drive by Derry Duffy, Charles Chisholm goes deep.
00:09Today we're starting a series on breaking down each position for the Yankees.
00:14We'll run it over the coming days.
00:16It's also, please buy a newspaper, the New York Post, go to nypost.com.
00:22The series is going to run over the next week.
00:24And we started behind the plate at catcher.
00:27And you've got to just ask, the number one question to ask about the number two position on the field,
00:33if you're scoring at home, number two, is who is Austin Wells?
00:37If you watch the first half of this season, he was one of the worst offensive players in the major
00:42leagues.
00:42He hit 155.
00:43He had a 42 OPS plus.
00:45It was 220 plate appearances.
00:47It was just very, very bad.
00:50In the second half, I mean, he only hit 229.
00:52But key number, 351 on base percentage.
00:55His slugging percentage went up.
00:57120 OPS plus and 168 plate appearances.
01:00He was 5 for 17 with four walks.
01:03Him and Ben Rice were the most consistent Yankee hitters in their very brief playoffs.
01:08Don't ignore.
01:0914.3% walk percentage in the second half.
01:14It was about 12th best in the major leagues for guys who batted as often as Wells.
01:19When he walks and hits in good counts, he becomes a very good major league hitter.
01:25And if you combine the fact that he also does what the Yankees like best.
01:31He receives the ball well.
01:32He steals strikes.
01:33He's an expert framer.
01:35He is a strong game caller, according to Yankee people.
01:39And being around the Yankees, you can tell the pitchers like pitching to Austin Wells.
01:44That player, the second half player, the postseason player, the player we've seen bits and pieces of before,
01:50feels like a guy who should be a 20 homer.
01:53Low 700 OPS guy.
01:55You have all of that.
01:56He's arbitration eligible for the first time this offseason.
01:59MLB trade rumors had him coming in at about $2.5 million or so.
02:05That player is as good to me as Adley Rutschman.
02:09He's certainly in that Venn diagram.
02:11And the Yankees almost gave up a ton of stuff for Adley Rutschman.
02:14So it's a top 10 catcher in the major leagues.
02:18So I suspect that this is not a position the Yankees are going to explore for a number one catching
02:25type.
02:25Having said that, I think you've got to make a phone call to the Arizona Diamondbacks and at least be
02:31told no on Gabriel Moreno.
02:33I think you'll be told no.
02:35He's got two years of control left.
02:37I think he's the best two-way catcher in the sport.
02:40Is Arizona at a moment where they're ready to deal out of him into multiple good prospects moving forward
02:47to try to rebuild in some way again to go after the Dodgers in the NL West?
02:54I would make the phone call.
02:57Milwaukee's William Contreras, he's owed $15.5 million next year.
03:02It's his final year at club control.
03:04He's also a very good all-around player.
03:07And I only bring him up because it's the kind of player.
03:10$15.5 million is usually a lot for the Brewers.
03:13He's entering his walk year.
03:15When Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burns were in a very, very similar situation,
03:21they went ahead and traded that player.
03:23They're always thinking big picture.
03:25Can we get two players with 12 combined years of control over one player with a little left?
03:31You know, they did trade for Bo Naylor at the trade deadline, which was an interesting move.
03:36It felt like getting a catcher for the future.
03:39I think it would be very hard for them to move their catcher.
03:42But again, is it a phone call you have to make?
03:46Shea Langelaire's, the A's, he tore his meniscus late in the year, so that's worrisome.
03:52But do you make a call to the A's?
03:53Hunter Goodman, the Rockies, there was a lot of talk around him at the trade deadline.
03:58He's a big power guy.
03:59I, the metrics like him, but most people I talk to do not like him as a catcher.
04:05And it would cost a lot in prospects and ultimately probably some money down the line.
04:11And that's why I also think, I think the name that's going to come up a lot,
04:14it came up a lot before the trade deadline was Ryan Jeffers.
04:16I think there's a very, very good chance the Twins put the qualifying offer on Jeffers,
04:21which is $23.15 million.
04:24If they do, there's draft pick compensation if he decides to turn down the qualifying offer and leave.
04:31And I just don't see the Yankees investing that kind of money and draft pick compensation for it.
04:36So I think they have to think about probably a much better co-pilot than they had this year for
04:42Wells.
04:42In case Wells isn't the guy I said, you've got to get somebody who you're comfortable starting a lot of
04:47games
04:48and at least closer to half the games next year maybe to get the best out of Wells.
04:53I thought the Yankees made a big mistake this year going with the double left-hand catching thing again
04:58with J.C. Esquera being the backup to Wells.
05:01Esquera didn't work out.
05:03He should, again, if he's not included in a trade someplace,
05:06he should be the depth piece at AAA in case there's an injury and you need it.
05:11The Yankees ultimately turned to Ali Sanchez about midway through the season as the right-hand guy
05:17and it seemed Aaron Boone was doing everything possible not to play Ali Sanchez.
05:21So you have to do better.
05:22I'm going to mention a couple of names here.
05:24I have no idea if the Yankees are interested.
05:26I have, I, but these are, again, I'm trying to play general manager here and act like what I might
05:32do.
05:33Carson Kelly is likely to, he has an option he can opt out of.
05:38I think he's going to do it.
05:39You could argue he just had his best two seasons.
05:43He has had four straight years.
05:46The Yankees have to look for a right-hand hitting catcher who hits well against lefties.
05:49He's been up over an 800 OPS against lefty pitching the last four years.
05:53He's probably too overqualified and is going to get paid well for him to be a 70-ish game catcher
06:00for the Yankees.
06:01But I think you at least have to weigh in because he's a very good player who just did this
06:06for a big market team for the last couple of years.
06:08So I would definitely look into it just to see, again, let Carson Kelly say no, that he's looking for
06:14a starting job.
06:15And by the way, the Cubs might come back and try very hard to keep him as a free agent.
06:21I think San Diego has to be a phone call because once the Padres brought up Ethan Salas, their 20
06:29-year-old Uber prospect to catch late in the year and be part of the team, it feels like he's
06:35going to be the number one catcher moving forward.
06:38And they have Luis Camposano and Freddy Fermin.
06:42Camposano was once one of the better prospects in the sport.
06:45It wasn't working.
06:46It wasn't working.
06:47And then this year he had a very nice year, which included, again, in his age 27 season, hitting left
06:52-hand pitching well.
06:54He throws very well.
06:55He doesn't frame well according to the metrics.
06:57And the Yankees are a big framing team.
07:00They do believe they could teach it.
07:02And if they think they could teach it, do they want to go try to get a prime-age player
07:06like Camposano?
07:07I include Fermin because it's a player from when he was in Kansas City and then again at this trade
07:13deadline.
07:13The Yankees have always been interested in.
07:15The last two years, he used to hit lefty pitching.
07:18He has not the last two years.
07:21But to me, there's a Luis Torrens vibe to him.
07:24He shuts down running games.
07:25He catches extremely well.
07:27And do you believe that there's still some offense in there from the right side?
07:31It's a reminder that the Yankees did have Luis Torrens at one point.
07:35He would be kind of the ideal partner to Austin Wells.
07:39But he had an opt-out during the 2024—an opt-out from his minor league contract during the 2024 season.
07:45The Yankees still had Jose Trevino, who they thought of as a strong complement to Wells.
07:49And they ended up selling Torrens to the Mets.
07:56And Torrens has turned into an excellent—I mean, better than a backup catcher.
08:00Or he's kind of a starting-level catcher that the Mets have to make decisions if it's actually better than
08:06Francisco Alvarez.
08:07And just to finish out, I mean, Gary Sanchez is sitting out there again.
08:11He always hits lefty pitching well.
08:13The Yankees probably don't want to revisit Gary Sanchez.
08:15But he was very helpful to the team that won the most games in the majors this year, the Brewers.
08:20I think I mentioned this in a column a few days ago.
08:22I think the Yankees have to find a way to take Ryan McMahon's money, $16 million for next year,
08:29and see if they could take on a contract probably someplace else to make a palatable, maybe include a prospect
08:34or two.
08:35If so, I would give Minnesota a call.
08:36Victor Caratini's old.
08:38Between his salary for 2027 and a buyout, $10 million.
08:43He's a switch-hitting catcher.
08:44He actually doesn't hit well from the right side, which is problematic there.
08:47The guy I have an eye on, and I'm going to include his number three here, is Austin Hedges.
08:51He has signed three one-year, $4 million contracts each of the last offseason to stay with Cleveland.
08:58I wouldn't be surprised if that happened again.
09:01But he's a very strong catcher.
09:03And this year, for the first time in his career, he really hit much better, especially against lefty pitching.
09:09It was a 111 OPS+.
09:11Again, it's at least a phone call to see if he gets out in the open market.
09:15It would be a good compliment if, indeed, they stick with Austin Wells.
09:19And that would be my expectation, as the Yankees are sticking with Austin Wells as their number one catcher.
