The New York Yankees aimed to get some of the best players available on the market: Tarik Skubal and either Adley Rutschman or Hunter Goodman.
They obviously missed, settling for sluggers Heliot Ramos and Luis Garcia Jr., while leaving their rotation and catching depth chart as is.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke to reporters on Monday, including Brendan Kuty of The Athletic, and talked about why they weren’t able to get an impact catcher or Skubal.
The Tigers’ asking price was too high for Skubal. Same with Goodman. While the Yankees were talking with the Baltimore Orioles about Rutschman, they didn’t get any of their main targets, ending a disappointing deadline.
What Did New York Yankees GM Cashman Say About Rutschman?
While the Yankees did talk with Baltimore, it evidently wasn’t productive enough to get the best catcher that was traded.
“Cashman said the Yankees had ‘many conversations’ with the Orioles before they traded Rutschman,” Kuty wrote.
Eventually, their rival, the Boston Red Sox, would acquire Rutschman, leaving New York with no answer at catcher.
“Couldn’t meet the price,” Cashman said while discussing his talks with Baltimore. “There was no opportunity that existed for us that we felt good enough about to be able to push through on.”
While the Yankees couldn’t get an answer at the position, Cashman feels they are fine with their internal options.
“We grinded through the market in catching,” Cashman said. “We do believe that we have quality catching, but obviously, the offensive side, which has been a struggle for our team overall — not just at the catching position — made us certainly shop in that aisle. But it was a very thin market of opportunity.”
What the Orioles asked for is unknown at this point. However, their lack of production at the position should’ve made it more urgent for the Yankees.
Should they have paid a hefty price for Rutschman? We’ll just have to see!
What Now?
Now, the Yankees must look internally for improvement at catcher.
They will now go the rest of the season with the underperforming duo of Austin Wells and Ali Sánchez.
While they could also go back to J.C. Escarra, who is in Triple-A, the fate of the Yankees could very well rest on Wells and Sánchez.
After a breakout season in 2025 that saw Wells hit 21 home runs in 126 games with a .712 OPS, he has been brought down to earth. In 78 games, Wells has eight home runs with an unpalatable .167/.269/.290 slash line.
Sánchez is in his fifth major league season, but is already on pace to shatter his single-season games played mark. However, the results haven’t been much better than Wells’. In 30 games, Sánchez is slashing .273/.305/.364 with one home run and poor defense.
What the Yankees have is currently unsustainable. They added at positions that make them marginally better while their stars are hurt, while also not hitting on the urgent needs they still have.
Come playoff time, the Yankees may be wishing they forked a little more over for a star catcher.
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