NEW YORK — Austin Wells had just broken up a no-hit bid. Seconds later, he ran the Yankees out of their best chance in Game 1 of the American League Division Series.
With two outs in the eighth inning at Tropicana Field on Oct. 3, Wells doubled off Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen for New York’s only hit. He then ran through a stop sign at third base and was thrown out. The Rays won 1-0 and went on to sweep the series.
Wells owned the decision afterward.
“I was trying to make something happen,” Wells said.
That play captured the catcher’s season in miniature. There was effort and flashes of value, followed by a result that left the Yankees short. Now the question behind the plate carries into a winter that could define the 2027 roster.
A season split in two
Wells finished 2026 with a .186 average and a .624 OPS, both career worsts. He hit 14 homers with 32 RBIs in 122 games.
The full-season line hides a sharp turn. Wells hit .155 with a 42 OPS+ across 220 first-half plate appearances. After the break, he hit .229 with a .351 on-base percentage and a 120 OPS+ in 168 plate appearances. His 14.3% walk rate in the second half ranked among the best in the majors for hitters with similar playing time.
The early slump forced changes. In June, with Yankees catchers hitting .171 as a group, the AL’s worst mark, the club optioned backup J.C. Escarra to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and brought up right-handed-hitting Ali Sánchez.
Even so, manager Aaron Boone leaned on left-handed-hitting catchers for much of the year, a setup the Yankees have used before.
The position carries extra weight for a Yankees club built around its pitching staff. Gerrit Cole made his first postseason start since Tommy John surgery in Game 1, with Wells behind the plate.
Sherman sees Wells staying put
The New York Post’s Joel Sherman, opening a position-by-position review of the Yankees roster, expects the club to stand pat at the top of the depth chart. He also expects it to keep costs down.
“I suspect the Yankees will value Wells and money saving at catcher,” Sherman said.
Sherman ran through the starting-caliber options. He named Arizona’s Gabriel Moreno, Milwaukee’s William Contreras, the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers and Colorado’s Hunter Goodman.
Moreno has two years of control left. Contreras is owed $15.5 million in his final year of club control, and the Brewers added Bo Naylor from Cleveland at the deadline. Langeliers tore his right meniscus in July. Goodman would cost premium prospects.
Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers is the name Sherman expects to come up most. The Twins could make him a qualifying offer, which is set at $23.15 million for 2026-27. Any team signing him after a rejection would surrender draft-pick compensation.
“And I just don’t see the Yankees investing that kind of money and draft pick compensation for it,” Sherman said.
Why the backup job matters more
Sherman also pointed to Wells’ receiving and the trust of the pitching staff.
“He steals strikes. He’s an expert framer,” Sherman said.
Sherman projected that version of Wells as a 20-homer catcher with an OPS in the low .700s. He put him in the same tier as Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman, a player the Yankees once nearly paid heavily to acquire.
The weak spot was the backup. Sherman called the double left-handed pairing with Escarra a mistake and said Boone appeared reluctant to play Sánchez.
“So I think they have to think about probably a much better co-pilot than they had this year for Wells,” Sherman said.
He wants a partner who could start close to half the games. Escarra, he said, fits better as Triple-A depth.
“The Yankees have to look for a right-hand hitting catcher who hits well against lefties,” Sherman said.
Carson Kelly, who holds a mutual option with the Cubs, has topped an .800 OPS against lefties four straight years, Sherman noted. He also named San Diego’s Luis Campusano and Freddy Fermín, who could be expendable with 20-year-old Ethan Salas arriving. Campusano hits lefties and throws well but grades poorly as a framer.
Gary Sánchez helped Milwaukee post the majors’ best record. Minnesota’s Víctor Caratini is owed $10 million between his 2027 salary and buyout, and Sherman floated attaching Ryan McMahon’s $16 million in such a deal. Cleveland’s Austin Hedges posted a 111 OPS+ after three straight one-year, $4 million deals.
Sherman also recalled Luis Torrens, who left the Yankees in 2024 and became a starting-level catcher for the Mets.
The challenge numbers nobody is pricing in
In the first season of automated ball-strike challenges, Wells led AL catchers in success rate. He won 82 of his 131 challenges, a 62.6% clip.
The cost gap is just as striking. Sherman cited a projection of about $2.5 million for Wells in his first year of arbitration. A Jeffers qualifying offer would cost more than nine times that amount, before any draft-pick penalty.
If Wells regresses to his first-half form, a cheap backup leaves the Yankees exposed again.
Where things stand
Wells is arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter. He and Ben Rice were among New York’s most consistent hitters in the brief postseason, with Wells going 5-for-17 with four walks, according to Sherman.
Teams have five days after the World Series to issue qualifying offers. The Twins’ decision on Jeffers will shape the market.
Sherman expects the Yankees to keep Wells as their No. 1 catcher and spend modestly around him. Whether that proves to be a smart saving or a costly compromise depends on the partner they choose.
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