NEW YORK — The Yankees spent the trade deadline shopping for a catcher and came away empty at the position they most wanted to fix. Days later, they made a quiet move that says as much about the future as the present.
For weeks, the Yankees have carried one of the least productive catching groups in the sport. Their pairing of Austin Wells and Ali Sánchez has given them steady defense at times but almost nothing at the plate. The front office knew it, chased an upgrade, and could not close one before the Aug. 3 cutoff.
So the club pivoted to a low-cost fallback, then turned its attention to a winter when the options should be far richer. The names already circling the Bronx suggest the front office is not done looking behind the plate. Not close.
The stopgap arrived first. It is not the answer, and the Yankees are not pretending it is.
The Yankees sign Mitch Garver for depth, not a fix
The Yankees signed veteran catcher Mitch Garver to a minor league contract Friday, sending the 35-year-old to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. It is a depth move, a low-risk flier on a right-handed hitter who has produced in the past and could be recalled if injuries strike.
Manager Aaron Boone framed the signing as insurance rather than a lineup change. He pointed to Garver’s track record and the thin margin a contender carries at a demanding position.
“He’s got a ton of experience, and he’s a guy that’s had a lot of success in the league,” Boone said. “We’re trying to add to our depth and protection. We’ll get him into our system and see where we can help him, see what he has. You never know.”
The numbers show why the Yankees wanted the reinforcement. Their catchers rank tied for 27th in the majors in batting average at .191 and 28th in OPS at .567. Garver, released by the Mariners earlier in the week, brings his own recent struggles, a .175/.302/.294 line with four home runs in 50 games, plus framing that graded in the 17th percentile this season, according to Baseball Savant.
The Yankees are betting on what he once was. Garver won a Silver Slugger with the Twins in 2019 and posted a 138 OPS-plus in 87 games with the Rangers in 2023. Catching coordinator Tanner Swanson, who worked with Garver in Minnesota, believes there is something left to unlock.
“We think there’s probably some things we can tap into to improve the defense in the short runway that we have here, and eventually he’ll make his way to Scranton and see if he has anything left offensively,” Swanson said. “We think he does. That’s why we acquired him.”
The bigger prize could be a free agent named Ryan Jeffers
The move that matters most is still months away. The Yankees are widely expected to make catcher a priority in the offseason, and the most attainable impact bat may be Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers, who can reach free agency after this season.
Jeffers, 29, has been in the middle of a career year for the Twins before a broken hamate bone in his hand interrupted it. Through 53 games, the right-handed hitter was batting .283 with an .887 OPS and 10 home runs, per Baseball-Reference, production that ranked among the best at the position in the sport. A Scott Boras client, he is positioned to chase his first long-term contract this winter.
The price is the open question. Reporting from The Athletic indicates a qualifying offer to Jeffers would pay roughly $24 million for 2027 if he accepted it, a figure that underscores how his market has climbed. The Twins, sitting below .500 and eyeing the future, have signaled a willingness to move on, which could open a trade window before he ever reaches the open market.
The fit is clean. Jeffers would give New York a catcher who hits right-handed, draws walks and provides average defense, exactly the two-way profile its current group lacks. The complication is a looming labor fight, with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire and a possible lockout clouding the offseason calendar for every team.
Hunter Goodman looms as the Yankees’ trade alternative
If free agency proves complicated, the Yankees have a trade target in mind. Colorado’s Hunter Goodman has been floated as a potential offseason fit, with CBS Sports naming the Yankees among his possible landing spots alongside the Giants and White Sox.
Goodman would be a different kind of addition, a controllable power bat rather than a pending free agent. The two-time All-Star has been one of the few bright spots for a rebuilding Rockies club, hitting .254 with 33 home runs and 66 RBIs in 105 games this season, after a 31-homer, 91-RBI, .278 campaign over 144 games in 2025. He is under team control through 2029.
The Yankees know the name well. They were among the teams linked to Goodman before the deadline, only for Colorado to hold on to its catcher. With the Rockies buried in the standings, a winter reset could put him back on the market at his highest value, and the Yankees are expected to check in.
Why the catcher question defines the Yankees’ winter
The stakes reach beyond depth. The Yankees deadline brought first baseman Luis García Jr. from the Nationals and outfielder Heliot Ramos from the Giants, moves that addressed other needs and pushed the roster toward a postseason run. Catcher was the hole they could not patch, and it lingers.
Payroll is not the obstacle. The Yankees have a wave of contracts coming off the books after 2026, from Trent Grisham to Jazz Chisholm Jr. to Paul Goldschmidt and several relievers, which clears room to pursue an established catcher while keeping key pieces. The flexibility is there if the club wants to spend it behind the plate.
For now, the immediate picture holds. The Yankees entered the weekend at 65-51, second in the AL East and four games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, while holding a wild-card spot just ahead of the Red Sox. Wells remains the everyday catcher, with Garver added as cover in Scranton.
The bigger swing waits for the winter. The Yankees have their stopgap in place and their targets identified, a free agent in Jeffers and a trade option in Goodman. The deadline came and went without the catcher they wanted. The offseason is where they intend to finally get one.
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