Yankees Interested In Tyler Stephenson

The Yankees are known to be looking for catching help and have checked in on Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson, reports Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Heyman also mentions Adley Rutschman of the Orioles and Hunter Goodman of the Rockies as backstops the Yanks have called about. Stephenson has suddenly become a very important name ahead of the trade deadline, which wasn’t the case a few weeks ago. Through June 3, Stephenson was hitting just .187/.287/.307. Though he is an impending free agent, he was an afterthought in trade chatter as more of the attention was placed on Ryan Jeffers of the Twins. Things have changed quite a bit since then. The Twins have stayed in the race and are acting as buyers. They just picked up reliever A.J. Minter in a trade with the Mets. They could still trade Jeffers as part of a buyer strategy, turning the catching duties over to Victor Caratini, but general manager Jeremy Zoll has downplayed the possibility. Elsewhere in the trade market, Shea Langeliers came off the board due to his meniscus surgery. The White Sox, Dodgers and Rangers might have increased desire to add behind the plate due to injuries to Kyle Teel, Will Smith and Danny Jansen. Stephenson, meanwhile, has completely turned his season around. From June 4 to the present, he has a .339/.400/.523 line. That hot stretch has mostly been buoyed by a very high average on balls in play but the inverse was true earlier. For the season as a whole, he now has a .251/.333/.398 line and 99 wRC+. That indicates he has been 1% below league average but that’s pretty decent production for a catcher, since players at that position usually come in about ten points below the rest of the league. His .318 BABIP is higher than league average but below his career rate. Throughout his career, Stephenson has been a bat-first catcher. His defense has never received glowing reviews but he has been productive from the batter’s box. He has a .260/.337/.422 line and 105 wRC+ in 2,273 plate appearances. He is making $6.8MM this year, which will leave roughly $2MM left to be paid out as of the deadline. That’s a flawed profile but it makes a lot of sense for the Yankees. They have Austin Wells behind the plate right now but he’s hitting .162/.260/.273. It’s been no secret that the Yanks are looking to make a change but Chris Kirschner of The Athletic wrote this week that the club still loves Wells for his defense and his work with the pitching staff. A Stephenson-Wells duo would be a logical pairing. The Yanks could lean on Wells when they want to prioritize defense and Stephenson for offense. It also helps that Wells is a lefty bat and Stephenson a righty, as the club could also maximize platoon advantages. The Reds are 51-57 and 5.5 games out of a playoff spot. They are reportedly looking to trade some of their rental players with the aim of returning to contention in 2027. That makes Stephenson a clear candidate to be moved. Rutschman and Goodman are more long-shot possibilities. Rutschman is under club control through 2027. The Orioles don’t need to move him, especially since they are only 2.5 games back of a playoff spot. There has been some speculation they might do it anyway since they have Samuel Basallo signed for the long term but both catchers are on the injured list right now. Perhaps the O’s will hold for now and give more consideration to a Rutschman trade in the offseason. Even if they are willing to make a move now, flipping Rutschman to the division-rival Yankees is probably not their ideal path. Goodman is on a non-competitive Rockies team but is controlled for three seasons beyond this one, so they could set a very high asking price and then hold him if no one meets it. It was previously reported that the Yanks had shown past interest in Goodman. Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, Imagn Images