Grading Yankees Four Bench Players for 2026 Season

The Yankees once again have a trio of catchers at their disposal but all three are lefties. That certainly is going to come back to haunt them at some point, but Boone is extremely confident in Austin Wells, Ben Rice, and Escarra. It's not like they can move their catchers around depending on who's pitching that day, so instead it'll just be a normal rotation with Escarra being the clear No. 2. Seeing as he's 30-years old with only 84 big league at-bats it's hard to give him a much higher grade.

1B Paul Goldschmidt: A-

Goldy is exactly what this team needed when they went all in on the "run it back" mindset. He's able to play first base in certain situations when Boone doesn't want Rice in the lineup. Again, the number of left-handed batters this team has is alarming. It didn't cost much to bring Goldschmidt back and the veteran is a much needed right-handed bat that always finds a way to get the job done.

IF Amed Rosario: B

Rosario, 30, receives the same grade as Escarra. Rosario has a few main benefits to being on the bench. The first is the simple fact that he's a righty while he also can play numerous positoins for the team. Things still seem to be moving around quite a bit with Anthony Volpe and Ryan McMahon, but most would argue Cabrera is going to be a better long-term asset over Rosario.

OF Randal Grichuk: D

Dominguez was right there but Boone covered it up by saying he needs regular at-bats which is only something he can get in the minors. Grichuk has done nothing notable since coming to the Yankees and was gifted a roster spot simply because he's a right-handed outfielder. It'll be interesting to see how long he's on the big league roster, but he'll be there come Opening Day which is bad enough.

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