Yankees face key hurdle in Hunter Goodman trade

The New York Yankees will get Aaron Judge and Max Fried back sooner rather than later, but they still need to make some moves.

Adding a right-handed catcher to the mix should be GM Brian Cashman's No. 1 priority, and while there's no shortage of potential options, Hunter Goodman's recent surge makes him the most enticing one.

The Colorado Rockies star has slugged 30 home runs this season, including a three-homer performance earlier this week. However, that has also made the Rockies set a premium asking price for their 26-year-old star. According to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees might not want to meet their aspirations.

Rockies may want too much for Hunter Goodman

"For Goodman, the Rockies wouldn’t want three Class-A lottery picks. They would want multiple high-end prospects who could help them reach 90 wins faster than Goodman could alone," Rosenthal wrote. "The Yankees, who also need to address their bullpen and add more than one player to their offense, would hesitate to meet such a price. Other clubs would, too."

Of course, the Rockies' stance makes perfect sense. While they won't make the playoffs this season and may not be competitive for a while, Goodman still has three more years of team control. The former fourth-round pick has slashed .250/.302/.504 with a .806 OPS, elite numbers for a catcher.

Even so, with the Yankees also looking for help for their bullpen, they will most likely pivot to other options for their catcher needs, with Ryan Jeffers, Adley Rutschman and Shea Langeliers as other potential targets, per Rosenthal.