Yankees Have Shown Past Interest In Hunter Goodman

The Yankees are looking for catching help and Hunter Goodman of the Rockies is a speculative trade candidate. Jorge Castillo of ESPN reports that the Yankees have called the Rockies about Goodman, although not recently.

It’s unclear exactly when this check-in took place but it’s notable that the two sides had a talk about Goodman at some point. It’s no secret that the Yanks want to make a change behind the plate. General Brian Cashman admitted last week that the catching group had become a concerning part of the roster. Austin Wells is having a dismal season, with a .155/.247/.258 line so far. Ali Sánchez and J.C. Escarra have also struggled.

The Yanks have been frequently connected to Ryan Jeffers of the Twins. He is a good hitter and an impending free agent. It’s unclear if the Twins will move him, however, as they are right in the thick of the playoff race. They also have Victor Caratini, so it’s possible they could trade Jeffers even while mostly operating as buyers, but they also might just keep both for the stretch run and then make Jeffers a qualifying offer at season’s end. If the Jeffers pursuit doesn’t work out, the Yanks could call Colorado again.

Goodman would be more costly for the Yankees to acquire. While Jeffers is an impending free agent making $6.7MM, Goodman still hasn’t qualified for arbitration and is under club control for three seasons beyond this one. But are strong at the plate. Goodman strikes out a whole lot but hit 31 long balls last year and is already up to 27 this season. His 32.2% strikeout rate this year is a big jump from last year’s 26.3% clip, but he has also upped his walk rate from 5.7% to 8.5% while adding more power. His wRC+ was 118 last year and is at that same number this year.

With a Colorado player, it’s fair to wonder if the offense is a product of hitter-friendly Coors Field, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here as he’s actually been better away from elevation. Dating back to the start of last season, he has 22 home runs, a .276/.335/.497 line and 101 wRC+ at home compared to 36 home runs, a .262/.312/.557 line and 134 wRC+ on the road. Defensively, he’s considered around league average.

The whole package is very enticing, when considering both his abilities and his affordable window of club control. That means the Rockies can set a high asking price and it’s not even clear if they are willing to make a move.

Historically, the Rockies have generally been loath to trade their players at peak value. They have often signed trade candidates to extensions, with Daniel Bard and C.J. Cron being a couple of examples from a few years back. Trevor Story and Jon Gray were simply held and allowed to reach free agency. Story netted the club a draft pick by rejecting a qualifying offer but Gray didn’t even get the QO.

That was under a different front office. The club and general manager Bill Schmidt parted ways after last season. Paul DePodesta was hired to run the front office as president of baseball operations. This will be his first deadline running the Rockies.

“There would be certain guys that would be really, really hard for us to move. I think that’s probably true of any team,” DePodesta said in June, when asked if anyone on the roster was untouchable. “There are guys that we feel are hopefully foundational players for us going forward. At the same time, we need to be opportunistic. We are not where we want to be. So, if there are opportunities for us to get better, certainly both in the short-term and the long-term, I think we need to look at that. I think it’s our responsibility to do that. But there are a lot of guys that we’re not actively shopping.”

While Goodman’s attributes make him appealing to the Yankees, he is also valuable to the Rockies. But Colorado has been one of the worst teams in baseball for a few years now and it’s unclear how long it will take them to be competitive again. Baseball America recently ranked their farm 28th in the majors, so it doesn’t appear as though an amazing wave of young talent is about to take over the roster.

The Rockies could keep Goodman through 2029 but they might not be competitive for much or any of that time frame. Pulling the trigger on a trade would be one of their best avenues to restocking that farm with some new names.

For the Yankees, trading for a catcher midseason can be challenging, as the new backstop has to learn an entirely new pitching staff on the fly. But the Yanks seem likely to do it regardless, given how poor Wells is playing. They might have the luxury of using the designated hitter spot, since Giancarlo Stanton is injured and has an uncertain timeline. Goodman is a strong enough hitter that he could slot into the DH role as he gets up to speed with the pitchers.

Currently, Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt are sharing first base and DH duties. Goldschmidt was having a good season but his bat went ice cold in July, so perhaps he could slide from an everyday gig into a short-side platoon role. Once Goodman gets more comfortable with the arms on the roster, he could gradually spend more time behind the plate.

If the Yanks can’t get Jeffers or Goodman, some other guys who could be available include Shea Langeliers, Jonah Heim, Francisco Alvarez, Joey Bart, Tyler Stephenson and old friend Kyle Higashioka.