Alexander Wilson
The New York Yankees do not need to panic at catcher, but they absolutely need to be honest about what Austin Wells is giving them right now.
Wells is hitting .165/.287/.252 with three homers, five RBIs, and 36 strikeouts over 136 plate appearances. The defense still matters, the game-calling still matters, and nobody should pretend catcher is an easy offensive position, but that slash line is brutal for a team trying to win the American League.
Dillon Dingler should be on the radar because Detroit’s season is already wobbling. The Tigers are 20-31, 11 games under .500, and sitting last in the AL Central. I have no idea what Detroit would ask for, and it probably would not be cheap, but the Yankees should be calling anyway.
Dingler checks a lot of boxes
Dingler is hitting .241/.317/.469 with nine homers, 10 doubles, 29 RBIs, and a .786 OPS over 182 plate appearances. For a catcher, that is real production, especially when the Yankees are getting so little impact from the position.
The underlying contact makes the case even stronger. Baseball Savant has Dingler with a .391 xwOBA, 90.2 mph average exit velocity, 48.8% hard-hit rate, and 13.3% barrel rate. Empty singles production does not look like that, the damage is legitimate.
The defensive profile is strong, too. Dingler has thrown out six runners, owns a .997 fielding percentage behind the plate, has allowed only one passed ball, and Savant credits him with two catcher framing runs already. His 1.88 pop time to second base is the kind of number teams notice fast.
The Yankees need to at least test the price
Wells is not useless. His .306 xwOBA suggests the bat has been a little unlucky, and his 20 walks show he is still controlling the zone better than the surface line suggests. But at some point, the Yankees need more than patience from a position that keeps swallowing rallies.
They already have a growing issue at catcher, and Dingler is the type of target who would make sense if Detroit keeps fading. Young enough to be more than a rental, productive enough to help immediately, and good enough defensively that the Yankees would not be trading offense for chaos behind the plate.
The tough part is the asking price. Detroit has no reason to give away a 27-year-old catcher with power, framing value, and club control unless the return is serious. Brian Cashman has to decide how aggressive he wants to be.
I would make the call.
The Yankees do not have to bury Wells to acknowledge the problem. They can respect the defensive work, hope the bat rebounds, and still explore a catcher who looks like a cleaner two-way answer. If the Tigers keep sinking, Dingler is exactly the kind of uncomfortable trade target the Yankees should be circling early.
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