Alexander Wilson
The Yankees should know exactly why Hunter Goodman keeps popping up in trade talk. Catchers with this kind of power do not sit around quietly in July.
Goodman is headed back to the All-Star Game, and the number that jumps off the page is 27 home runs. The total already ties Larry Walker’s Rockies mark through 90 games, and 18 of them have come on the road. So yes, there is less room for the usual Coors Field eye-roll.
This would be a trade concept, not a report that the Yankees are deep into talks. The point is simpler: if Colorado actually listens, Goodman fits the type of bat the Yankees should at least test the price on.
Yankees need to separate bat from catcher fit
Goodman’s batted-ball profile is not empty noise. He is carrying a 91.5 mph average exit velocity, a 46.6 percent hard-hit rate, a .367 wOBA, a .334 xwOBA, and a 17.3 percent barrel rate. The power is loud enough to play anywhere.
The Yankees’ question is where he fits. Austin Wells still matters. Ben Rice has forced himself into a larger offensive discussion. Goodman is a catcher, but he would not be coming in as some tidy defensive solution who happens to hit bombs.
Brian Cashman has to be honest here. If the Yankees want Goodman, they would be buying middle-of-the-order thump and figuring out the catching split later. I can live with that idea if the price stays sane. I cannot live with treating him like a clean answer to every catcher problem.
Hunter Goodman gives Yankees a real deadline test
The Yankees have enough familiar deadline lanes. They can chase a rental arm, a safer bench bat, or a reliever with one obvious flaw. Goodman is different because the ceiling is what makes the conversation interesting.
He would cost real prospect capital, and he should. A 26-year-old catcher with 27 homers before the break is not a spare part. If the Yankees want to get serious about adding a bat with actual damage potential, this is the kind of name that should force a real internal debate.
More about:New York Yankees
