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DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Yankees finally have their catching situation set for the beginning of the regular season.
After trading for Ben Rortvedt earlier this spring, only to not see him play in a Grapefruit League game because of an oblique injury, the Yankees landed Jose Trevino from the Rangers on Saturday night, acquiring the catcher who will break camp with the team and back up Kyle Higashioka.
“He can really catch,” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning. “Especially with Ben being down for a little bit, to be able to get a premium defensive catcher, we’re really excited about that. I think it was something we probably needed to do. Just talking to him last night, I know how excited he is to get here and looking forward to him getting in the mix and getting entrenched in our culture and with our pitchers.”
Trevino, 29, is expected to arrive by Sunday night, two days before the Yankees head north. Boone described him as an “elite [pitch] framer,” and the advanced metrics back that up. Last season, Trevino’s eight catcher framing runs — a stat that measures pitch framing value — tied for third among all catchers, according to Baseball Savant.
“Higgy, Ben and Trevino, I feel like we got three premium defensive catchers on our 40-man roster,” Boone said.
Before the trade, the Yankees were facing the prospect of choosing from Rob Brantly, David Freitas and Max McDowell to be their backup catcher, though none were on the 40-man roster.
Boone was noncommittal on what the Yankees would do once Rortvedt is healthy — he and Trevino both have minor league options remaining — but said Trevino is “absolutely a candidate” to stick in the big leagues all season.
With the trade, the Yankees’ ex-Ranger contingent grew again, with Trevino joining Joey Gallo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa in The Bronx.
“Trevy’s someone that’s going to bring a lot of energy,” Kiner-Falefa said. “He’s a great defensive catcher. He plays the game the right way. He works with pitchers really well. And he’s a winner. It’s cool, because me, Joey and Trevy were kind of the leaders in a way back there.”
Kiner-Falefa spoke with Trevino after the trade went down and said he told him, “It’s nice to wake up every day trying to chase a ring.”
As for Albert Abreu, the reliever the Yankees sent to the Rangers along with minor league left-hander Robert Ahlstrom, Boone said it was “tough to see Albert go.”
“I think the Rangers got a pitcher that’s going to really help them,” Boone said. “As I told him this morning, I’m so proud of where he’s come in the last 12 months. I remember sending him down last spring and him not even being that much on the radar and just shoving his way into the conversation by performance, his professionalism, how he handled good and adversity.”
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