Yankees predicted to trade for AL Central catcher they seem to really want

The New York Yankees are one of a few teams expected to be seriously in pursuit of a catcher at this year's MLB trade deadline.

While the Yankees have Austin Wells as an option, they ideally need a better hitter and someone to be a right-handed hitter to platoon with the lefty-hitting Wells.

Fortunately, there's one catcher expected to be available for trade from the AL Central Minnesota Twins who makes a ton of sense for the Yankees. Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer is predicting the Yankees trade for this catcher, Ryan Jeffers, in what might be the tamest-possible trade deadline prediction one could make this year.

Yankees predicted to trade for heavily-linked Ryan Jeffers

"New York Yankees: 47-31): They'll get Ryan Jeffers from the Twins," Rymer writes. "There isn't much doubt that the Yankees want Jeffers... Somebody like Ben Hess, the Yankees' No. 5 prospect, would be more in line with Jeffers' trade value."

Jeffers to the Yankees might be the most obvious player-team fit of any potential move at this year's MLB trade deadline.

The Twins are willing to listen to offers on Jeffers, and the Yankees really could use the star slugging catcher to pair with Wells this season.

MORE: Yankees want to trade for Twins’ Ryan Jeffers by MLB deadline

Ben Hess wouldn't be a small price to pay to Jeffers, but if the Twins catcher can prove he's healthy after a bit of a lengthy stint on the injured list, he'd be an ideal pickup for New York's offense.

This season, in just 122 at-bats, Jeffers managed to put up 1.8 bWAR thanks to hitting seven homers, posting a .295 batting average, and having an elite .949 OPS to go with solid defense as well.

Jeffers is the perfect trade target for the Yankees this summer, and Rymer's prediction of the Yankees adding him in a deal might be about as tame a prediction as one could make for the 2026 MLB trade deadline, as this fit has been talked about often this year.

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