Finding a young player who can weather the storm that comes with playing behind the plate is a tall task for professional scouts, as it takes a strong athlete to spend a full season calling games and taking
hits while also trying to provide as much offensive value as possible. Elite catchers are as valuable as players come in professional baseball. Just ask the cohort of voters who cast their MVP ballot for Cal Raleigh on the basis that he spent 121 games providing elite defensive value behind the dish while also cranking 60 homers.
Developing catchers within the minor league system is one area in which the Yankees have excelled as an organization over the past few years, as they’ve molded several young backstops into enticing prospects and flipped most of them to other teams for big-league contributors. Agustín Ramírez was the headliner of the package that went to Miami in exchange for Jazz Chisholm Jr, and Ramírez is now one of the Marlins’ main options at catcher when he isn’t filling the DH role. Carlos Narváez starts behind the plate for the Red Sox, who acquired him from the Yankees in exchange for the breakout pitching prospect Elmer Rodriguez. When the Yankees landed David Bednar from the Pirates at the deadline, the main piece of the return was Rafael Flores, who had been hitting well at Double-A and Triple-A for the Yankees in the first half of the season.
The organization seems happy with Austin Wells as the big-league starter behind the plate, and with Ben Rice’s ability to take over duties on occasion and J.C. Escarra lurking on the bench or in Triple-A, so it’s likely they’ll try to continue this churning process of trading the catchers they develop to teams in need. With so many backstops having departed the organization in recent years, they’re left with some under-the-radar names who will look to develop further in 2026 and beyond.
If Escarra starts the season with the big-league club, the Triple-A catchers project to be Ali Sanchez, Payton Henry, and Abrahan Gutierrez, all three of whom were acquired just over the past few weeks. Sanchez has 50 games on his MLB resume, most of which came with the Marlins in 2024. He has 22 hits in 120 at-bats in his career, and has never hit a home run. Henry has not appeared in an MLB game since 2022, and has just 51 at-bats in his career. Gutierrez has been a career minor-leaguer, and profiles as a defensive option above all else. None of these three will see any time in the Bronx in 2026 unless something goes wrong.
Behind them in Double-A, we have Tomas Frick and Edison Duran who have been with the organization since 2023 and 2021, respectively. Frick spent 2025 between High-A and Double-A, and held his own offensively thanks to a patient approach at the plate and an ability to draw walks. Frick is not quite on the radar of enticing prospects, but the Yankees have done a fine job developing him since drafting him in the 15th round in 2023 and he looks like he’ll have a decent career in the minor leagues. Duran was signed as an amateur free agent in 2021, and has made little impact during his professional career.
Arguably the most notable catching prospects in the system are Engelth Urena and Manuel Palencia in High-A, which says more about the state of the position than it does about either player. Urena made himself known as a potential power bat in need of refinement by posting gaudy numbers in the Complex league in 2024, but couldn’t make the success translate to the stateside levels of professional competition last season. His power numbers have been noteworthy and he’s posted impressive walk-to-strikeout rates across the board, but his hit tool will have to make serious strides if he wants to take the next step.
Palencia is another glove-over-hit type, and he got additional reps in the Arizona Fall League this year after missing some of the regular season with an injury. He has never been an offensive prospect outside of the Complex league, and made minimal impact with the bat in High-A and Double-A in 2025. Those numbers carried over to the AFL, where he went 10-for-46 with one home run. His path to sustaining a professional career most likely is with the glove.
Ediel Rivera projects to open the season as the starting catcher in Low-A. He made his stateside debut in 2025 in 18 games as a Tampa Tarpon, and produced very little. He is not currently on the prospect radar. None of the players on MLB Pipeline’s most recent update to the Yankees Top 30 prospects are catchers. It seems that they have finally tapped their resources by trading away so many catching prospects and left the position looking barren heading into the 2026 season. The organization will have to work their magic again if we want to see any noteworthy catching prospects this spring.
