Getty
A Yankees trade proposal would send Jasson Domínguez to another team as part of a package to acquire an All-Star catcher for New York.
As the New York Yankees recover from their American League Division Series sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays, they need to quickly start looking toward how to upgrade the roster for the 2027 season, and catcher may be the most obvious place to start. A new trade pitch aimed at the Yankees and Athletics would do just that, adding All-Star Shea Langeliers. But would the price be too high?
As a group, Yankees catchers managed only a .196/.281/.317 slash line with a .598 OPS. The catcher position produced just 15 home runs while striking out 146 times.
Langeliers, who was named to the AL All-Star team this year, put up significantly better numbers all by himself, playing 106 games at .262/.328/.474. That’s an OPS of .802 to go with 23 home runs and 109 strikeouts.
But in this new trade pitch published by a user at Baseball Trade Values on Thursday, the price tag runs to four players.
The BTV proposal sends former No. 1 Yankees prospect Jasson Domínguez, top-ranked pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez, catcher Austin Wells and minor-league pitcher Ben Hess to the Athletics for Langeliers and reliever Mark Leiter Jr.
SHEA LANGELIERS — ATHLETICS
C • Bats: Right • Throws: Right • 5-11, 205 lbs • Born Nov. 18, 1997, Portland, Ore. • MLB Debut: Aug. 16, 2022 vs. TEX
STANDARD BATTING — REGULAR SEASON
Season
Age
Team
Lg
WAR
G
PA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
SB
CS
BB
SO
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
OPS+
rOBA
Rbat+
TB
GIDP
HBP
SH
SF
IBB
Pos
Awards
2022
24
OAK
AL
0.2
40
153
142
14
31
10
1
6
22
0
0
9
53
.218
.261
.430
.691
99
.295
93
61
4
0
0
2
0
D2
2023
25
OAK
AL
0.9
135
490
448
52
92
19
4
22
63
3
2
34
143
.205
.268
.413
.681
89
.293
87
185
10
5
1
2
2
*2/DH
2024
26
OAK
AL
2.9
137
534
482
58
108
18
2
29
80
4
2
41
145
.224
.288
.450
.739
111
.321
111
217
15
5
0
6
2
*2/HD
2025
27
ATH
AL
3.5
123
523
481
73
133
32
0
31
72
7
1
36
103
.277
.325
.536
.861
132
.363
125
258
10
1
0
5
1
2D/H
2026 ★
28
ATH
AL
3.4
106
467
424
58
111
21
0
23
58
3
1
37
109
.262
.328
.474
.802
118
.353
118
201
9
5
0
1
2
2D/H
AS
5 Yrs
10.8
541
2167
1977
255
475
100
7
111
295
17
6
157
553
.240
.299
.466
.766
112
.330
109
922
48
16
1
16
7
2DH
162 Game Avg
3.2
162
649
592
76
142
30
2
33
88
5
2
47
166
.240
.299
.466
.766
112
.330
109
276
14
5
0
5
2
★ = All-Star (AS) • Pos: 2 = catcher, D = designated hitter, H = pinch hitter • Team listed as OAK (Oakland) through 2024, ATH (Athletics) from 2025 • Contract: signed through 2026, arbitration-eligible 2027, free agent 2029
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
Shea Langeliers’ Value to the New York Yankees
The BTV valuation prices Langeliers at 33.2 in median surplus value and the four-player package headed to the Athletics at 33.1, a gap of one-tenth of a point. Rodríguez (12.8) and Wells (12.4) supply most of the value headed to West Sacramento, Hess adds 7.9, while Domínguez and Leiter register zero.
Langeliers, 28, is a 5-foot-11, 205-pound right-handed catcher out of Baylor whom the Atlanta Braves drafted ninth overall in 2019. The Braves sent him to Oakland in March 2022 with Cristian Pache, Joey Estes and Ryan Cusick in the Matt Olson deal, according to Spotrac‘s contract records.
He owns a .240/.299/.466 line with 111 home runs and 8.5 WAR across five seasons, according to FanGraphs. This year he compiled a 114 wRC+ total in his 106 games.
A torn right meniscus sidelined him from July 25 until Sept. 12, when he returned as a designated hitter, according to MLB Trade Rumors‘ activation report. He earned $5.25 million this season, has arbitration years left in 2027 and 2028, and reaches free agency in 2029, according to Spotrac.
Austin Wells Trade Price for the New York Yankees
GettyShea Langeliers of the Athletics.
Wells, 27, is a 6-foot-1, 220-pound left-handed hitter whom the Yankees drafted 28th overall in 2020 out of Arizona. He hit .186 with a 74 OPS+ and 14 home runs in 122 games this season. He is arbitration-eligible in 2027 and reaches free agency in 2030.
Wells entered the All-Star break with a .504 OPS according to Bleacher Report. He did win the third-most automated ball-strike challenges among catchers, however.
GettyElmer Rodriguez of the New York Yankees .
Rodríguez, 23, went 11-8 with a 2.58 ERA and 176 strikeouts in the minors last year, then went 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in six starts as a rookie, according to MLB.com. The Boston Red Sox drafted him in the fourth round in 2021 and traded him to the Yankees for Carlos Narváez in December 2024.
Hess, 24, went 26th overall in 2024 out of Alabama and signed for $2,747,500, according to MiLB.com. He posted a 4.45 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 56 2/3 innings at Double-A Somerset this season and now sits on the 60-day injured list.
Domínguez, a 23-year-old switch-hitter from the Dominican Republic, hit .225 with six homers in 57 games and owns a .698 career OPS. Leiter, 35, posted a 4.28 ERA with four saves before hip surgery and is projected back Feb. 1, according to RotoWire.
Langeliers’ .802 OPS tops Wells’ .624 by 178 points. FanGraphs put Langeliers’ defensive component at minus 1.3.
New York has the pitching to spend. Bleacher Report lists Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Cam Schlittler as signed through at least 2028, with Rodríguez among five candidates for the fifth rotation spot. The guide also names free-agent catcher Ryan Jeffers, a .782 OPS hitter over four seasons, as an alternative catcher upgrade.
The model calls the deal even. The control years favor the Athletics, the bat favors New York, and the Yankees would pay four players for two seasons of Langeliers.
Jonathan Vankin JONATHAN VANKIN is an award-winning journalist who covers MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, boxing, golf, and Olympic sports for Heavy.com. He twice won New England Newspaper and Press Association awards for sports feature writing. He was a sports editor and writer at The Daily Yomiuri in Tokyo, Japan, covering the Olympics, pro baseball, boxing, sumo and other sports. More about Jonathan Vankin