He also was lavish in his praise of Sanchez’s catching abilities while stopping short of declaring him the Yankees’ best defensive catcher right now.
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McCann, as we have learned over the past two-plus seasons, is nothing like his Atlanta Braves self, but he is certainly a serviceable catcher.
A reduction in Brian McCann’s role – essentially a part-time DH – does not seem to mean much to skipper Joe Girardi, who will not proclaim Sanchez as the starter yet will not deny McCann’s loss of relevance.
The Yankees still owe Brian McCann $34 million over the next two seasons. If the option becomes guaranteed, McCann can void it.
Figure the Yankees to eat a large chunk of that salary. Sanchez has started 7 of 14 games behind the plate since he rejoined the Yankees this month and has been the DH for six more. The Indians, who already partnered on a deal this season with the Yankees for Andrew Miller, may decide they need a catcher. It’s been a messy process, and only will get worse for some in the days ahead because McCann, Mark Teixeira and others will be forced to the bench to give the youngsters necessary experience. They picked up the $27-million tab for his remaining contract, but at least he’s no longer around.
With Sanchez emerging as the starting catcher, this allows Girardi to use McCann has primarily a designated hitter. Since he was called back up to the majors two weeks ago, the Yankees catcher has shown why. Now he’s a costly obstacle standing in the way of the future, and McCann knows it. He was asked how hard the new arrangement is for him and he was temporarily stumped for an answer. Asked if it were hard to tell McCann he wouldn’t be playing, Girardi replied, “But he is playing in a sense”. “The one thing is, maybe you can play Brian more by doing it this way, where you don’t wear him down”. He raves about Gary Sanchez, calling the young catcher “a stud” and a “future All-Star for many years to come”.
Pressed again on the possibility of time running out for him in the Bronx, McCann added, “I’m not thinking of anything past tomorrow”. But no player in his current situation is that shortsighted.
“It was always the case that Sanchez, at some point, was going to come up and hopefully come up to stay”, Steinbrenner said. “We’ll cross that bridge in the offseason when we come to it, but McCann’s a great player too”.
Sanchez is thriving, obviously, and his emergence makes it fair to wonder whether the Yankees will make a move with McCann, either this year or over the winter. They’re hoping for the same from Judge and Austin.
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Thus far with the Yankees, Sanchez is hitting.360 with 11 RBIs in 53 plate appearances, bringing energy to the lineup along with right fielder Aaron Judge and first baseman Tyler Austin, who homered back-to-back in their big league debuts Saturday.
