As the New York Yankees try to sort out their ideal roster at the trade deadline, one inspirational rookie might get caught in the wreckage.
J.C. Escarra was the feel-good story for the Yankees coming out of spring training. The 30-year-old, who spent nine years in professional baseball before making his major league debut, won the backup catcher job behind starter Austin Wells.
Escarra hasn't been bad by any means, but the Yankees have begun experimenting with Ben Rice as the primary backup since Giancarlo Stanton returned to take away Rice's designated hitter at-bats. That means Escarra has only five games played and 13 plate appearances in the month of July.
On Tuesday, Thomas Carannante of FanSided suggested that the end of the road is about to arrive.
With the Jul. 31 trade deadline looming, Carannante predicted that Escarra would be off the 40-man roster within the next nine days, preferring a trade to designating him for assignment.
"Escarra was an amazing story and definitely served his role well, but the Yankees have a logjam problem right now, and Rice takes precedent. Additionally, Austin Wells needs to be on the field as much as possible," wrote Carranante.
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"Previous buzz suggested there would be plenty of interest in Escarra on the trade market, which is great news for all parties. If the Yankees can turn him into something to help out the pitching staff, then that's a massive win... But right now he doesn't exactly fit the puzzle in the Bronx."
Escarra does have all three minor-league options, but the Yankees still would have to keep him on the 40-man in order to send him to Triple-A without subjecting him to waivers. The guess here is that they'd rather free up that spot for a trade acquisition.
But Escarra may have done enough in his limited sample size (.659 OPS in 94 plate appearances) to put himself in trade talks, either as a low-cost pickup for a non-contender or a throw-in for a larger deal.
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