What will the Yankees do with each of their own free agents?
Austin Romine
No matter what you think about Gary Sanchez, he is firmly entrenched as the Yankees’ starting catcher of the present and future. That means the only option available for a player like Romine is to establish himself as the team’s backup at the backstop.
Romine certainly does a good job of filling that role for Boone and his coaching staff. He isn’t a flashy player with either the bat or glove, but he’s a solid option to turn to when Sanchez isn’t able to play. That makes him an above-average backup at a position that doesn’t have a lot of depth around MLB.
In a perfect world, the Yankees would have a young player in the minor leagues ready to come up and take this role for their own. That isn’t the case though. The organization has spent high draft picks on a couple of promising catchers in recent years, but no one is ready to step up and play in the majors.
Toss in the fact that the organization’s third catcher, Kyle Higashioka, is out of options, and it’s obvious the Yankees will make Romine some sort of meaningful offer. The question the player must answer is whether or not he wants to fight for a starting job somewhere else. Romine isn’t quite dynamic enough to take that risk. He should return to the Yankees on a modest deal.