Yankees: 5 offseason decisions Brian Cashman wishes he could have back

2. Failing to secure an upgrade at catcher

For the purposes of clarity, this does not mean the Yankees should have trotted Gary Sanchez out as their starting backstop for another season. Instead, the criticism here is that Cashman didn’t do enough to secure a solid upgrade behind the plate.

The idea was for Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt to hold things down as a defensive-minded platoon. Rortvedt’s injury led Cashman to swing a deal to bring in Jose Trevino, but that didn’t change the organization’s philosophy at cacher.

Another way to characterize the philosophy is to say that the Yankees chose to go cheap at catcher with the hopes that they could acquire plus defense on the cheap while foregoing any real offensive upside. Higashioka has been lost at the plate to start the year which has only highlighted the gamble Cashman made.

It’s possible the Yankees could look for an upgrade at catcher during the season, but finding that sort of player won’t be easy or cheap for Cashman and the team’s front office. Their best bet is to hope Higashioka comes out of his slump in time to hit enough home runs to give the organization replacement-level production.