ANAHEIM, Calif. — Maybe Carlos Beltran was lucky in more ways than one.
Not only did he get traded from the Yankees to the Rangers, significantly increasing his chances of getting to the postseason, he also wasn’t around to see Aaron Judge take his job.
But that’s essentially where Brian McCann, who was 1-for-5 with a home run in the Yankees’ 7-0 win against the Angels on Friday, is these days. While there had been some interest — and may be again in the future — in McCann going back to the Braves, right now he is a part-time designated hitter and catcher for a Yankees team in the midst of an almost unprecedented youth movement.
And perhaps no one has been more impacted than McCann, who had started just once behind the plate since phenom Gary Sanchez was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier this month.
The reasoning behind starting Sanchez at catcher over McCann is sound, especially for a team looking to the future, but if the Yankees do end up aggressively shopping McCann, there is a possibility they could limit what they get in return by turning him into a DH.
Opposing scouts and executives, though, don’t believe the Yankees are risking much, pointing to the fact that any team that would seriously consider taking on McCann, who is due $17 million each of the next two seasons and has a vesting option for $15 million for 2019, already knows what they would be getting.
“People know he can catch some,” one opposing exec said. “He needs to play, DH and hit to maintain value for me.”
Though that was the general consensus among those asked, there were some who disagreed and thought the Yankees could indeed be doing themselves an disservice by not featuring McCann more defensively right now — even if he is just adequate behind the plate at this point of his career.
“I think they are hurting themselves,” another scout said. “He’s still got a lot of money owed to him to be a one-dimensional DH.”
No one, not even McCann, can argue the Yankees haven’t been better with Sanchez.
McCann awkwardly acknowledged as much after Wednesday’s 7-4 loss to the Blue Jays, but he has made it clear repeatedly he would prefer to catch.
With Sanchez joined by Judge and fellow newcomer Tyler Austin, it’s apparent the Yankees have made their decision.
Sanchez, who was 3-for-4 with a walk on Friday, came into the game with four homers in his previous four games. He had multiple hits in three straight games against the Blue Jays, going 7-for-10 with three runs, three homers and five RBIs, as well as two walks.
And the Yankees showed enough faith in the 23-year-old to hit him cleanup Wednesday.
McCann, on the other hand, hit his first homer since July 27 on Friday, but he last had a multi-hit game July 9.
That was right before the All-Star break, when the Yankees played well in Cleveland and the thought of an impending change of direction for the franchise seemed significantly more of a long shot.
Since then, McCann is 16-for-87 with just three extra-base hits, 11 walks and 26 strikeouts.
So forget catching, the Yankees have to figure out how to get McCann’s bat going — whether they want to compete or ship him elsewhere.
Compare McCann’s struggles to Sanchez’s performance (10 of his first 21 big league hits have been for extra bases), and it’s easy to see why the Yankees have been excited about him for years — despite his inconsistency in the minors.