The New York Yankees reportedly agreed to a contract with catcher Justin Capellan. Capellan, who's from the Dominican Republic, agreed to a $450,000 contract, Jack Curry of YES Network reports. The deal comes after the Yankees acquired international signing pool money from the Pittsburgh Pirates in their recent Billy McKinney trade.
Capellan is a catcher who features a high ceiling. There isn't much information on Capellan at the moment, but the Yankees hope he will emerge as a big-league option down the road. Perfect Game International listed him as 6-feet tall and 160 pounds in 2022 and batting and throwing both righthanded.
Adding catching depth is never a bad idea. It will be interesting to see if Capellan can develop into a reliable hitter. Oftentimes, catchers struggle at the plate.
Capellan can drastically increase his value to an organization by providing steady offensive prowess.
Yankees' free-agency plan moving forward
The Yankees are continuing to monitor the free-agent market. New York is considered one of the favorites to sign star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Yankees want to add starting pitching, and signing Yamamoto would give Gerrit Cole another ace-caliber arm in the rotation.
Of course, with pitchers such as Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes still in the rotation, the Yankees will have a chance to rebound in 2024 from an all-around pitching standpoint. Staying healthy, however, will be of the utmost importance. New York's rotation was unfortunately decimated by injuries during the 2023 campaign.
If Yamamoto ends up signing elsewhere, the team will likely pivot to other impact starting pitchers who remain available. We will continue to monitor and provide updates on the Yankees as they are made available.
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