The Yankees should be on the phone with Detroit right now, and the conversation needs to start with Dillon Dingler.
The Tigers sit 20-31, dead last in the AL Central and 11 games under .500. Their season already looks cooked, which means Brian Cashman has a window to solve the catcher problem before another contender beats him to it. Dingler is crushing the ball with nine homers, a .786 OPS, and 90.2 mph average exit velocity through 182 plate appearances. He’s 27, has team control, and actually plays defense. That profile screams Yankees trade target.
Austin Wells is hitting .165/.287/.252 with 36 strikeouts in 136 plate appearances. Three homers, five RBIs, and a slash line that keeps killing rallies before they start. The defense matters, the game-calling matters, but at some point the Bronx Bombers need more than patience from a position that should be helping win games in the American League.
Why Dingler makes perfect sense
The underlying numbers prove Dingler is no fluke. Baseball Savant credits him with a .391 xwOBA, 48.8% hard-hit rate, and 13.3% barrel rate. Those are not empty-contact stats. The damage is real, and it comes from a catcher who also delivers defensively.
Dingler has thrown out six runners, owns a .997 fielding percentage, allowed just one passed ball, and already posted two catcher framing runs according to Savant. His 1.88 pop time to second base is elite. The Yankees would not be trading offense for chaos behind the plate. They would be upgrading both sides of the position.
Detroit has zero reason to hold onto pieces when their season is circling the drain. Dingler is young enough to be more than a rental, productive enough to help immediately, and the kind of two-way catcher the organization desperately needs. If the Tigers keep fading, Cashman should be circling this target early and often.
The obstacles are real
Detroit has no reason to give away a 27-year-old catcher with power, framing value, and club control unless the return is serious. Cashman has to decide how aggressive he wants to be, and that probably means parting with a prospect the Yankee faithful actually care about.
Wells is not completely useless. His .306 xwOBA suggests the bat has been unlucky, and his 20 walks prove he still controls the zone better than the surface numbers suggest. But the Stadium does not reward patience when rallies keep dying at the plate. The organization cannot keep hoping Wells figures it out while watching better options get traded to division rivals.
What the Yankees should do
Make the call. Test the price. Be honest about what Wells is giving them right now and what Dingler could provide instead. The Yankees do not have to bury Wells to acknowledge the problem exists. They can respect the defensive work, hope the bat rebounds, and still explore a catcher who looks like a cleaner two-way answer.
If Detroit keeps sinking and stays 11 games under .500, Dingler becomes exactly the kind of uncomfortable Yankees trade target Cashman should be circling. The pinstripes demand more than a .165 average from a starting catcher, and the front office needs to act before another contender swoops in and solves their problem with the same call.
Do you think the Yankees should trade for Dingler, or is it too early to give up on Wells?