Breaking news: The New York Yankees acquire former Rays catching prospect in a blockbuster deal.

In the Rays’ system, Ronaldo Hernández was far from a bright young player, but he wants to join the Yankees and contend for a backup catcher position that is very much up for grabs.

Hernández has not yet made his major league debut, but that might change with the Yanks due to his underwhelming defense or erratic approach at the plate.

With Alex Jackson, a former Rays 2024 backup, listed as the team’s current backup on FanGraphs’ Roster Resource page and few choices to inspire confidence behind him, the New York Yankees’ catcher position is, at best, hazy.

Here comes Ronaldo Hernández, another former Rays employee.

The Rays passed on Hernández, who was formerly seen as a young, promising bat-first backstop, very fast in favor of someone with his level of talent, but it was the right decision. Despite playing for a few organizations, including the Red Sox and Diamondbacks, who had opportunities to promote the now 27-year-old, Hernández has failed to win an opportunity in the major leagues.

During Hernández’s tenure with both team, neither Boston nor Arizona had a reliable pair of catchers on their major league rosters, but he was still at Triple-A with both.

He has now accepted an invitation to Spring Training and signed a minor league contract with the Yankees. Alex Jackson and anybody else the Yankees decide is qualified to fight for the backup position behind Austin Wells, the 2024 AL Rookie of the Year contender, will be challenged by the Colombian catcher.

Throughout his time with the Red Sox organization in 2023, Hernández recorded an ISO of.203 over 99 games at AAA, demonstrating his strength as a batsman at every minor league level.

To compensate for his free-swinging style, he hasn’t been able to combine his power with a strong strategy or adequate defense.

He was close to the bottom of Triple-A last season with a 39.1% chase rate and a 4.6% walk rate for the Diamondbacks’ system.

Despite his careless approach to hitting, he managed to maintain a 114 wRC+, but it was insufficient to earn him a call-up, and he was permitted to enter free agency in order to look for a minor league deal with another organization.

The Yankees are presumably depending on their ability to show him anything in terms of his defense, which was never his calling card as a prospect, rating as below-average in that grade on his scouting report in both current and future value on FanGraphs.

The Yankees may want to keep a glove-first catcher like Jackson to avoid a significant drop in framing when the highly regarded Wells is benched (Wells’ +12 framing mark was among the best in baseball last year), but fortunately, Hernández’s right-handed hitting gives him a better chance to be a fun platoon option who can spell Wells when he needs a break.

After the Rays acquired Ben Rortvedt late in the 2024 off-season, it’s intriguing to consider the idea that the Yankees may have a former Ray to backup Wells for the 2025 campaign, whether it’s Jackson or Hernández.