Yankees must learn a Ben Rice lesson from Red Sox’s Anthony Seigler breakout
The 2026 Boston Red Sox have been revived midseason, on a dime, largely due to their beginning rotation’s completely absurd run. Much just like the 2025 New England Patriots, they were galvanized by enjoying in opposition to the dregs of Major League Baseball, together with the depleted Yankees, and are actually pulling off miracles, believing they’ll beat anybody… as a result of they have not misplaced a sport in two-thirds of a month. And whereas the pitching is the engine, little-known infielder Anthony Seigler and offseason acquisition Caleb Durbin are the faces of the operation, as their dirt-dog personas have energized the roster and fan base.
Unsurprisingly, each are former Yankees, although Seigler’s rise was harder to see coming, contemplating Durbin nearly won the National League Rookie of the Year last season and Seigler was a profession minor-leaguer who principally performed within the Bombers’ system. There’s a lesson right here, although, and it is one New York by no means discovered and the Milwaukee Brewers (and, subsequently, the Red Sox did).
Seigler was drafted within the first spherical as a versatile catcher, somebody who belonged behind the dish however may ultimately swap positions and canopy the infield capably. As a Yankees prospect, he was — to not be impolite — unproductive, if not absent, by means of 2023, the primary season he experimented with second base at Somerset and expanded his horizons.
Outside of a one-game cameo in proper subject in 2021 (needed to be a near-accident), Seigler rotated between catcher and DH, and the wear-and-tear behind the dish all however killed his profession. He could not even crack 40 wholesome video games in a season till he performed 97 in 2022, then dipped again to 67 in 2023, hitting a woeful .166. In 2024, he has lastly discovered some semblance of his future at Double-A, posting a .748 OPS in 118 Double-A video games, all of which he spent at second base. The subsequent season, within the Brewers’ system, that OPS rose to .892. Now he is in Boston — in fact he’s — and he isn’t solely wholesome, however he is the Sox’s major energizer. Again, who is aware of how lengthy this final — he is all the way down to a .256 common and .737 OPS on the 12 months, and is likely to be a part-timer when push involves shove — however his everlasting conversion to second base has modified his profession and life, one thing the Yankees solely discovered in his closing season within the system.
Anthony Seigler’s rise has a Ben Rice wrinkle for Yankees roster development
Let this be a warning to everybody making an attempt to determine Ben Rice’s future beyond 2026: He might have catcher eligibility, however he’s not to catcher. It might have been a cute concept to experiment with maneuvering him behind the plate final season to accommodate Paul Goldschmidt, and it could be tempting to consider an Austin Wells-free future that Rice will help in creating, however the wear-and-tear is not simply a potential complication. It’s a career-altering lifestyle, and springing it upon Rice mid-stream can be silly (and that is being beneficiant).
Rice could be a third catcher in a pinch, however he must be a major first baseman (and DH, when he wants a breather) for the rest of his Yankees profession. Seigler’s 5 wasted years as a punished catcher in New York’s system ought to function the cautionary story for anybody contemplating getting too cute right here.
