The 2026 Trade Deadline Catching Market: Five Right-Handed Bats Worth Chasing for the White Sox
With the trade deadline approaching, catching remains one of the thinnest positions on the market.
Five right-handed-hitting backstops stand out as the realistic trade chips this summer, each offering something different: raw offensive punch, elite receiving, or simply an expiring contract that makes a front office’s decision easy.
Below is a full breakdown of who they are, what the underlying numbers say about them, and, most importantly for rival executives, what it will actually cost to pry each one loose.
The Landscape
At least five teams are believed to be shopping for catching help ahead of the deadline: the New York Yankees (though they’re expected to look at the lower tier given their internal optimism about Austin Wells), the Tampa Bay Rays, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That demand, paired with a short supply of controllable, everyday catchers, is what’s driving asking prices skyward across the board.
Ranked: Hardest to Easiest to Acquire
- Hunter Goodman (Colorado)
- Adley Rutschman (Baltimore)
- Luis Torrens (NY Mets)
- Tyler Stephenson (Cincinnati)
- Ryan Jeffers (Minnesota)
The Players
1) Ryan Jeffers, Minnesota Twins
- Free agency: Free agent after this season.
- Acquisition difficulty: #5 (easiest of the five).
Jeffers has quietly been the best pure hitter in this group. In 186 plate appearances, he’s running a .293/.395/.535 line, tops among this group in batting average, on-base percentage, OPS (.930), and OPS+ (158). Statcast backs it up: he sits in the 92nd percentile in launch-angle sweet-spot rate, 79th in exit velocity and barrel rate, and a strong 93rd percentile in chase rate.
The concerns are defensive: his framing grades out in just the 2nd percentile and his pop time in the 20th, but for a team looking for offense at the position, that’s a tradeable flaw. With free agency looming after 2026, Minnesota has real incentive to deal him now, and word is a trade to the Yankees already sounds close to a done deal—expected cost: mid-tier organizational depth.
2) Adley Rutschman, Baltimore Orioles
- Free agency: Controllable through the 2027 season
- Acquisition difficulty: #2 (second-hardest).
Rutschman’s bat has cooled from his breakout ceiling (.251/.331/.433, 114 OPS+), but he remains an elite defender: 95th percentile in fielding run value, 96th percentile in caught-stealing rate above average, and 93rd percentile framing. He’s not qualified for the full Statcast batting percentile set this year, a wrinkle worth flagging, but his glove alone keeps him firmly in the controllable, above-average regular tier.
With two-plus years of team control remaining, Baltimore isn’t giving him away. Expected cost: a controllable starting pitcher plus one top-100 prospect.
3) Hunter Goodman, Colorado Rockies
- Free agency: Controllable through the 2029 season
- Acquisition difficulty: #1 (hardest to get).
Goodman is the headline name on this list, and the numbers make it obvious why. He leads the group outright in WAR (2.6), games, plate appearances, hits, home runs (31), RBIs, stolen bases, and slugging percentage (.557). His batting run value sits in the 96th percentile leaguewide, his barrel rate in the 97th, and his bat speed in the 88th.
He’s also controllable for years, which is the whole ballgame for a rebuilding suitor. Expect Colorado to ask for a package headlined by multiple top-100 prospects, and to actually get it.
4) Luis Torrens, New York Mets
- Free agency: Controllable through the 2028 season
- Acquisition difficulty: #3 (third-hardest).
Torrens won’t wow anyone with the bat (.223/.287/.324), but his defense is close to the best in baseball: 99th percentile caught-stealing runs above average, 97th percentile framing, and 77th percentile blocking. That’s the profile of a team’s personal defensive security blanket behind the plate, and the Mets know it.
Multiple reports, including Jon Heyman, indicate New York isn’t currently shopping him, and given how beloved he reportedly is in that clubhouse, it would take an overwhelming, overpay-level offer to get the conversation started.
5) Tyler Stephenson, Cincinnati Reds
- Free agency: Free agent after this season
- Acquisition difficulty: #4 (second-easiest).
Stephenson offers a solid, if unspectacular, all-around game, a .244/.320/.392 line with an expected wOBA (.373) that suggests some batted-ball luck has gone against him. Like Rutschman, he’s not fully Statcast-qualified this year, but the underlying feel is of a capable everyday catcher entering his walk year.
Cincinnati has less urgency to move him than Minnesota does with Jeffers. Still, as a pending free agent, he’s realistically available—expected cost: one top-15 organizational prospect, or a combination of a couple of lower-tier ones.
What It Would Actually Take
Hunter Goodman: Multiple top-100 prospects.
Adley Rutschman: A controllable starting pitcher, plus one top-100 prospect.
Luis Torrens: An overwhelming, overpay-caliber offer, and even then, the Mets may say no.
Tyler Stephenson: One top-15 organizational prospect, or a couple of lower-tier prospects.
Ryan Jeffers: Mid-tier organizational depth. A move to the Yankees already feels like a foregone conclusion.
Bottom Line
Goodman is the whale of this class and will require a blockbuster to pry away. Torrens is close to untouchable given how the Mets feel about him. Rutschman and Stephenson occupy the middle tier: valuable, gettable, but not cheap.
And Jeffers, ironically the best pure hitter of the five, may end up being the easiest domino to fall given his expiring contract and the reported momentum toward a Yankees deal.
Buckle up!
Catching could be the most active position at this year’s deadline.
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