How Yankees Missed Chance To Sign Top AL East Prospect

Had things aligned differently, a young slugger could have started his career with one of the Boston Red Sox’s other American League East rivals.

The Baltimore Orioles promoted Samuel Basallo last weekend, and MLB’s top catching prospect recorded two hits and two RBIs against Boston in his second career game. He’ll be much richer when the Red Sox play the Orioles again next week.

Baltimore reportedly reached a long-term extension with Basallo on Friday. The 21-year-old will make $67 million over eight years, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Fortunately for the Orioles, Basallo’s deal with the New York Yankees fell through four years ago.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel said Friday that the Yankees had a pending agreement in place with Basallo before the international free agent could officially sign in January 2021. However, they lost $1 million in international pool money when signing Gerrit Cole that offseason.

As a result, the Yankees could no longer pay Basallo within their international budget. He instead signed a $1.3 million deal with Baltimore.

To be fair, the Yankees shouldn’t regret signing Cole. While the ace will miss the entire 2025 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, he’s won a Cy Young Award, pitched the Yankees to a World Series and posted a 3.12 ERA in five seasons.

They would love to roster Basallo right now. He mashed his way to the majors by batting .270/.377/.589 with 23 home runs in Triple-A.

Another injury to Adley Rutschman gives Basallo a chance to close the season as Baltimore’s everyday catcher. In the future, he may spend more time as a first baseman or designated hitter who should still provide immense value with his bat.

The Red Sox will get another look at Basallo when following their Yankees series with four games against the Orioles starting on Monday.