Yankees showing interest in Flowers
Free-agent catcher would serve as backup to McCann
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Yankees have expressed interest in free-agent catcher Tyler Flowers, whom they see as an option to serve as Brian McCann's backup next season.
Flowers, who turns 30 in January, was non-tendered by the White Sox last week. He is said to also be considering offers from the Braves and Rays.
Flowers was told that he might catch 80 to 90 games with New York, allowing McCann more time to serve as a designated hitter or fill in at first base.
Power-hitting Gary Sanchez is rated as the Yankees' No. 5 prospect by MLBPipeline.com, and general manager Brian Cashman has said that he would be comfortable with having the 23-year-old Sanchez on the big league roster as McCann's backup.
The Yankees' interest in Flowers suggests that they would prefer to have the option of Sanchez beginning the 2016 season in the Minors, as he logged just 132 at-bats with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last year. Austin Romine is also in line to compete for the big league backup job.
Flowers is a career .223 hitter over seven big league seasons, all with the White Sox. He posted a .239/.295/.356 slash line this past season, hitting nine homers with 39 RBIs in 112 games.