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, in large part because of their starting rotation’s utterly absurd run. Much like the 2025 New England Patriots, they were galvanized by playing against the dregs of Major League Baseball, including the depleted Yankees, and are now pulling off miracles, believing they can beat anyone … because they haven’t lost a game in two-thirds of a month. And while 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, both are former Yankees, though Seigler’s rise was more difficult to see coming, considering Durbin nearly won the National League Rookie of the Year last season and Seigler was a career minor-leaguer who mostly toiled in the Bombers’ system. There’s a lesson here, though, and it’s one New York never figured out and the Milwaukee Brewers (and, subsequently, the Red Sox did).

Seigler was drafted in the first round as a versatile catcher, someone who belonged behind the dish but could eventually swap positions and cover the infield capably. As a Yankees prospect, he was — not to be rude — unproductive, if not absent, through 2023, the first season he experimented with second base at Somerset and expanded his horizons.

Outside of a one-game cameo in right field in 2021 (had to be a near-accident), Seigler rotated between catcher and DH, and the wear-and-tear behind the dish all but killed his career. He couldn’t even crack 40 healthy games in a season until he played 97 in 2022, then dipped back to 67 in 2023, hitting a woeful .166. In 2024, he finally found some semblance of his destiny at Double-A, posting a .748 OPS in 118 Double-A games, all of which he spent at second base. The next season, in the Brewers’ system, that OPS rose to .892. Now he’s in Boston — of course he is — and he’s not only healthy, but he’s the Sox’s primary energizer. Again, who knows how long this lasts — he’s down to a .256 average and .737 OPS on the year, and might be a part-timer when push comes to shove — but his permanent conversion to second base has changed his career and life, something the Yankees only figured out in his final season in the system.

Anthony Seigler’s rise has a Ben Rice wrinkle for Yankees roster construction

Let this be a warning to everyone trying to figure out Ben Rice’s future beyond 2026: He may have catcher eligibility, but he is not a catcher. It may have been a cute idea to experiment with maneuvering him behind the plate last season to accommodate Paul Goldschmidt, and it may be tempting to think about an Austin Wells-free future that Rice can aid in creating, but the wear-and-tear isn’t just a potential complication. It’s a career-altering way of life, and springing it upon Rice mid-stream would be foolish (and that’s being generous).

Rice can be a third catcher in a pinch, but he should be a primary first baseman (and DH, when he needs a breather) for the remainder of his Yankees career. Seigler’s five wasted years as a punished catcher in New York’s system should serve as the cautionary tale for anyone considering getting too cute here.

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