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Teams are scouting Francisco Cervelli for a potential trade

Francisco Cervelli has drawn plenty of attention from scouts so far in camp.

David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

According to Chad Jennings of LoHud, "a few teams have been specifically scouting Francisco Cervelli as a potential trade target." Cervelli, who turned 28 years old just a few days ago, is out of minor league options and is slated to be the team's backup catcher once camp breaks. This is barring a trade, of course.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise at all that teams are scouting Cervelli, considering said teams (namely the White Sox and Brewers) have already done so with John Ryan Murphy and Austin Romine. However, as Jennings notes, teams are specifically scouting the 28-year-old because he is out of options and another team could possibly trade their out-of-option player (say, an infielder) for the option-less Cervelli. Jennings doesn't mention the teams that were on hand to see Cervelli, but Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish notes that there is "lots of trade interest" for Cervelli, including from the White Sox.

If Cervelli gets dealt, the Yankees would have to decide between Murphy and Romine for the backup catcher's spot. Both are certainly capable, and legitimate cases could be made to have either one over the other break camp with the team, but that argument is moot at the moment since Cervelli is still with the team. That being said, the Yankees shouldn't just look to unload Cervelli for the sake of unloading him if the return is negligible. At the very least, having depth at an important position is a nice "problem" to have.