The Yankees are not signing J.T. Realmuto.

Breaking news! Actually, not really.

That should be no surprise to anyone following the team’s offseason, which is squarely focused on a reunion with DJ LeMahieu as the major expenditure. But it’s worth repeating for this reason: In the real world of budgets and hard choices, the Yanks' best available catching situation is probably the one they have gone with for years.

In the eyes of many in the industry, Gary Sanchez should be the starting catcher in 2021. A capable backup -- in this case Kyle Higashioka, who succeeded Austin Romine -- should be there in case he falters. And with the Yankees planning to tender a contract to Sanchez, per sources, that's likely what will happen.

A trade is still possible. Sanchez is far from untouchable. But it’s not time to cut bait with him for the sake of change, either.

Any Yankee fan can probably recite the negatives by heart. Sanchez hit .147 last season and struck out in 36 percent of his at-bats. In September, he lost his job catching the team’s ace, Gerrit Cole. In October, he lost his entire gig to Higashioka.

But with the Yankees unwilling or unable to spend on Realmuto (and probably James McCann), Sanchez still has the most upside of any available option. There is a dearth of quality catching in baseball, and Sanchez still has what many evaluators believe are some of the best swing mechanics in the league.

The people who make decisions for the Yankees have eyes. They saw how badly Sanchez performed this year on both sides of the ball. But they have also appreciated how well he does at understanding game plans and implementing them for pitchers.

Some catchers insist on calling pitches that analytics say are less than ideal for a given situation. Sanchez buys into contemporary thinking and puts his pitchers in position to succeed more often than not, at least in terms of pitch selection.

“He follows the script,” said one rival coach. ‘I’ll still take him five days a week.”

Receiving, of course, is a different matter. Sanchez has struggled for years with the basics of catching the ball. Theories abound as to why. Is it because he’s too focused on framing? Because the technique, new to 2020 and first-year catching instructor Tanner Swanson, of dropping to one knee did not work for him?

There is a sense among some who know Sanchez that his defensive struggles feed his slump at the plate. Because he is a hard worker who cares, he might allow his entire game to snowball. While it’s hardly assured that this will improve, the Yankees calculated that it’s worth taking a beat, seeing if Sanchez can get his mind right, and giving it one more shot.

That is especially true after a season as unrepresentative as 2020. The Yankees, like many teams, are reluctant to rely on results from this strangest of years.

Take Gleyber Torres: Defensive metrics were unkind to his work at shortstop this year. What the Yankees saw was a player who reported to “summer camp” in June in worse condition than usual. That likely impacted his range. The team doesn’t expect it to happen again, and are willing to give Torres another chance to prove he can handle the position.

This is the basic thinking with Sanchez, too. Is it ideal? No. Is it better than most other alternatives not named Realmuto? Yeah, probably.

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