Former Dodger kind of rubs salt into Yankees fans' wounds with praise for Gerrit Cole

Before he was a backup catcher on the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series roster, Ben Rortvedt was once part of the Yankees’ catching depth and a key piece in the Josh Donaldson trade with the Minnesota Twins. But he never found traction in the Bronx, as injuries and limited opportunities left him as little more than Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher – a specialist who rarely cracked the lineup.

But, as it turned out, that time spent working with the Yankees' ace in 2023 helped shape Rortvedt into the catcher that helped the Dodgers get to where they are today.

“He made me so much better of a catcher, game caller, game planner and how to go about navigating a lineup, how to go about navigating pitching into a ballgame or preparing,” Rortvedt said of Cole (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). “I came over here and had an understanding of how to respect older guys or how they might want to pitch or what to kind of expect out of people. It was really cool. He made me so much better that I’m really grateful.”

Rortvedt’s words about Cole must sting for Yankees fans because they highlight what the organization lost – both in talent development and in the cohesion that never fully materialized in New York. Now, hearing Rortvedt credit Cole for transforming his understanding of game-calling and pitcher management underscores how the Yankees failed to fully capitalize on that growth. They helped mold him, but they never reaped the benefits – and their loss is the Dodgers' gain.

Ben Rortvedt rubs salt into Yankees fans' wounds with praise for Gerrit Cole

The irony deepens because Rortvedt is now thriving with the Dodgers, an organization known for maximizing every role player. While the Yankees struggled with lineup inconsistency and underdeveloped position players in 2025, Rortvedt has become a valued backup who fits seamlessly into a team looking to defend a World Series title. His success in Los Angeles exposes the Yankees’ long-standing issues with player utilization and development, particularly of younger or defensively-minded talent.

Cole’s leadership and preparation clearly elevated Rortvedt’s baseball IQ, yet the Yankees’ broader pitching-catching infrastructure failed to spread that influence beyond one relationship. In other words, Cole helped create a better catcher – for someone else’s championship run.

Rortvedt’s gratitude toward Cole is genuine, but for the Yankees, it’s a reminder that even when they build valuable habits and relationships, other organizations often turn that foundation into results. The Dodgers get the payoff. The Yankees get the “what if.”