The Yankees have announced that they’ve promoted catcher Gary Sanchez and outfielder Slade Heathcott from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Heathcott has played in the bigs before, but Sanchez hasn’t. Sanchez isn’t likely to play much, but his arrival will surely pique the interest of Yankees fans. The organization gave Sanchez a $3MM bonus out of the Dominican Republic in 2009, and since then, he’s shown good power (with 89 minor league home runs) and a very strong throwing arm, although he hasn’t received great reviews for other aspects of his work behind the plate. MLB.com currently ranks Sanchez as the Yankees’ seventh-best prospect. His climb through the minors has been relatively slow, but he’s still just 22 and has hit .274/.330/.485 between Scranton and Double-A Trenton this season. Here’s more from the AL East.
- Chris Davis’ big second half with the Orioles has him primed to land a nine-figure contract, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com writes. Davis has hit a ridiculous .307/.413/.704 in 223 plate appearances since the break, bringing his full-season numbers up to .262/.355/.558 with 41 homers. In a recent edition of the MLBTR Newsletter, Tim Dierkes suggested that Davis’ agent Scott Boras could ask for eight years this winter. It seems unlikely he’ll get it, but as Dierkes noted, even a six-year deal would push Davis past $100MM.
- Rays outfielder Daniel Nava was surprised when the Red Sox designated him for assignment in May, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald writes. Nava struggled with a hand injury and hit just .152/.260/.182 in 78 plate appearances with Boston this year, but he points out that he had hit much better in the second half in 2014 — he batted .238/.330/.310 in the first half and .297/.359/.405 in the second. “The reason why I didn’t (see it coming) is because the previous year I was in the same situation and I had turned it around,” he says. (Of course, Nava is already 32 and in the midst of his arbitration seasons, so he no longer even if he were to have improved somewhat, his utility to a last-place Boston team would have been limited.) Nava adds that he misses Red Sox fans and the historic environment of Fenway Park. “Just feeling this, it’s not like Boston,” he says. “It’s not a knock on this. It’s just different. That’s a fact. Those fans are special.”
Tampa fans are special too, Nava. Just in a short bus sense.
There aren’t enough of them to fill a short bus.
Why they wear cowbell’s.. Also have to ring them as loudly as possible at St Pete when Boston is there to make more noise than the 2-1 to 3-1 fan advantage Boston has as the visiting team.
I always liked Nava, but I don’t blame the Sox for getting rid of him. The realistic expectation for him is to be a slightly above average platoon outfielder. Given his slump and the team’s crowded outfield, he was the odd man out. His bWAR always seemed pretty high for what he brought to the table.
I like Davis. But how ridiculous is MLB that a guy gets at least a 6 year obscene contract due to his having a great 2nd half in his walk year? The team that get him will be fortunate to get 2 very good years out of him, 2 ordinary ones, and 2 terrible ones. And for this they give him 6 years? His contract is going to limit what his team a can do roster-wise a few years down the line, unless he signs with one of the big cash flow teams that can eat a contract like that when necessary.
this happens way too often. not enough teams have been burnt yet I guess.