Gary Sanchez

Mets Sign Gary Sanchez To Minor League Deal

By Nick Deeds | May 9, 2023 at 12:30pm CDT

12:30 pm: Sanchez will make $1.5MM if selected to the Mets’ roster with $1.2MM of incentives also available, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

8:16 am: Gary Sanchez is returning to New York, as the veteran catcher is signing a minor league contract with the Mets, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Sanchez, 30, was unable to find a big league opportunity this past winter despite being the starting catcher for the Twins last season, and for the Yankees in the five seasons prior to that. Long considered a bat-first catcher who struggles defensively behind the plate, Sanchez has seen that reputation change on both sides of the ball in recent years. His defense received improved marks during his time with the Twins in 2022, though his offense has taken a downturn in recent years. Since the start of the 2020 season, Sanchez has slashed just .195/.287/.394 with a 29.5% strikeout rate. Though that production has translated to a 90 wRC+ that’s perfectly acceptable for a catcher, it’s still a far cry from his career mark of 109 or the 123 wRC+ he posted from the beginning of his career through the end of the 2019 campaign.

Sanchez previously signed with the Giants on a minor league deal earlier this season, but exercised a May 1 opt-out to return to the free agent market after not getting added to the active roster. Sanchez reportedly received interest from the Angels regarding his services after opting out, but will ultimately join the Mets, with whom he figures to act as quality catching depth behind top prospect Francisco Alvarez and backup Tomas Nido. The depth Sanchez can provide is of particular importance to a Mets club that figures to be without offseason signing Omar Narvaez for at least another month following his early season calf strain.

Sherman notes that, while the club’s initial plan is to send Sanchez to Triple-A Syracuse, the club hopes to help him rediscover the offensive prowess that made him a quality regular behind the plate over the past several years after Sanchez slashed just .164/.319/.182 in 69 plate appearances with the Giants at the Triple-A level.

A renaissance from Sanchez would be a major boon to a Mets club with World Series aspirations but a 17-18 record in the early going this season, particularly given the club’s early season struggles to find production behind the plate. Mets catchers have combined for a wRC+ of just 29 so far this season, the worst figure in the majors to this point. Long considered among the top prospects in all of baseball, Alvarez could certainly help to boost the club’s production behind the plate in theory, but his .220/.264/.320 slash line in 53 big league plate appearances this season suggests the 21-year-old may not be ready for a starting role in the majors just yet.

Angels Interested In Gary Sánchez

By Darragh McDonald | May 3, 2023 at 9:06pm CDT

The Angels are among the clubs that have interest in free agent catcher Gary Sánchez, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Sanchez, 30, had previously been with the Giants on a minor league deal. He would have earned a $4MM salary if he made the club but he also had an opt-out on May 1 if he didn’t. He hit just .164/.319/.182 for the River Cats and then triggered that opt-out after the Giants declined to give him a roster spot.

Despite that rough showing, it’s not terribly surprising that the the Angels would have interest, given their uncertainty behind the plate. Logan O’Hoppe was off to a hot start through the first few weeks of the season but was recently diagnosed with a torn labrum in his left shoulder that will keep him out of action for the next four to six months. Max Stassi began the year on the injured list due to a hip injury but has also been waylaid by an unknown personal issue and has no timeline for return, per Sam Blum of The Athletic.

That’s left the club with Chad Wallach and Matt Thaiss as the only healthy backstops on the roster. Wallach is hitting an excellent .261/.292/.522 on the year for a 121 wRC+ but in a small sample of 24 plate appearances. His career batting line is a much more modest .203/.267/.316, leading to a 61 wRC+. It’s somewhat similar for Thaiss, who is slashing .207/.343/.379 this year for a 108 wRC+ but his .205/.304/.374 career slash translates to an 84 wRC+.

Sanchez has struggled in recent years and so far this season but was once one of the most potent backstops in the game. From 2016 to 2019, he hit 105 home runs and produced a line of .247/.328/.518 and a 123 wRC+. Unfortunately, his 25.2% strikeout rate in that time spiked to 29.5% in the 2020-2022 stretch. He still hit 49 home runs but his diminished .195/.287/.394 line amounted to a wRC+ of just 90 in that time. He’s long received shaky reviews for his defense but he was considered above average by Defensive Runs Saved last year in addition to getting strong marks for his framing from both FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus.

Neither Thaiss nor Wallach can be optioned, so the Halos would likely be looking at cutting one of them if they gave a spot to Sanchez. But since he had to settle for a minor league deal last time he was on the market and didn’t perform especially well, he might be looking at another minor deal this time around unless injuries around the league have expanded the demand.

Gary Sánchez Opts Out Of Giants Deal

By Darragh McDonald | May 2, 2023 at 3:58pm CDT

The Giants are not adding catcher Gary Sánchez to their roster and he is exercising the opt-out in his contract, per Andrew Baggarly and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

Sánchez, 30, became a free agent for the first time this winter but lingered on the open market all the way through the end of March. At that point, he signed a minor league deal with the Giants which came with a $4MM salary if selected and an opt-out on May 1 if he wasn’t. Sánchez joined the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats for the past month but has hit just .164/.319/.182 in his 69 plate appearances there.

The Giants aren’t exactly loaded at catcher, as they’ve lost Roberto Pérez to season-ending shoulder surgery. That’s left them with Blake Sabol and Joey Bart as the only backstops on the 40-man roster, the latter of whom has been dealing with a groin injury of late. Sabol is performing well on the year but is a Rule 5 pick who has just 21 games of major league experience under his belt so far.

They could probably use some extra help behind the plate but it’s fairly understandable that they didn’t want to pay that notable salary to Sánchez, given his struggles thus far this year and in past seasons as well. Though he once seemed like the top offensive catcher in the league, he’s hit just .195/.287/.394 since the end of the 2019 season, striking out in 29.5% of his plate appearances.

That being said, it seems likely Sánchez will find opportunities elsewhere, perhaps even a major league deal but certainly another minor league deal in a worst-case scenario. There are plenty of clubs around the league that are dealing with catcher injuries who would likely take a shot on him. Though he hasn’t been considered a strong defender in his career, he showed positive developments in that department last year. Though his offense hasn’t been as strong in recent years, he can still add some power from the position. In that 2020-2022 stretch when he wasn’t hitting so well, he still launched 49 home runs in three years, one of them being only 60 games long.

14 Veterans With Upcoming Opportunity To Opt Out Of Minor League Deals

By Anthony Franco | April 28, 2023 at 4:30pm CDT

As part of last year’s collective bargaining agreement, MLB and the Players Association agreed to a few automatic opt-out dates for some veteran players on minor league contracts. Article XX(B) free agents — players with over six years of MLB service who finished the preceding season on a big league roster — who sign minor league contracts more than ten days before Opening Day now receive three uniform chances to retest free agency if they’re not added to the majors.

The first comes five days before the start of the season. For players who pass on that initial opt-out, they have additional windows to explore the open market on both May 1 and June 1 if they’ve yet to secure a spot on the 40-man roster. As that second opt-out date nears, it’s worth checking in on a few players with opt-outs under the CBA. We’ll also look at a few players who don’t meet those criteria but reportedly negotiated forthcoming opt-out dates into their own non-roster deals.

Reds RHP Chase Anderson

Anderson was an Article XX(B) player who passed on his first opt-out chance. The 35-year-old finished last season with nine outings (seven starts) for the Reds, allowing a 6.38 ERA in 24 innings. He returned to the organization and has started five games for their top affiliate in Louisville. He carries a 4.30 ERA over 23 frames with a modest 19% strikeout rate while walking 13% of opposing hitters. It’s not a great first few weeks but the Reds don’t have much certainty behind their top three starters. Connor Overton is on the injured list, while Luis Cessa has been rocked for 20 runs in 16 2/3 innings.

Angels RHP Chris Devenski

Devenski also forewent his Spring Training opt-out. The 32-year-old accepted a season-opening assignment to Triple-A Salt Lake, where he’s made seven relief outings. In nine innings, he’s allowed four runs with nine strikeouts and three walks. It’s a decent if not overwhelming performance. Devenski was an elite multi-inning relief option for the Astros between 2016-17 but he’s battled injuries and performance fluctuations since then. He threw 14 2/3 MLB innings between the Diamondbacks and Phillies last year, allowing an 8.59 ERA with a modest 17.5% strikeout rate but only walking one of the 67 hitters he faced. The Angels have a number of relievers who can’t be optioned to the minor leagues, perhaps reducing their flexibility to add another player of that ilk in Devenski.

Nationals LHP Sean Doolittle

Doolittle bypassed an opt-out chance in Spring Training after returning to Washington over the winter. He’s spent the year on the injured list as he continues to work back from last summer’s internal brace UCL surgery. The veteran threw a live batting practice session this week and could see game action in the not too distant future (via MLB.com injury tracker). It stands to reason he’ll stick with the Nats.

Rangers LHP Danny Duffy, OF Rafael Ortega

Duffy has spent the season on the injured list. He’s working back from forearm issues that have prevented him from throwing a major league pitch since July 2021. He already passed on a Spring Training opt-out and seems likely to do so again.

Ortega built an April 29 opt-out date into the minor league deal he signed with the Rangers earlier this month. He’d spent the spring in camp with the Yankees but didn’t crack New York’s roster and retested the market. Since signing with Texas, he’s played 17 games for Triple-A Round Rock. He carries a middling .219/.324/.313 line with one homer through 74 plate appearances. He’s drawing plenty of walks but not hitting for power and striking out a little more often than he has in recent seasons.

The lefty-hitting outfielder is coming off a reasonable .241/.331/.358 showing for the Cubs in 2022. He’s capable of playing all three outfield spots but is probably best suited for a corner. Texas has gotten strong early-season work from minor league signee Travis Jankowski and has Adolis García and Leody Taveras penciled into starting roles. The Rangers haven’t gotten much production from any of their left field options aside from Jankowski, though, and it’s questionable how long the journeyman can keep up anything approaching his current .340/.415/.447 pace.

Rays OF Ben Gamel

Gamel, 31 next month, has been a decent left-handed platoon outfielder in recent seasons. He typically hits around a league average level, including a .232/.324/.369 line over 115 games with the Pirates last year. After signing with the Rays, he’s off to a .217/.316/.406 start in 79 plate appearances at Triple-A Durham. He’s walking at a customarily strong 12.7% clip but has gone down on strikes in more than 30% of his trips. Left-handed hitting outfielders Josh Lowe and Luke Raley have had excellent starts for Tampa Bay, which could make it hard for Gamel to play his way into the MLB mix anytime soon.

White Sox OF Billy Hamilton

Hamilton, 32, returned for a second stint with the White Sox over the winter. He’s appeared in 14 games with Triple-A Charlotte but hasn’t produced, stumbling to a .150/.292/.175 batting line. The speedster has been successful on all three of his stolen base attempts but likely needs to show a little more at the plate to earn the pinch-running/defensive specialist role he’s played for a number of teams over the past four-plus seasons. The White Sox recently selected Adam Haseley onto the MLB roster to serve as a glove-first fourth outfielder.

Phillies RHP Jeff Hoffman

Hoffman didn’t sign early enough to receive the automatic opt-out for Article XX(B) free agents. He negotiated opt-out chances on both May 1 and July 1 into his April deal with the Phils. The righty has pitched seven times for their top affiliate in Lehigh Valley, allowing eight runs across 7 2/3 innings. He’s punched out 13 hitters but handed out five free passes. Hoffman had a reasonable 3.83 ERA through 44 2/3 frames for the Reds last season, missing bats at a league average rate but walking nearly 12% of his opponents. The Phils only have three out of eight relievers who can’t be optioned to the minors, giving them some room to add the veteran if they’re intrigued by Hoffman’s swing-and-miss capabilities.

Brewers OF Tyler Naquin

Naquin was an Article XX(B) free agent who didn’t break camp with the big league club. He split the 2022 campaign between the Reds and Mets, combining to hit .229/.282/.423 over 334 trips to the plate. The left-handed hitting outfielder has played in 12 games for Triple-A Nashville, hitting .273/.319/.409. He’s not hitting for much power in the early going and has never been one to take too many walks. Naquin spent a bit of time on the injured list this month but was reinstated earlier in the week.

Milwaukee lost center fielder Garrett Mitchell to a season-threatening shoulder procedure and has gotten middling offensive production from rookie outfielder Joey Wiemer. They’re soon to welcome Tyrone Taylor back from the injured list, though, and Naquin’s serviceable but unexceptional Triple-A production may not force the front office’s hand.

Tigers RHP Trevor Rosenthal

Rosenthal has had his last couple seasons washed away by injury. He lost 2021 to thoracic outlet syndrome and hip surgery, while his ’22 campaign was wiped out by hamstring and lat strains. The Tigers took a look at the one-time star closer in Spring Training and kept him in the organization with their highest affiliate in Toledo. Rosenthal pitched twice in the season’s first week before being placed on the minor league IL with a sprained throwing elbow. Jason Beck of MLB.com tweeted yesterday that Rosenthal is headed for physical therapy, suggesting he won’t be ready for game action in the near future.

Giants RHP Joe Ross, C Gary Sánchez

Ross is recovering from last June’s Tommy John surgery and will spend most of the year on the injured list. He bypassed his first opt-out chance in March and seems likely to do the same next week.

Sánchez’s May 1 opt-out was built into his contract, as he didn’t sign early enough to receive the automatic opt-out under the CBA. The general expectation was that the veteran backstop would play his way onto the big league roster. That was particularly true once San Francisco lost Roberto Pérez to a season-ending shoulder injury. Sánchez hasn’t done anything to force the issue with Triple-A Sacramento, though.

He’s hitting a woeful .191/.350/.213 without a home run and a 25% strikeout rate over 13 games. Sánchez connected on 16 longballs in the majors for the Twins last year but only reached base at a .282 clip. There’s a path to playing time behind the dish at Oracle Park. Still, Sánchez’s early performance hasn’t been what the organization envisioned. Promoting him would lock in the prorated portion of a $4MM salary for this season, which could prove a disincentive for the club.

Twins RHP Aaron Sanchez

Sanchez served a depth role for Minnesota last season, logging 60 innings over 15 outings (ten starts). He was tagged for a 6.60 ERA at the MLB level but performed well enough in Triple-A the organization brought him back. He’s started five games with St. Paul this season, logging 22 1/3 innings. While his 2.42 ERA is excellent, it belies a middling 19.2% strikeout percentage and a huge 17.2% walk rate. Minnesota has quite a bit more rotation depth than they did last summer and would probably look to players already on the 40-man roster (i.e. Simeon Woods Richardson and Louie Varland) before tabbing Sanchez if injuries necessitate.

Padres RHP Craig Stammen

Stammen suffered a capsule tear in his shoulder in Spring Training. The 39-year-old has spent the year on the injured list and has admitted the injury might unfortunately end his career.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Rays, Angels, Prospect Promotions

By Simon Hampton | April 12, 2023 at 11:59pm CDT

The MLB Trade Rumors Podcast has relaunched! Simon Hampton is now your host, and we’re very excited to bring the new show to you every week.

Episode 2 is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well; use this link to find the show on Spotify and this one for Apple. You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Simon Hampton is joined by Steve Adams to discuss a wide range of topics around the baseball world:

A look at the Rays hot start to the season, and why they’re impressing (1:03)
As Grayson Rodriguez debuts for the Orioles, Taj Bradley is called up to the Rays, and a raft of other highly touted young players make their mark on the season, we take a look at whether the new top prospect service time rules are working (7:47)
The Angels have made a solid start to the season, and with a deeper lineup and a promising rotation is this finally the year they get back to the playoffs? Or will their bullpen hold them back? (13:21)

Plus, we answer your questions, including:

Who will be a surprise seller at the deadline, and who’s a surprise player that could be made available? (18:33)
Is Gary Sanchez the answer to providing a bit more thump in the Giants’ lineup? (23:08)
How will Francisco Alvarez do with the Mets? Will he force his way into the starting lineup on a regular basis, or will the Mets wind up sending him back to Triple-A and bringing in an external catcher? (25:55)

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

NL Notes: Alvarez, Chisholm, Sánchez

By Darragh McDonald | April 6, 2023 at 10:28am CDT

Mets catching prospect Francisco Álvarez is joining the club in case fellow backstop Omar Narváez has to go on the injured list, per a report from Mike Puma and Ted Holmlund of The New York Post. The latter was removed from yesterday’s game with calf tightness and replaced by Tomás Nido. The Mets will have an extra day to let Narváez rest and assess the situation since their home opener was postponed until tomorrow due to inclement weather, though Andy Martino of SNY adds that the club is not optimistic about Narváez avoiding the IL.

Álvarez, 21, is one of the top prospects in the sport and is generally considered to be ready for the majors when it comes to his offense. He hit 27 home runs in the minors last year and also walked in 14.1% of his plate appearances, leading to a .260/.374/.511 and 136 wRC+. He also got promoted to the big leagues late in the year, getting into five regular season games and one postseason contest. He’s currently ranked among the top 10 prospects in the league by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, and just outside the top 10 at FanGraphs.

However, he’s still quite young and his glove is considered to be a bit behind his bat. He also struggled a bit in spring on the heels of October ankle surgery. All those factors led the club to option him to Triple-A to start the season, relying on the more established players in Narváez and Nido. If the tightness in Narváez’s calf doesn’t clear up and he needs a spell on the injured list, Álvarez might get another crack at the big leagues sooner than expected.

Some more notes from the National League…

The Marlins got a bit of a scare yesterday when outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. departed their game against the Twins with an apparent injury. While sliding into second base on an attempted steal, his shoulder collided with the leg of Kyle Farmer. Chisholm was in obvious pain and left the contest after a visit from the trainer. The club later announced Chisholm’s injury as a stinger and listed him as day-to-day, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. A “stinger” is a burning or stinging sensation of the nerves in the neck and shoulder area. Though the initial situation may have caused some hearts to skip a few beats, it seems he’s avoided a significant injury, which is great news for the club. Chisholm had a huge breakout last year, hitting .254/.325/.535 for a wRC+ of 139, though he was limited to 60 games by a stress fracture in his back. He’s now attempting to make the challenging transition from second base to center field this year, an experiment that might be put on hold for a few days. Bryan De La Cruz replaced Chisholm in center yesterday and could get more time there, though Jesús Sánchez and Garrett Hampson could also be options.
The Giants recently brought Gary Sánchez aboard on a minor league deal to bolster their catching depth and president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi spoke to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle about the move this week. “We’re excited to see how he does,” Zaidi said. “At his best, he’s been one of the handful of best offensive catchers in baseball. If he can show signs of that kind of feeling, I think he can really be an impactful addition.” Sánchez hit .284/.354/.568 in 2016 and 2017 for a wRC+ of 143 but has fallen off from those heights in subsequent years. Since the signing, Joey Bart went on the injured list due to back tightness but isn’t expected to be gone long. In the meantime, Roberto Pérez and Blake Sabol are handling the catching duties, though Sabol is also playing some outfield and Zaidi admits that Pérez is “not an everyday player at this stage of his career, and we have to make sure that whoever we have complementing him can carry a pretty big workload as well.” The club will have to make a decision on Sánchez fairly soon, as he has a May 1 opt-out on his contract, which would come with a $4MM salary if added to the big league club. “We have a few weeks before we have to make a decision. It’s all about: Does he have the chance to bring it all together?” Zaidi said. “And if he does, it’d be pretty good.”

NL Notes: Giants, Hendricks, Lewis

By Nick Deeds | April 2, 2023 at 9:41am CDT

Giants manager Gabe Kapler recently discussed the club’s current catching situation following San Francisco’s signing of Gary Sanchez on a minor league deal, telling reporters (including Maria Guardado of MLB.com) that the club views the Sanchez signing as “a good opportunity for us to add some depth on a guy that we feel like has a chance to make a contribution at the Major League level at some point.”

If Sanchez is going to contribute to the major league Giants this season, it will likely come before May 1, when he will have the opportunity to opt out of his deal with the club if he hasn’t already been added to the team’s active roster. Still, that outcome certainly seems to be within the realm of possibility. Though the Giants opened the season with three catchers on their roster, the Giants have previously indicated that their current catching situation may not stick deep into the season.

Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol’s positional versatility will hold less value when outfielders Austin Slater and Mitch Haniger are ready to return from the injured list. Meanwhile Joey Bart, who the Giants selected with the second overall pick of the 2018 draft, has struggled all throughout his MLB career to this point. He’s posted a wRC+ of just 84 in 133 big league games, with a whopping 38% strikeout rate. Kapler noted Bart could still be significant part of the club’s future in spite of his past struggles saying “it’s absolutely the best outcome” if the 26 year-old is able to establish himself as the Giants’ everyday catcher going forward. However, with Bart dealing with back tightness to open the season and the club’s fluid catching situation, it’s an open question whether or not he’ll be able to do that early in this season.

All that potentially opens the door for Sanchez, a bat-first catcher who Kapler notes has been improving on defense in recent years and could complement the glove-first Roberto Perez nicely in a potential catching tandem, should the Giants indeed shift to a roster that features only two catchers later this season.

Giants Sign Gary Sanchez To Minor League Deal

By Steve Adams | April 1, 2023 at 12:30pm CDT

April 1: The Giants have announced the signing.

March 31: The Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free-agent catcher Gary Sanchez, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter link). Sanchez will make a salary of $4MM if he cracks the major league team, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal is pending a physical. Sanchez, a client of the MDR Sports Management, can opt out of his contract if he’s not in the big leagues by May 1. For now, he’ll head to the team’s spring facility to get some extra work in extended spring training.

Sanchez, 30, spent the 2022 season with the Twins after being traded to Minnesota alongside Gio Urshela in the deal that sent Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt to the Bronx. It was the first season Sanchez had ever spent with another organization, and while his oft-panned defensive ratings improved considerably with the Twins, his bat was nowhere near its peak levels.

In 471 plate appearances with Minnesota, Sanchez slashed .205/.282/.377 with 16 home runs and 24 doubles. His strikeout rate, while down from its peak level, was still a bloated 28.9%. Sanchez’s production against lefties, or lack thereof, was particularly problematic. In 126 plate appearances, he slashed just .165/.270/.284.

Sanchez’s peak seasons in 2016-17 and 2019 feel like a distant memory. Even with a lost 2018 season sandwiched in the middle of those three standout years, he batted a combined .247/.329/.518 over that stretch, averaging 26 homers per season (and 46 homers per 162 games played). In the three years since, he’s turned in a combined .195/.287/.394 batting line.

As previously noted, Sanchez’s glovework did appear to be on the upswing in Minnesota. Twins brass was regularly complementary of the work that he put in, and Defensive Runs Saved went from dinging him at a -10 clip in 2021 to crediting him at +1 in 2022. Sanchez also posted positive pitch-framing grades per both FanGraphs and Statcast, and his 28% caught-stealing rate was a few ticks higher than the league-average 25%. On the whole, it was arguably the best defensive showing of his career.

For the Giants, adding further depth behind the plate is sensible, given the general struggles of former No. 2 overall pick Joey Bart and the lack of clear alternatives behind him. Veteran Roberto Perez opens the season as the other backstop on the big league roster, along with Rule 5 catcher/outfielder Blake Sabol. San Francisco also has veteran Austin Wynns in Triple-A. Sanchez figures to eventually join him.

Bart, now 26 years old, was hailed as one of the sport’s top prospects from the moment he was drafted in 2018, but in parts of three MLB seasons he’s batted .222/.294/.351 with a sky-high 38% strikeout rate. He’s been vastly better in relatively limited Triple-A action, batting .293/.358/.464 in 310 plate appearances, but he’s yet to carry any of that production over to the big leagues.

The 2023 season will be a crucial one for Bart, who’s entering his final minor league option season. The extent to which he’s able to develop will have major long-term ramifications for the organization as a whole. Sanchez gives them another short-term alternative and a possible replacement in the event of an injury, but it’s unlikely he’ll supplant Bart behind the dish anytime soon, as the Giants likely feel they need to give Bart as much opportunity as possible before determining whether a long-term switch is merited.

Brewers Notes: Voit, Sanchez, Miley

By Anthony Franco | March 9, 2023 at 12:00am CDT

Luke Voit has been a member of the Brewers organization for just a few weeks. The former home run leader signed a minor league deal a couple weeks ago, getting an opportunity to audition for a roster spot early in Spring Training.

The Brewers will have to make that call relatively early into exhibition play. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Voit would be able to opt out of the deal next Thursday if he’s not added to the big league roster. According to Sherman, Voit’s deal would come with a $2MM base salary if he makes the MLB club.

While that’s far from an exorbitant sum, it remains to be seen whether Milwaukee feels there’ll be sufficient at-bats for Voit to warrant a spot. Keston Hiura is on hand as an in-house option with a similar power-oriented skillset from the right side. Hiura has run exorbitant strikeout tallies over the past few years but he’s flashed impact power upside. The former ninth overall pick connected on 14 home runs with a quality .222 ISO (slugging minus batting average) in just 80 games last season.

Voit and Hiura are seemingly jockeying for reps as a right-handed complement to lefty-swinging first base/DH options Rowdy Tellez and Jesse Winker. Both Hiura and Voit have actually fared worse against left-handed pitching than righties over the course of their careers. Tellez and especially Winker have had more traditional splits, however, with both handling righties better over the years. While neither Voit nor Hiura has functioned as a traditional lefty masher, they each offer some righty pop to help balance the order.

Adding some power from that side of the dish was apparently a goal for Milwaukee. To that end, Sherman writes that the Brew Crew had checked in with free agent catcher Gary Sánchez earlier in the offseason. Milwaukee subsequently acquired their new backstop, William Contreras, from the Braves as part of the three-team Sean Murphy trade. That swap landed the Brewers five seasons of control over a player they hope to be the long-term answer behind the dish at the cost of center field prospect Esteury Ruiz, who went to Oakland.

Sánchez still has yet to put pen to paper despite reports of interest from the likes of the Angels and Giants in recent months. He’s one of the top unsigned hitters available. Milwaukee no longer has a need for MLB catching, as the duo of Contreras and Víctor Caratini will handle the load. Milwaukee brought in Payton Henry from the Marlins in a low-profile trade to serve as the #3 option. There’s no indication Sánchez remains on the radar as a result, though he could be of interest to any number of teams if he’s willing to take a minor league deal at this stage of the winter.

A bat-first catcher for most of his time with the Yankees, Sánchez flipped the script to an extent during his lone season in Minnesota last year. He hit 16 homers but with a fairly modest .205/.282/.377 overall showing through 471 trips to the plate. That was among the worst full-season offensive performances of his career but he received roughly average grades for his pitch framing and ball-blocking from Statcast.

While Sánchez’s destination is still to be determined, there are no such questions with starter Wade Miley. The Brewers brought him back on a one-year, $4.5MM guarantee shortly after the calendar flipped to 2023. It’ll be season number 13 for the 36-year-old southpaw, who acknowledged he thought at points this offseason his career might be over.

“I was so unsure at the end of the year for what was next,” Miley told Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “I wanted to get my shoulder healthy. I did a little program right after the season was over and it didn’t feel good at all. I did it for four weeks and it was awful. That’s when I went into – I wouldn’t call it depressed mode, but I was like ’it’s not worth it.’ At that moment, I was like, ’I think we’re done.’ Me and my wife talked, and I said, ‘I think this might be it.’”

Miley is coming off a season in which shoulder issues kept him to only nine appearances with the Cubs. Fortunately, he says his arm feels good after an offseason of rest and he felt comfortable giving things another go. Miley figures to take a back-end rotation role in Milwaukee, offering some veteran depth behind Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta and Eric Lauer. That takes on added importance for the Brew Crew after spring injuries to Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander have thinned the depth beyond Miley and #6 starter Adrian Houser. As for his long-term outlook, Miley told Nightengale “I guess as long as (teams) keep calling, I’ll keep playing.”

The Red Sox’s Catching Question

By Anthony Franco | March 1, 2023 at 9:40pm CDT

For the first time in a half-decade, the Red Sox enter a season with questions about who’ll take the lion’s share of playing time behind the plate. Christian Vázquez has been their Opening Day starter in each of the last five years. His trade to Houston at last summer’s deadline and subsequent three-year free agent signing with the Twins ensures Boston will have to find a new solution in 2023.

The Sox currently have just two catchers on their 40-man roster. Boston brought in Reese McGuire in a trade with the White Sox just hours after shipping Vázquez out last August. The former first-round draftee finished the season well, hitting .337/.377/.500 with a trio of home runs in 36 games with Boston. It was an excellent first impression for the 27-year-old (28 tomorrow) but an outlier in the broader context of his career. In 566 plate appearances between the Blue Jays and White Sox prior to the trade, McGuire had hit .241/.286/.359 with only nine longballs.

McGuire hasn’t had many consistent opportunities to get into a groove against MLB pitching. Before last season, he’d never appeared in even half a team’s games. He’s generally had a strong defensive reputation, though. McGuire has rated as an above-average pitch framer in each of the past two seasons, per Statcast. In just under 1600 career innings behind the dish, he’s thrown out a very strong 31.4% of would-be basestealers.

Connor Wong looks like the early favorite to split time with McGuire at Fenway Park. The other catcher on the 40-man, he’s only played in 33 big league games over the past two seasons. Part of the Mookie Betts trade return from the Dodgers, the 26-year-old Wong has put up an impressive .276/.327/.471 line in 131 games for Triple-A Worcester. That included a particularly strong .288/.349/.489 showing with 15 homers across 355 plate appearances for the WooSox last season.

There’s reason for optimism regarding both McGuire and Wong, though there’s obvious risk in relying on either as a regular considering neither have proven themselves over a full season against MLB competition. McGuire hits left-handed and Wong swings from the right side. That’d seemingly raise the possibility of mixing and matching based on pitcher handedness, though manager Alex Cora pushed back against that this afternoon. “It’s not a strict platoon situation,” Cora said (link via Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe). “Wong can hit righties, too, and Reese can hit lefties. We’ll see how we do it. We’ll see what the roster is and we’ll make decisions.”

The Sox shied away from any significant catching additions this offseason. Boston didn’t add anyone on a major league free agent deal or via trade. Former Marlin and Padre Jorge Alfaro was brought aboard via non-roster pact. Alfaro brings some more experience to camp and looks like the top depth option in the organization. That he was limited to minor league offers this winter hints at the strikeout and defensive questions that have dogged him throughout his career. Alfaro is a .256/.305/.396 hitter with a 34.1% strikeout rate in parts of seven MLB campaigns. He has excellent arm strength but typically posts below-average marks as a receiver.

Former top prospect Ronaldo Hernández and Caleb Hamilton, claimed off waivers from the Twins at the start of the offseason, are also in the organization as non-roster players. Each has upper level experience but has gone unclaimed on waivers this winter and seems clearly behind McGuire and Wong on the roster.

It’s possible Boston looks to augment the catching depth before Opening Day, perhaps by targeting a veteran currently on a minor league deal elsewhere but who doesn’t crack an MLB roster. The Guardians, as one example, have each of Cam Gallagher, Meibrys Viloria and Zack Collins on non-roster pacts battling for a backup job this spring. Gary Sánchez is the top remaining free agent catcher. However, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported last week the Red Sox hadn’t had any contact with their longtime division rival.

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