The Brewers are reportedly signing free agent catcher Gary Sánchez to one-year take care of mutual choice with a $7MM assure. The membership’s 40-man roster is full and a corresponding roster transfer will probably be required when the deal is made official.
Sánchez, 31, had a irritating time getting a job final 12 months however made probably the most of it when he lastly bought one. He initially signed a minor league take care of the Giants however opted out when that membership wouldn’t give him a roster spot. He landed one other minor league take care of the Mets and did get referred to as as much as the large leagues however was rapidly placed on waivers.
A declare by the Padres was the chance he wanted. He went on to take 260 plate appearances over 72 video games with San Diego, hitting 19 residence runs in that temporary time. His batting common and on-base proportion had been low, as his pretty regular for him, however his .218/.292/.500 batting line in that point nonetheless translated to a wRC+ of 115 indicating he was 15% higher than the league common hitter.
With Sánchez, the ability has at all times been there, however his protection has been extra questionable all through his profession. He appears to have improved over time, nonetheless. Defensive Runs Saved has given him constructive grades in every of the previous two years, together with a +7 mark in 2023. Every of FanGraphs, Statcast and Baseball Prospectus thought-about his pitch framing to be a constructive over the previous two seasons. His throwing arm has at all times been thought-about sturdy along with his blocking a weak point, although even his blocking grades have improved previously few seasons as effectively.
His sturdy marketing campaign in 2023 was lower brief when he suffered a wrist fracture in early September. Between that and the late begin, he solely bought into 72 contests with the Friars however nonetheless managed to provide 1.8 wins above substitute within the eyes of FanGraphs and a couple of.5 per the calculations of Baseball Reference.
When it comes to intangibles, his tenure with the Padres overlapped with the breakout of Blake Snell final 12 months. By 10 outings final 12 months, Snell had an earned run common of 5.04. However he posted a tiny 1.18 ERA over his last 22 begins, reducing his season ERA to 2.25 and incomes himself a second Cy Younger Award. Sánchez caught the primary 18 of these 22 video games, lacking the final 4 as a result of aforementioned wrist damage. Snell spoke positively of their relationship to Dennis Lin of The Athletic throughout the season.
Regardless of the sturdy season, there are issues with Sánchez. As talked about, he was a poor blocker earlier in his profession. He’s by no means been an enormous batting common or on-base man, aside from the very early components of his profession. Strikeouts have sometimes been an issue, along with his 26.8% profession price a couple of ticks north of typical averages. His energy additionally eluded him in 2022, as he hit simply 16 residence runs in 128 video games for the Twins that 12 months.
However general, the bundle has enchantment. Other than that energy outage with the Twins, he’s at all times hit 20-35 residence runs or has a minimum of has been on tempo to take action. The protection has been a wrestle however has improved over time. In each full season courting again to 2016, he’s produced a minimum of 1.3 fWAR. Even should you ignore the recent begin to his profession and take a look at 2018 to the current, he’s tenth amongst energetic catchers in fWAR.
He obtained curiosity from the Padres and Pirates this winter however will find yourself in an fascinating touchdown spot with the Brewers. They have already got a very good catcher in William Contreras. That maybe suggests Sánchez will probably be a kind of backup catcher however part-time designated hitter. The appropriate-handed-hitting Sánchez has pretty impartial platoon splits for his profession however was wonderful in opposition to southpaws final 12 months. He hit .267/.304/.680 in opposition to lefties, 162 wRC+, however .194/.282/.406 in opposition to righties for a 90 wRC+.
The Brewers have a bunch of outfielders and Sánchez could have to separate the DH time with them, however the platoon state of affairs may work effectively there. Every of Christian Yelich, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick and Jake Bauers hit from the left aspect. Maybe Sánchez may give Contreras the occasional breather behind the plate whereas additionally taking some at-bats away from that group by slotting in because the DH in opposition to powerful lefties. This signing could maybe bode poorly for Eric Haase, who was signed by the Brewers in December. He’s usually thought-about a bat-first catcher however struggled badly on the plate in 2023. He can even play the outfield however the Brewers have tons of fellows battling for jobs on the market. Since he’s out of choices, he could discover himself squeeze off the roster in some unspecified time in the future.
The Brewers have been fairly energetic in current weeks, signing Rhys Hoskins earlier than flipping Corbin Burnes to the Orioles for Joey Ortiz, DL Corridor and a draft choose, then signing Jakob Junis and now Sánchez. The subtraction of Burnes clearly weakens their rotation, together with the lack of Brandon Woodruff, who was non-tendered after requiring shoulder surgical procedure. However the additions of Hoskins and Sánchez, together with the approaching debut of middle discipline prospect Jackson Chourio, may have their offense making up a few of the distinction.
The membership solely allowed 647 runs final 12 months, the bottom within the majors, whereas their 728 runs scored was center of the pack. Maybe they may permit a couple of extra runs this 12 months but additionally rating a couple of extra. Then once more, based mostly on how busy they’ve been previously couple of weeks, they will not be finished making strikes. Roster Useful resource pegs their present payroll at $111MM, effectively under final 12 months’s $126MM determine.
Jon Heyman of The New York Put up first reported that the Brewers had been signing Sánchez and added the $7MM assure. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that there was a mutual choice for 2025.