JAN. 13: The Pirates released Sanchez today, according to Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link).
JAN. 6: The Pirates announced that catcher Tony Sanchez has been designated for assignment in order to clear a spot on the roster for right-hander Neftali Feliz, whose reported one-year, $3.9MM contract with the Bucs is now official.
Sanchez, formerly selected with the fourth overall pick in the June draft (2009), received just nine plate appearances in the Majors this past season and has only 155 Major League plate appearances under his belt. In that time, he’s compiled a .259/.303/.378 batting line with four homers. Sanchez has been about average in his 51 big league contests in the eyes of pitch-framing metrics, but he’s also struggled to control the running game, throwing out just 17 percent of attempted base-stealers (5 of 30). Those throwing struggles have also existed at Triple-A in recent years, though his bat at the top minor league level has been better, as he owns a .248/.342/.415 batting line at the Triple-A level across parts of four seasons.
The 27-year-old Sanchez will now be in limbo for up to 10 days as the Pirates explore trade options. Pittsburgh can elect to place him on outright waivers at any time in that window, at which point clubs throughout the league will have the ability to claim him, in the reverse order of last year’s standings.
Maybe the Yankees can pick him up for depth… if Sanchez gets injured I sure as hell don’t want romine
You sure as hell don’t want Sanchez.
He’s a bum.
Just depth I don’t see him as a starting catcher at all
Not even just depth. If he can develop more in the minor leagues alongside Romine and G. Sanchez, I think he’d be a great pickup. The two Sanchez’s could make a great tandem.
I really like Tony, is a great option for depth hopefully he stays with the club but with the signing of an other catcher and Diaz performing well.. I bet he gets moved. at 500k hed make a fair back up for someone.
Sad to see T-SANs more than likely end of his Pirates career end the way it has. He seemed like a great clubhouse guy.
Also unless I’m mistake I believe this officially means that there are no remaining members of the 2009 draft class on the Pirates roster.
Looks like Jason Erickson is still in the system but he’s been in and out and injured.. i do not know if he’s pitched a live game in years.
This is the type of guy that the Rockies need to take a chance on. Which means there is absolutely no chance they will try to claim him.
Tony has power and he has shown signs of clutch hitting also, I think the Rockies would be a great fit or the M’s. Still hoping for a trade of a similar player back such as Jesus Montero.
That’s brutal. Surprising no club claimed him as a backup catcher.
Hope he gets a chance somewhere else. The guy never makes excuses or blames anyone but himself.
Sanchez would being winning attitude to the Brewers as a backup for Loucroy if he is traded might be there catcher till one comes up the pipeline