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.
man I remember when he was the next big catcher. He looked like a sure beast for years. can’t take this game for granted. you have to adjust when the league adjusts to you. makes you appreciate Gwynn ichiro rose
Sanchez has stated that he doesn’t enjoy the game and his minor league coaches used to say he was trying to get by on raw talent alone. The guy had a massive ego since the Yankees tossed all that cash at him to sign in 2009. It’s too bad because he had superstar potential and could have been part of the core to break the Yankee championship dry spell.
Take back what you said about Jake Lamb!
TAKE IT BACK!
Jake-Jake-Jake! BIG Jake! Jakety-Jakety-Jake!
Mikety-Mikety-MIKE-MIKE-MIKE!
Sho-HO-HO!
Redidy-Rendidy-Don-Don-Don! (pron. Doan-Doan-Doan)
What are you all smoking?
This new street drug that makes you type echos?
Whoah ! Easy on the Adderall my man. Moderation in all things !!!
Including moderation?
Adderal up, it comds out to an Angels win!
):8o
Maybe that’s their secret sauce! Nevin is probably perma-tweaked from all the greenies back in the day.
The Angels should sign him and start him tomorrow afternoon. He’ll probably go deep 4 times. Surrendering four bombs to a down and out Gary Sanchez would be par for the season for the Cards.
He’ll probably hit for the cycle.
Sanchez cycle.
Single at McDonalds
Double at Burger King
Triple at Wendy’s
Grand Slam at Denny’s
I’ve done all those, but not all at once.
If you stopped skipping leg days, maybe you could’ve been a ballplayer like the rest of us.
No way he is doing his double at BK if he goes to the Angels. He will get all his doubles at In and Out.
Here in LA, you missed an important one, I’d go with the double-double at In N Out instead of Burger King.. and then maybe a Triple burger at Carl’s Jr, but the Wendy’s is fine.
Of course they are…
It’s just so perfect.
What happened to their current bullpen catcher
He’s platooning with Wallach…
Sanchez ranked 12th among catchers last year w a CS Above Ave of 2. Stassi was 49th at a -3. And Wallach and Thaiss usually get one passed ball or allow a wild pitch per game if not 2 anyway.
Sanchez has always had an excellent arm and decent pop time. Where do the Angels rank in stolen bases allowed? Can’t seem to find it on Bref.
They rank 23rd w 3. And they’re also 27th in Wild Pitchew 15. I used the Fangraphs sortable leaderboards.
14th in total SB allowed at 20
3 is Caught Steals all yr
Those are not good rates especially with the running game up this season.
If anybody can fix Sanchez it feels like the Angels can.
I think he got fixed three years ago.
By the twins or by being dropped by the Yankees or?
Ah yes, if any organization is known for healing players and making them better, it’s the perennially underachieving Angels.
sign him , he’s better then matt thasis
They should have signed Chirinos. Maybe they can talk him out of retirement.
The Angels Offering a contract might have convinced him to retire…
Why?
Haha. They must be really desperate. I foresee a lot of strikeouts and passed balls coming
I’m still rooting for the Kraken!
Never rooted against him, boss.
I believe he actually hit 60 bombs in his first 162 big-league games.
But when Joe Gerardi got canned for demanding more of Gary than Gary demanded of himself, that was a red flag for me.
Nor I, he just disappointed more and more as time passed.great raw talent, but unable to consistently harness it.a shame.
It’s nothing new. Phil Hughes, Jesus Montero, Clint Frazier, Florial, etc. It’s why I never buy the hype on prospects. Even Dominguez.
The Seattle Kraken, right Bleacher?
Gary Sanchez has around 150 million reasons to pursue another MLB contract.
I’d rather they sign Michael Laurie Scioscia as a catcher at this point.
Phil Nevin was a Catcher when he played for the Angels, can’t be any worse behind the plate now than he is sitting in the dugout
If the article I read yesterday is any indication, its Perry’s fault the team has been so poorly managed this season. He was forcing Nevin to use some book he drew up, and Moreno basically “nah, stop that crap, let Nevin do his job”
kellin, where did you see that article? I would like to read it.
@angels – si.com/mlb/angels/.amp/news/tensions-reportedly-gr…
Thank you. I was not aware of Perry’s playbook or the friction it has caused between he and Nevin.
This came as a surprise to me, as well.
Last year Perry called Maddon in the dugout and told him who to play.
You don’t do that.
I think Nevin needs a dummy proof pen and Perry didn’t give him one. It’s a bad combination.
This team will go as far as the pen takes them. And I think they both need to be held accountable.
In the same week I watched Sanchez lumber after one of his passed balls, slowly enough that a runner scored from second. Then I saw him GIDP to end the game on a play the fielders juggled several times. Had he run even a little bit, he’d have been the tying run.
Good luck.
Please god no. No! Please no!
Noooooooooooooooooooo!
Heh heh heh heh..
HEH HEH HEH HEH!
Time to get Kraken!
Seems to me Wallach still can be optioned. He was optioned earlier to AAA so is it not the service time that matters?
I thought players could be optioned until they had 3 years service time? Baseball-Ref is out of date, but it appears he’s accrued more than 3 years at this point.
Trout might unlock his bat.
This headline literally made me bust out laughing out loud
Once The Fork has been stuck into a baseballer, it is a finality that must be accepted.
I’ve been watching Blake Sabol pretend to be a catcher for a month and apparently he is better than Sanchez. That’s rough, as watching Sabol try and block balls is one of the saddest things one can witness.
No wonder the Twins were so bad last year. None of their catchers and half their starting pitchers aren’t good enough to be in the league
Hey Angel fans, I know we tend to focus on our ugly losses but we’re actually playing pretty well. Our supporting cast is a lot more productive than past years, our starting pitching looked solid the last time through the rotation, and Nevin was forced to have our new closer close games. Take out those blown saves and we’re not looking too bad so far. Yes, we’ve lost 4 series, but that’s not too bad this early in the season
Things seem to have turned a corner in the last week. We’re about to sweep the Cardinals unless the pen completely blows up, and if this momentum continues we’ll be in first place come Sunday, whether we sweep or take the series.
I like what Wallach has been doing. Good at bats, making good contact. Is that sustainable? Probably not but I’m not sure Sanchez is the answer
Bring up Quero before adding Sanchez. If it actually gets to this point.
I’m wondering how closely people watched the game today. Thaiss is a horrible framer. There were pitches that may have been strikes and didn’t give the umpire a chance to call them strikes.
If Sanchez can frame, there is a place for him.
I think I’ve read recently that Sanchez had surprisingly good framing numbers last year with MN. He’s apparently upped his defensive game since NY. If Thaiss sticks, it’s going to be on the strength of his bat. To my eye, he’s poor defensively. While I don’t believe it’s sustainable, Thaiss and Wallach have hit well since O’hoppe went down.
If he can frame, I want him.
I get it. I have’t seen much of Sanchez but if what I’ve been reading is true… doesnt hustle, is a bit arrogant and has a lazy mentality towards self develppment I see this as a recipe for club house destruction. I think that risk is greater than the reward of framing pitches. Yankee fans will know much better than myself but I’ll go with hungry and youthful options if it were my choice to make.
Any word on Stassi? If the Angels are looking at Sanchez, I guess that means Stassi won’t be available anytime soon.
After watching Thaiss today, you don’t want him catching.
Your guess is as good as anyone’s on Stassi. He’s the one they should DFA when he comes back. No team will claim him thru waivers, with his injury history and contract. We do need another catcher for depth thou, we’re already on catcher 3 and 4.
Wallach and Thaiss actually have been serviceable believe it or not. The only down side for the 2 so far is, Thaiss’s behind the plate D for his 2 games a week back there, but all in all, not to bad.
I hope the only Angels interest in Sanchez was in fall in free agency. Sorry Sanchez, I don’t think you’re even an up grade over our current 3rd and 4th catchers we’re sporting now. So sad, but not really, you’ve made some nice cash in the game.