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Gary Sanchez

Yankees Reducing Gary Sanchez’s Playing Time

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Gary Sanchez gave Yankees fans hope when he launched a pair of homers in the season’s first two games, but he’s batting just .146/.281/.167 in 57 plate appearances since that time and is currently mired in a 2-for-28 slump. In light of those struggles, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone acknowledged last night that Kyle Higashioka will see increased playing time at the expense of some of Sanchez’s starts (link via the New York Post’s Dan Martin).

Boone declined to name Higashioka the new starter and said decisions on who’ll start behind the plate will be made on a “day-by-day” basis, but he made clear that Higashioka has “earned more playing time.” Higashioka has already drawn the start in four of Gerrit Cole’s five appearances this season, so it seems fair to assume that pairing will continue. Corey Kluber also had his best start of the season last night with Higashioka behind the dish, so perhaps that’ll set the tone moving forward. There’s no concrete definition of how playing time will be divided up, but at the very least fans ought to expect closer to even timeshare for now. Boone noted that he’s already spoken to Sanchez about Higashioka receiving increased playing time.

Of course, while Sanchez’s struggles are likely the primary driver of this shift in playing time, it also has to be emphasized that Higashioka has put himself into position for an increased role. He’s out to a strong start in 2021, hitting .320/.414/.880 with four homers and a pair of doubles through 29 trips to the plate.

The power may seem like a sudden development for the 30-year-old Higashioka, but that’s really not the case. He hit .250/.250/.521 with four homers in 48 plate appearances last year, and back in 2019 his ISO (slugging minus batting average) of .250 highlighted plenty of pop as well. Since Opening Day 2020, Higashioka is slashing .274/.312/.644 in 77 plate appearances.

Higashioka’s batted-ball profile gives some optimism that this isn’t a total small-sample fluke, too. Statcast credits him with 10 barreled balls in those 77 PAs dating back to 2019 and 13 in 134 PAs dating back to 2020. He’s being credited with a barrel in 9.7 percent of his plate appearances dating back to ’19 and 12.9 percent since the start of the 2020 season; either would rank among the game’s very best over a full season. It’s unlikely that Higashioka is going to continue to make premium contact at quite such a high level, but those results certainly merit a larger opportunity — particularly when his counterpart is struggling to this extent.

From a defensive standpoint, Higashioka is the superior of the two and is generally regarded as a plus defensive option. He’s drawn strong framing marks and positive totals in Defensive Runs Saved each season since 2018 in a limited workload, though his career 20 percent caught-stealing rate is below the league average of around 27 percent. Sanchez, to his credit, is at a hefty 32 percent in that regard, but he’s more prone to passed balls and draws inferior framing ratings to Higashioka. Catching coordinator Tanner Swanson told reporters yesterday that Higashioka’s defensive skills are “elite.”

The shuffle in playing time only further shines a spotlight on what has been a mounting issue for the Yankees for years. Sanchez’s ceiling is obviously an All-Star caliber slugger, but he’s been maddeningly inconsistent — to the point that the Yankees mulled whether to trade him or even perhaps non-tender him this past offseason. They opted to tender him a contract and eventually agreed to a one-year deal that pays Sanchez $6.35MM for the 2021 season. He’d be arbitration-eligible for a third and final time this winter, but the early shuffle behind the dish seems like a portent for greater change down the road.

If Higashioka struggles with an increased workload or goes down to injury, Sanchez may yet be given another opportunity to snap out of his current swoon and recapture his 2019 form. But if Higashioka proves capable of handling a larger role and/or Sanchez continues to struggle, the questions about Sanchez’s future will only grow louder. At the very least, taking a closer look at Higashioka now gives the Yankees more information on how to address the catcher position moving forward. Higashioka is controlled through 2024 via arbitration. Sanchez is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2022 season.

Gary Sanchez Leaves Yankees’ Game After Being Struck By Foul Tip

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2:15 pm: Sánchez has been diagnosed with a contusion on his index and middle fingers, but x-rays came back negative (via Hoch). He is currently listed as day-to-day.

2:08 pm: Yankees catcher Gary Sánchez was removed from this afternoon’s game against the Rays before the bottom of the fifth inning, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com was among those to relay (Twitter link). Sánchez was struck in the right hand by a foul tip in the prior inning. While he stayed in the game to take his next plate appearance, Sánchez was replaced by Kyle Higashioka thereafter.

There’s no indication Sánchez’s injury is serious at this point. If it does require he miss time, Higashioka would figure to pick up the bulk of the playing time behind the dish. Those two are the only catchers on the Yankees’ 40-man roster, so another move would be forthcoming if Sánchez isn’t able to make an immediate return to action.

Rob Brantly and Robinson Chirinos are both in the organization on minor-league deals, but the latter remains on the mend from surgery to repair a wrist fracture last month. That seemingly suggests Brantly is next in line should additional catching depth be required in the Bronx.

Quick Hits: Cronenworth, Realmuto, Kiermaier, G. Sanchez

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Even after agreeing to sign standout Korean infielder Ha-Seong Kim on Monday, the Padres aren’t planning to move 2020 NL Rookie of the Year contender Jake Cronenworth away from second base, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune hears. It’s unclear how the Padres will fit Kim in on a regular basis, then, as they have Cronenworth at second, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. and third baseman Manny Machado on the left side of their infield, and Eric Hosmer holding down first. But the Padres – like the division-rival Dodgers – are simply looking to stockpile as much talent as possible, per Acee, and will worry about who plays where when the time comes.  That strategy has worked for the stacked Dodgers, who have owned the National League West since 2013 and just took home a World Series title during the fall.

  • Almost two months into free agency, catcher J.T. Realmuto still hasn’t signed anywhere. However, he remains a priority for the Phillies and their new front office consisting of president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and general manager Sam Fuld, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. The Phillies’ goal of re-signing Realmuto is no surprise, as he continued his run as the majors’ premier catcher in their uniform over the previous two seasons, though it remains unclear how much the team is willing to spend this offseason. Arguably the top position player in free agency, MLBTR projects Realmuto will haul in a five-year, $125MM contract before the 2021 campaign. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco ran down potential fits for Realmuto this past weekend.
  • Blake Snell may not be the last high-profile veteran the Rays move in a trade this winter. Center fielder Kevin Kiermaier is now on the block, Bob Nightengale of USA Today suggests. It’s unknown if teams are interested in the soon-to-be 31-year-old Kiermaier, but even if they are, the three-time Gold Glove winner is not going to bring back a big-time return after a third straight below-average offensive season. With a guaranteed $26MM left on his contract (including a $2.5MM buyout for 2023), Kiermaier doesn’t possess a team-friendly deal.
  • The Yankees benched catcher Gary Sanchez in five of their seven playoff games during the fall, and he’s not sure of the reason. Sanchez told Marly Rivera of ESPN.com that “they never told me why I was benched. I didn’t know why I wasn’t playing.” Sanchez noted that he continued to support the team despite losing playing time to backup Kyle Higashioka – ace Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher – and he “had a respectful and very positive conversation with [manager Aaron] Boone” after the season. Sanchez was a trade/non-tender candidate earlier in the offseason, though the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman have stuck by him since then and may give the 28-year-old another shot as their starting catcher in 2021. While Sanchez batted a miserable .147/.253/.365 in 178 plate appearances last year, he was among the majors’ most productive offensive backstops as recently as 2019.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman On LeMahieu, Torres, Sanchez

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Yankees general manager Brian Cashman addressed some of the team’s important questions in an interview with Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network on Thursday (video link). Here are some of the highlights…

  • Cashman indicated the Yankees are intent on bringing back second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who’s among baseball’s elite free agents, but he isn’t sure if an agreement will come together. Although LeMahieu also has interest in returning to the team, Cashman doesn’t believe a deal is any closer to materializing than it was previously.
  • The Yankees aren’t yet focused on finding a contingency plan at second should they lose LeMahieu, who starred in their uniform from 2019-20 and is currently on the heels of an American League batting title-winning season in which he finished near the top of the AL MVP voting. Shortstop Gleyber Torres might be a fit for the keystone, though, as Cashman admitted, “I think he’s a better second baseman than shortstop.” While Cashman does believe Torres could continue at short, it’s unclear how the Yankees would handle the position should they place him back at second, where he played in the past. Ex-Yankee Didi Gregorius, Andrelton Simmons, Marcus Semien and Ha-Seong Kim are the premier free-agent options at short, while the Indians’ Francisco Lindor and the Rockies’ Trevor Story are a couple of potential trade tarrgets.
  • Catcher Gary Sanchez was mentioned as a possible non-tender candidate before last week’s deadline, but the Yankees instead kept him for a projected $5.1MM to $6.4MM arbitration salary. Cashman told Marakovits that the Yankees still believe in the 28-year-old, saying, “There’s certainly an anticipation and an expectation of a bounce-back for Gary Sanchez.” The GM noted that Sanchez was an All-Star in 2019 who’s perennially a 30-home run type, adding that he paced all major league catchers in exit velocity. “No one hit the ball harder at that position than he did,” said Cashman, who’s not ready to give up on Sanchez despite a season in which he slashed .147/.253/.365 in 178 plate appearances. To Sanchez’s credit, the two-time 30-home run hitter did continue to show off above-average power (10 HRs, .218 ISO). The Yankees have, however, shown interest in free agents James McCann and Yadier Molina this offseason; so, despite Cashman’s comments, they might not be fully committed to Sanchez going into 2021.

Yankees Will Tender Gary Sanchez

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The Yankees plan to tender a contract to catcher Gary Sanchez prior to tonight’s 7pm CT non-tender deadline, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.  As per the “37 percent” projection method used by MLBTR’s Matt Swart, Sanchez is projected to earn $5.5MM in his second trip through the arbitration process.

The idea of Sanchez as a non-tender candidate would have been unthinkable even a year ago, and yet it arose as a possibility in the wake of a disastrous 2020 season for the catcher.  Sanchez hit only .147/.253/.365 over 178 plate appearances, continued to struggle defensively, and saw Kyle Higashioka mostly assume starting catcher duties down the stretch and into the Yankees’ postseason run.

Coming on the heels of a down year in 2018 and even a 2019 season that saw Sanchez post big power numbers but a .232 batting average and .316 OBP, there was some thought that the Yankees might just cut ties entirely with the former All-Star.  With the Yankees rumored to be looking to duck under the luxury tax threshold, Sanchez’s salary would have been seen as expendable.

On the other hand, there was also sound reasoning in keeping Sanchez.  $5.5MM isn’t a big cost for a player (especially a catcher) with Sanchez’s power potential, and he was certainly far from the only notable star who struggled within the small sample size of the 60-game 2020 campaign and all of the unusual circumstances surrounding the season.  Getting rid of Sanchez would also mean that New York would’ve had to find a replacement behind the plate, which might have also been a costly endeavor unless the team signed a platoon-type to split time with Higashioka.

It still isn’t out the question that Sanchez could be traded before Opening Day, though finding a deal would be tricky.  The Yankees surely wouldn’t want to move Sanchez when his value is at its lowest, though rival teams also obviously wouldn’t want to pay a premium given the catcher’s rough year.

MLBTR Poll: Gary Sanchez’s Yankees Future

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By next Wednesday’s non-tender deadline, the Yankees will have to make a decision on how to proceed with Gary Sánchez. The 27-year-old (28 next week) originally signed with the New York organization as an international amateur back in 2009. He emerged as a top prospect and burst onto the MLB scene with an otherworldly final two months in 2016. He finished as runner-up in AL Rookie of the Year voting that year after hitting 20 home runs in just 229 plate appearances.

Sánchez backed that up with an elite 2017 season that saw him garner some down-ballot MVP support. After an injury-hampered, disappointing 2018 effort, Sánchez seemingly reemerged as one of the game’s premier catchers in 2019. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off completely in 2020, as he hit .147/.253/.365 with a woeful 36% strikeout rate. By the postseason, Sánchez had mostly fallen behind Kyle Higashioka on the depth chart.

He’s also drawn his share of criticism for his work behind the plate. Some of that is deserved, as his 52 passed balls over the past five seasons leads the sport. Sánchez generally rated as a slightly below-average pitch framer as well. But his rocket arm has helped him cut down 32.6% of attempted basestealers in his career, well above the league average of 27.2%. Altogether, he’s a generally average defensive catcher in the estimation of Defensive Runs Saved (although he did rate rather poorly in 2020).

So, how to proceed with a player who has had his share of ups and downs? Over his career, Sánchez has been plenty productive in the Bronx. His .236/.320/.502 career slash line works out to a 117 wRC+, indicating he’s been seventeen points better than the league average hitter. Among qualified catchers, only Yasmani Grandal has edged out Sánchez offensively since the latter broke into the league. Sánchez’s projected $5.1MM – $6.4MM arbitration salary would be a bargain if he can rediscover that form at the plate. But the backstop’s most recent season was atrocious, leaving the Yankees’ front office in a bind.

There isn’t another clear fit at catcher on the current roster. A team with World Series aspirations can’t feel comfortable turning the primary job over to Higashioka. Free agency offers a few options. J.T. Realmuto is the prize, but James McCann and Yadier Molina look like potential regulars. (The Yankees have shown some interest in Molina already). To non-tender Sánchez would be a tough blow, though, considering how recently he looked like a franchise cornerstone. They could explore the trade market, but Sánchez isn’t exactly teeming with surplus value, as Craig Edwards of FanGraphs recently explored.

Assuming opposing teams aren’t willing to give up much value in trade, where should GM Brian Cashman and the front office go from here?

(poll link for app users)

 

Yankees Willing To Listen To Trade Offers For Gary Sanchez

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A little under a month ago, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman suggested the club would evaluate the catcher position this offseason. That could put Gary Sanchez in jeopardy of remaining a Yankee in 2021. Now, according to Joel Sherman, Ken Davidoff and Dan Martin of the New York Post, the Yankees will at least listen to trade offers for Sanchez.

This development regarding Sanchez comes on the heels of a report saying the Yankees have interest in free agent Yadier Molina, a longtime Cardinal and potential Hall of Famer who would give New York a defensive upgrade at catcher. Of course, Molina is far older than Sanchez (38 to 27) and doesn’t possess as much offensive upside at this point of his career. Both players had subpar seasons at the plate in 2020 (82 wRC+ for Molina, 69 for Sanchez), but the powerful Sanchez was a well-above-average hitter as recently as 2019. He also began his career with a flourish from 2016-17 before a down year in ’18.

Should the Yankees decide to move on from Sanchez, they could also turn to J.T. Realmuto or James McCann in free agency. Realmuto may command a $100MM-plus contract, though, which checks in well north of the $5.1MM to $6.4MM Sanchez is projected to earn in arbitration this offseason. Sanchez also has arbitration eligibility for 2022, so it would be a risky move on the Yankees’ part to cut bait on an affordable, controllable backstop who has enjoyed a pretty successful, albeit uneven, career to this point. The only other catcher on their 40-man roster is Kyle Higashioka, a 30-year-old who owns a line of .186/.221/.381 (55 wRC+) through 204 major league plate appearances.

Examining The Yankees’ 2021 Payroll Situation

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The Yankees 2020 season was a success by most measures – except for the 2nd-place finish behind Tampa Bay. The Rays took them out in the postseason as well, which was particularly galling with a payroll that (for a full season) floated around $265MM. The Rays, by contrast, fielded a payroll of around $73MM. As opposed to the old days, when the Yankees division rivalry with the Red Sox might prompt a spending spree to put them over the top, the Rays pose a new kind of threat. The Yankees cannot delude themselves into thinking their loss in 2020 has anything at all to do with money. The Yankees have to explore the possibility of doing more with less.

If there’s a model for the Yankees to mimic, it’s the Dodgers more so than the Rays. Though, considering that Andrew Friedman – the architect of these Dodgers – came from the Rays, one could argue that modeling oneself after the Dodgers is mimicking the Rays. The Yankees – lest we forget – are no slouches themselves when it comes to roster construction. Besides, it’s not any easier to become the Rays overnight than it is to become the Yankees overnight. Still, signs point to the Yankees facing a dramatic cut in payroll, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Sherman suggests the Yankees will want to steer clear of exceeding the $210MM luxury tax line, which means taking a significant step back payroll-wise. Making it easier for GM Brian Cashman will be a whole slew of contracts coming off the books: James Paxton ($12.5MM), Masahiro Tanaka ($23MM), DJ LeMahieu ($12MM), J.A. Happ ($17MM), Jacoby Ellsbury ($5MM), and Brett Gardner ($7.5MM).

Taking into account potential arbitration raises, Sherman pegs the Yankees current 2021 payroll to be around $171MM, which leaves probably a little more than $30MM in payroll space if the Yankees do intend to stay south of the luxury tax line. Non-tendering or trading Gary Sanchez would save $5MM, but they would need to fill his roster spot in that case.

Otherwise, they need a middle infielder – or to bring LeMahieu back. If LeMeahieu leaves, they could explore the possibility of finding a glove-first shortstop to shore up the defense while moving Gleyber Torres to second. While it’s not fun to  consider the possibility of losing LeMahieu, they could probably withstand his departure, especially with Clint Frazier looking like a viable starting outfielder. Not to diminish LeMahieu’s importance – he is the batting champ, after all – but the Yankees would otherwise return most of a crew that scored the 4th-most runs in the majors in 2020.

As much as the Yankees like LeMahieu, they have greater need in the rotation – and the money crunch is real. If Tanaka were to, say, accept a qualifying offer, their available money gets cut in half pretty quickly. LeMahieu, meanwhile, is looking at a contract that nets him $20MM per season, if MLBTR readers are to be believed.

Gerrit Cole, Luis Severino, Deivi Garcia, Jordan Montgomery, Clarke Schmidt, and Domingo German provides manager Aaron Boone with a better group of rotation arms than many teams have, but they’re largely unproven (or coming off lost seasons in the case of Severino/German). Especially returning to a full 162-game season, depth is key in the rotation, a lesson Yankees’ fans know well. Without any additions, the Yankees would lean heavily on Cole for the second consecutive season. As good as he was this year, he can’t win a pennant all his own.

All that said, there could be some real bargains on the free agent market this winter. It’s an offseason unlike any we’ve ever seen before. With teams planning to cut payroll almost across the board because of the revenue losses caused by the pandemic, it’s hard to pinpoint any specific club that’s definitely going to spend big money. New York could explore moving some of their committed money – like the $13MM owed to Zack Britton and his 1.89 ERA in his final season on the books – but again, given the revenue losses all across baseball, there aren’t likely to be a lot of places to dump payroll.

Latest On The Catching Market, Realmuto, Sánchez

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J.T. Realmuto will be the best catcher on the free agent market this winter – and one of the best players of any measure. The two-time All-Star should have no shortage of potential suitors when the bidding begins. Though their opportunity to filibuster is nearing an end, the Phillies aren’t yielding the floor quite yet. Expect interim GM Ned Rice and President Andy MacPhail to continue their efforts to bring the Oklahoman back to Philadelphia. A true two-way serviceman like Realmuto with elite skills on both sides of the ball will wag the tails of more than a few executives around the game, however.

Realmuto will turn 30-years-old in March of next season, and any team that signs him will have to be aware of the threat the aging curve poses to his long-term productivity. And yet, it’s not as if we haven’t seen productive offensive catchers in the past. Similar performers of the past can provide insight into how well Realmuto may age as he enters his thirties (and how much he might be worth over the life of that next contract), which the Athletic’s Tim Britton explores. Looking at a collection of catchers with similar career arcs to Realmuto’s, Britton lands on either a four-year, $96MM deal or a six-year, $128MM deal as the proper valuation for Realmuto’s services moving forward.

It’s worth mentioning, Realmuto’s future viability could benefit from a rule change or two. If the designated hitter stays in the National League, for instance, Realmuto’s next club could keep him fresh into his thirties while still allowing his bat to play. He is one of the rare catchers whose bat could conceivably play at DH. But there’s also the possibility of electronic strike zones, which could lessen the detriment that aging has on a catcher’s defensive performance.

But electronic strike zones aren’t coming next season, and it’s hard to know when exactly they may enter everyday use. It’s that very issue that threatens the employability of bigger-body backstops like Gary Sánchez, Wilson Ramos, and Jorge Alfaro, writes Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Sherman provides this interesting insight from an anonymous executive, “When the automated strike zone comes maybe you can have a DH catch because framing will mean nothing or maybe if we give the catcher an earpiece and can feed him every pitch, game calling will mean nothing. But we are asking catchers to make 150 decisions a game and have deep relationships with every pitcher and more than ever you cannot throw the defensive component away.”

Each of Sánchez, Ramos, and Alfaro lost playing time down the stretch and in the playoffs to better defensive catchers. Sánchez in particular faced a rather public “benching.” As the playoffs wore on and Sánchez struggled to light a fuse at the plate, the Yankees increasingly went with Kyle Higashioka as their primary receiver. Sánchez has another round of arbitration this winter after making a full-scale salary of $5MM in 2020, but the Yankees are likely to try and move him before the contract tender date of December 2nd, writes Sherman.

Given the state of the game amid the pandemic, rampant revenue losses make for a more uncertain winter than any in recent memory. The number of teams capable of luring J.T. may be limited if the price for entry is in the neighborhood suggested by Britton. James McCann and Mike Zunino represent the “best of the rest,” though the trade market could add a player like Sánchez to grease the wheels. Take another look at our free agency preview, provided here by MLBTR’s Steve Adams, but it’s certainly going to be interesting to see the length, duration, and location of Realmuto’s next deal.

Yankees Will Evaluate Catcher Position

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The Yankees have largely stuck by catcher Gary Sanchez during what has been an up-and-down career, but it’s possible that could change before next season. Asked Wednesday about Sanchez’s status, general manager Brian Cashman was not willing to commit to him as the team’s No. 1 catcher going forward. Cashman said (via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com) that it’s “certainly a fair question” whether Sanchez will remain the Yankees’ main backstop. The Yankees plan to evaluate the position during the offseason.

Sanchez began his career with a flourish in 2016, smacking 20 home runs and slashing .299/.376/.557 in 229 plate appearances, but his offense and defense have been inconsistent since then. Sanchez was a big-hitting catcher as recently as 2019, but the 27-year-old slumped to a .147/.253/.365 line with 10 homers over 178 PA during this past regular season. He also led the AL in passed balls and finished in the majors’ 37th percentile in framing (per Statcast), though he did throw out a respectable 27 percent of would-be base stealers.

While the Yankees may be souring on Sanchez, whom they sat in the playoffs on multiple occasions, alternatives aren’t easy to find. J.T. Realmuto would represent an upgrade and a major splash on the open market, but the only starting-caliber catcher available after him in free agency will be James McCann. The Yankees do have Kyle Higashioka, ace Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher, on their roster, but he hasn’t shown he’s capable of an everyday role. So, barring a $100MM-plus Realmuto signing, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Yankees keep Sanchez on their roster for 2021 in his second year of arbitration eligibility. He earned a prorated $5MM this season.

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