The Mets are deciding on the contract of veteran catcher Gary Sánchez, stories Andy Martino of SNY (Twitter hyperlink). He’s anticipated to be formally added to the roster earlier than tomorrow’s recreation in opposition to the Guardians. The Mets might want to create a spot on the 40-man roster earlier than the competition.
Sánchez signed a minor league take care of the Mets a bit of over every week in the past. It was his second non-roster pact of the season. He’d initially signed with the Giants shortly after Opening Day however by no means received an enormous league look due to important struggles with their high affiliate in Sacramento. He opted out and caught on with New York thereafter.
The 2-time All-Star’s take care of the Mets allowed him to decide out if he wasn’t added to the MLB roster by tomorrow. He’s fortuitously gotten out to a a lot better begin for his or her Triple-A membership in Syracuse than he had with Sacramento. He mashed at a .318/.531/.545 clip with a homer, two doubles, eight walks and 9 strikeouts in seven video games there. His general Triple-A batting line for the season is a modest .208/.386/.286 due to the robust first month, however he’s clearly acquitted himself properly in his temporary time together with his new group.
With the opt-out date looming, stories earlier within the week advised the Mets had been strongly contemplating calling Sánchez up. Now that they’ve carried out so, he’ll be assured a prorated $1.5MM wage (roughly $1.1MM by season’s finish). Even with the Mets paying a 110% tax on that determine, bringing their whole expenditure to round $2.31MM, that’s an affordable sum for a succesful #2 catcher.
Sánchez isn’t going to supplant highly-regarded rookie Francisco Álvarez because the starter. He’ll add an skilled depth choice to the bench, providing some further right-handed energy for skipper Buck Showalter. Sánchez isn’t any stranger to New York, after all, as he starred for the Yankees for the primary 4 seasons of his profession. His offensive manufacturing has fallen off for the reason that begin of 2020, as he carries a .195/.287/.394 line in a bit of beneath 1100 plate appearances by the previous three years.
A a lot maligned defensive catcher over his time within the Bronx, Sánchez garnered respectable evaluations from public metrics final yr throughout his lone season with the Twins. Statcast rated him round league common as a pitch framer and blocker. He threw out a stable 28% of tried basestealers. If he can carry over roughly common protection with some energy and plate self-discipline, he’d be a stable backup catcher.
New York is with out offseason signee Omar Narváez and anticipated backup Tomás Nido as a result of accidents. They’ve been counting on journeyman Michael Pérez as Álvarez’s backup of late. A profession .180/.250/.308 hitter, Pérez has one remaining minor league possibility yr. Until the Mets elect to hold three catchers, he’s prone to be optioned to Syracuse or designated for task.
