Orioles To Sign Gary Sanchez

The Orioles have agreed to a one-year deal with catcher Gary Sanchez, according to a report from Jon Heyman of The New York Post, who adds that the deal guarantees Sanchez $8.5MM. Sanchez is represented by MDR Sports Management.

Sanchez, who celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week, returns to the AL East after spending the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the Yankees. The first few years of his career saw him establish himself as one of the better offensive catchers in baseball with a .246/.328/.518 slash line in 327 games through the end of the 2019 season. In that time, he made two All-Star games and clobbered 105 home runs in 1576 plate appearances. That 30-to-35 homer power helped to make up for Sanchez’s middling defense behind the plate, but things took a turn for the worse when he starter to struggle on offense. After striking out at a 24.1% clip through the end of the 2019 season, his 2020-22 seasons saw that rate tick up to 29.5%. Meanwhile, Sanchez’s home run power began to suffer as he hit just 49 homers in 294 games. This period even saw his defense drop from roughly average to nearly unplayable, including a -12 figure in Statcast’s catcher defense metric during the 2021 season.

These struggles led the Yankees to trade Sanchez to the Twins prior to the 2022 season, where he continued to struggle at the plate but managed to bounce back a bit on defense. Sanchez then entered free agency but did not find a deal before the 2022 season began. He eventually signed with the Mets during the season but lasted just three games on the club’s roster before spending the rest of the season in a Padres uniform. With San Diego, Sanchez managed to bounce back and flash some of the power he had shown during his Yankees days, slashing .218/.292/.500 with 19 homers in just 260 plate appearances and a 114 wRC+. That earned Sanchez a guranteed deal in Milwaukee this past season, where he served as a back up for William Contreras at catcher and occasionally found his way into the first base/DH mix as well.

Since leaving the Bronx, Sanchez has generally had the look of a solid if unspectacular catching option. In that time, he’s slashed .212/.291/.412 with a 96 wRC+ that’s more or less in line with his production for the Brewers last year, and he’s done so while providing the roughly average defense he offered early in is career. That’s enough to make him a quality back up catching option for virtually any team, and he’ll take…