Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game could have been Gary Sanchez’s final appearance in a New York Yankees uniform.
Yes, the 28-year-old has one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining. But after ending the season in a platoon with Kyle Higashioka, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Yankees parted ways with Sanchez.
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Sure, Sanchez is a two-time All-Star. But he remains a defensive liability behind the plate and hasn’t hit above .232 since 2017.
If Sanchez becomes a free agent, it’s possible he could head to the Yankees South, aka the Miami Marlins. A trio of ex-Yankees run the show in South Florida: CEO Derek Jeter, general manager Kim Ng and manager Don Mattingly. The Miami Herald reports Mattingly said catcher is a concern for his ballclub.
“It’s an area we’re looking at,” he said last week. “It’s fairly safe to say it was some kind of message when we grabbed two catchers at the trade deadline and we also have Nick Fortes up here.”
Sanchez hitting the open market would add some juice to a weak crop of free-agent catchers. The headliner is Yan Gomes, the 34-year-old backstop who picked up a World Series ring in 2019 with the Washington Nationals and was traded to the Oakland A’s this summer.
As for Sanchez, his potential last appearance with the Yankees was less than overwhelming, coming off the bench in the eighth inning of Tuesday’s 6-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox and lining out to center before taking the field for the bottom half of the inning.
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Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com.
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