One of the more underrated Hot Stove terms? “Pref list.”
Clubs identify their need, they lay out all of the options to fill that need, and then, integrating the acquisition cost, they “pref” them out, in order of their pref-erence.
When it comes to the Yankees and catcher, the time has arrived to view the pref-list options a little differently. There should be only two:
Gary Sanchez.
Not Gary Sanchez.
And yes, I’d rank Sanchez himself second on this list. I suspect the Yankees ultimately will do the same.
Sanchez survived the Yankees’ roster shuffle Friday to set them up for the Rule 5 draft, Clint Frazier joining Greg Bird as Baby Bombers broke bad, the team designating him for assignment alongside Rougned Odor and Tyler Wade, with Nick Nelson and Donny Sands traded to the Phillies. With Wade, Greg Allen and Andrew Velazquez jettisoned in the last month, the Yankees are taking a most circuitous route to their stated goal of becoming more athletic.
Regardless, the Yankees clearly recognize they need to mix up their pool of position players, with Miguel Andujar and Luke Voit joining Sanchez on the endangered species list between now and the Dec. 2 non-tender deadline. Sanchez stands out because, as a catcher, he is the hardest to replace.
That reality compelled the Yankees to retain Sanchez a year ago, when the calls first began to let him go, let him go, turn away and slam the door. With their dollars dedicated to DJ LeMahieu, they passed on free agents J.T. Realmuto and James McCann and bet on Sanchez (and essentially their own ability to fix him) for $6.35 million.
The bet didn’t bust statistically and worked out far better than the Mets’ sizable investment in McCann. Sanchez improved his OPS+ from a dreadful 70 to 99, placing a tick below a league-average hitter, and his passed balls went from five in 41 games to eight in 110. The problem, however, came in how Sanchez reached his final numbers. He is to consistency what Rodney Dangerfield was to respect.
Consider that AL catchers averaged a .694 OPS in 2021, as per Baseball-Reference.com, and Sanchez posted a .730. Good for him, right? Now look at the month-by-month breakdown:
April: .639
May: .776
June: 1.035
July .595
August .582
September/October: .624
That’s four of the six months in which Sanchez performed 50 points or worse below the league average, his superb June covering his tracks. And of course, his defense provides just as much of a roller-coaster ride, with a worse final tally.
Compare that breakdown with Yan Gomes, arguably the best unsigned free-agent catcher. Gomes, 34, tallied a .723 OPS, seven points lower than Sanchez, as he split his 2021 season between the Nationals and A’s. His July (1.078) actually topped Sanchez’s June, if with far fewer plate appearances. More to the point, while his April (.556) ranked lower than any of Sanchez’s months, he exceeded .694 in three of the six months, adding a fourth (.646 in August) that surpassed Sanchez’s third-best month, April.
That jarring lack of consistency, a deficit that doesn’t emerge in any measure yet which the Yankees recognize, has shackled Sanchez to a greater narrative incorporating wrong assumptions about his work ethic and xenophobic criticisms over his innocuous (and collectively bargained) utilization of an interpreter during media interactions. It’s highly unfortunate, and the truth is that just as the Yankees could use a fresh start at catcher, so could Sanchez benefit from a reboot elsewhere, in front of an audience that didn’t witness his 2016-17 excellence and wonder what the heck happened.
In addition to Gomes, the thin free-agent group of catchers includes Roberto Perez, who performed poorly for Cleveland last season, and old pal Austin Romine, whose health and performance struggles the past two seasons validated the Yankees’ decision to keep Kyle Higashioka over him. Romine might have to settle for a minor league deal. The Yankees should make Higashioka a co-starter behind the plate and deploy their trademark arbitrage skills that just last summer unearthed Nestor Cortes Jr., Clay Holmes and Lucas Luetge to locate the other co-starter, be it one of the aforementioned free agents or someone else.
If finding diamonds in the rough ranks as a top organizational skill, the Yankees really must improve at developing their young players at the major league level. They experienced their own consistency deficit in 2021 because Gleyber Torres joined Frazier, Andujar and Sanchez as key pieces who struggled greatly. Perhaps the reshuffling of the coaching staff can smooth over this rough edge.
If Sanchez rediscovers his All-Star form elsewhere, the Yankees will live with the knowledge that they couldn’t put their Humpty Dumpty fully together again. It’s a risk they should assume comfortably. Sometimes you truly do add by subtracting.
Whoever “Not Sanchez” turns out to be, he and the Yankees can rest comfortably knowing that he won’t bring past drama and pinstripes expectations unmet into the equation. It’s a tantalizing enough possibility to make it the top pref on the Yankees’ list.