Giants, Gary Sánchez Agree to Minor League Contract

The San Francisco Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent catcher Gary Sánchez. Sánchez has previously played for the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants, and recently played for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.

The San Francisco Giants have agreed to a minor league contract with free agent catcher Gary Sánchez.

Giants, Gary Sanchez Agree To Minor League Deal https://t.co/QUDPPnMYHj pic.twitter.com/6UTU2nNhpk

— MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) March 31, 2023

Sánchez, 30, spent last season in Minnesota, hitting .205 in 128 games with the Twins. Before his stint in Minnesota, he spent parts of seven seasons with the Yankees, earning all-star nods in 2017 and 2019. He also recently played for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball classic.

Despite his run of success in New York, Sánchez fell out of favor with Yankees fans who grew tired of seeing his low batting averages and high strikeout totals. He hit .186, .232, .147 and .204 in his last four years with the Yankees. He was traded to the Twins before the 2022 season.

The above article provides proof that his defensive metrics were on the uptick in Minnesota last year, though.

"His defensive runs saved went from a-10 clip in 2021 to crediting him at +1 in 2022. Sanchez also posted positive pitch-framing grades per both FanGraphs and Statcast, and his 28% caught-stealing rate was a few ticks higher than the league-average 25 %"

The Giants will assign Sánchez to extended spring training and he can opt-out of his contract if he's not in the Major Leagues by May 1.

San Francisco could use the depth at catcher as former top prospect Joey Bart has struggled to run with the job, hitting .222 over parts of three seasons.

Veteran catcher Roberto Perez is also currently on the Giants roster.

San Francisco opened up the season with a 5-0 shutout loss at the Yankees. The two teams will play again on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. ET.