SF Giants release former Yankees, Twins catcher Gary Sánchez

Former New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins catcher Gary Sánchez has been released by the SF Giants after exercising the opt-out in his deal.

Marc Delucchi | May 2, 2023

SF Giants release former Yankees, Twins catcher Gary Sánchez /

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San Francisco Giants

Former New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins catcher Gary Sánchez was released by the SF Giants on Monday. Sánchez signed a minor-league deal with the Giants in early April, and there was an expectation that he could quickly find his way to the MLB roster. However, he struggled mightily at Triple-A, hitting .164/.319/.182 with 19 strikeouts in 69 plate appearances. While he was cut by the organization, Andrew Baggarly and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that he exercised the May 1st opt-out in his contract.

Minnesota Twins catcher Gary Sanchez (24) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Chicago White Sox during the second inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. (2022) — Gary Sánchez celebrates in the dugout with his teammates on the Twins. (2022) / Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Sánchez was once a top young catcher in MLB with the Bronx Bombers. A former top-100 prospect, Sánchez exploded onto the majors as a rookie in 2016, hitting 20 home runs in just 53 games with an elite .299/.376/.657 triple-slash. Over the next three years, Sánchez racked up at least 30 home runs in a season twice and earned two All-Star selections.

However, the long-term effects of major shoulder surgery in 2018 took their toll on Sánchez over time. His already below-average defense behind the plate began to falter even more while his once standout power began to dissipate. Over the past three seasons, Sánchez hit just .195/.287/.394 with roughly 20 home runs per season (adjusting for the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign).

Sánchez is considered to be a subpar defensive backstop, but most publicly available defensive metrics have evaluated him surprisingly positively in recent years. Last season, he recorded his first positive framing metrics since 2018, the best-passed ball rate and fielding percentage of his career, and threw out a respectable 28% of opposing base stealers with the Twins.

While Sánchez could re-sign with the Giants on another minor-league deal, it seems like the organization will go in a different direction. Having already promoted 2020 first-round pick Patrick Bailey (Giants #21 prospect) received an early-season promotion to Triple-A, the SF Giants seem prepared to move forward with Bailey and Ricardo Genovés as their top catching depth in the upper minors.

Published May 2, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).