The struggles of Gary Sanchez stayed in the spotlight all throughout the 2020 campaign, and reached a peak when manager Aaron Boone had no choice but to make backup Kyle Higashioka the starter once the postseason began.
It was a low for Sanchez that GM Brian Cashman and the Yanks never saw coming, and one that forced the long-time architect of the roster to say that all options were on the table because of Sanchez’s ineptitude in 2020.
But heading into this upcoming season, it’s still Sanchez’s job to lose, Cashman said.
“I think going into spring training, I would think he would be the heir apparent even though the season ended the way it did,” Cashman said Wednesday.
This might come as a surprise to some, but it really isn’t when you look at what the Yankees have been saying about Sanchez all along.
First of all, tendering him a new contract should definitely not come as a surprise. The options on the market were slim to find a new catcher, and Sanchez is still arbitration-eligible and under team control.
There’s also the fact that Sanchez really isn’t a bad ballplayer. He just didn’t find his swing in 2020, and Cashman said the “small sample size” of 60 games didn’t allow him to work through his slump. It’s a reason why he pushed to play in the Dominican Winter League to continue getting regular at-bats and work out the kinks.
Though the COVID-19 pandemic offers some challenge and risk there, Cashman said the Yankees were consulted by Sanchez about playing down in the DR, and they granted his wish.
“Our players have full reign if they so choose to play or not so we can’t prevent them,” Cashman explained. “Obviously Gary Sanchez wanted to knock the rust off and I think enter spring training feeling much better than he did when he exited our regular season. So he made the determination to play. He did ask our opinions of it and obviously the pluses are getting his confidence back and the pluses are staying in game shape. The risks are COVID, which would be whether you’re a player or walking around society. The risk will be there regardless. He made the decision to play. I don’t have a problem with it.”
Whether it’s the winter league or even spring training that turns Sanchez back into his old slugging self, the Yankees don’t care how it happens. But they are banking on him to return to his two-time All-Star form.
Make no mistake, though: Sanchez really needs to prove it this season, or he might face the same thing he saw in October with Higashioka behind the dish.
“We’re going to certainly bet on him returning to form, the All-Star caliber player he was prior to the 2020 season,” said Cashman. “I know some people might take that as an excuse, but we’re just making what we believe is a safe bet. But there is, at the same time, risk to it because Gary’s going to have to prove that 2020 was an aberration.”
In his sixth season last year, Sanchez produced a .147/.253/.365 slash line with 64 strikeouts, 10 homers and 24 RBI in 49 games for the pinstripes. Over the last three seasons total, one where he was an All-Star starter in 2019, “El Kraken” has a .200/.296/.453 line with 62 homers and 154 RBI total.