Brewers Sign Catcher (and Designated Hitter?) Gary Sánchez

[Matthew Trueblood]

The Brewers continued a surprising series of late-offseason moves Wednesday evening, inking a veteran backup catcher to replace... um, one of their two other veteran backup catchers?

Image courtesy of © Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sport

Ok, in reality, there's the outline of a good fit here. Jon Heyman had the news of the Brewers landing Gary Sánchez, though the terms of that deal aren't yet known.

It's surprising primarily in that, after losing Victor Caratini to Houston via free agency earlier this winter, the Brewers had already brought in Eric Haase (on a big-league deal) and Austin Nola (on a minor-league one) as depth at the position, behind presumed starter and long-term answer William Contreras. One of the team's top prospects, Jeferson Quero, is also a catcher, and could be ready to contribute in the big leagues by the end of this season.

Sánchez does have some traits to recommend him, though.

UPDATE: We have terms on the deal. It's a one-year, $7-million guarantee, with a mutual option for 2025. In short, Sánchez certainly isn't going to be in competition with Haase for a job. If anything, Haase will be scrambling to stay on the roster.

Gary Sanchez with Brewers: $7M. 1 year plus option.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 7, 2024

Though long maligned for his defensive skills behind the plate (especially his blocking of errant pitches) going all the way back to his time as a Yankees phenom, Sánchez has occasionally graded out well as a pitch framer and does a credible (though not exactly rave-drawing) job handling a pitching staff.

His real calling card, though, is power. For his career, he's swatted 173 home runs, fueling a 110 career wRC+. It's easy to envision a scenario in which he gets more playing time as the right-handed designated hitter and occasional first baseman than as an actual backstop. In that capacity, he could be plenty valuable. His greatest contributions, in a vacuum, would come as a catcher with all that slugging ability, but a DH masher against lefties who can also fill in behind the plate is a tactical weapon for new skipper Pat Murphy.

On a couple of levels, though, this raises some big questions. By now, it's clear that there has been at least one (and perhaps as many as three) internal veers in direction for the Crew this winter. If there hadn't been, we wouldn't be seeing them spend $7 million for a backup catcher, two months after watching their incumbent walk away for $1 million less per year and then trading two role players to the Mets to clear about $7 million more in salary.

We know, thanks to the interviews Corbin Burnes has given with the streaming talk show Foul Territory since the trade that sent him to the Baltimore Orioles, that that deal came as a surprise (and seemingly an unwelcome one) to Scott Boras and Rhys Hoskins, who agreed to a deal with the Brewers just a few days before Burnes was dealt. Could this be an olive branch? Does it demonstrate a sufficient commitment to winning in 2024 to mollify Hoskins, or any other members of the team who felt jilted by the sudden change in apparent tack?

That's possible, but it feels more like this is another move in a series of them that will start to feel like an avalanche--a downhill roll in which the team gathers freely available talent but also moves on abruptly from some players to whom the fan base was pretty attached. This is unlikely to signal a Contreras trade, but it sure creates an interesting semi-congestion at the catcher spot on the depth chart. It could presage a Willy Adames deal, with Sánchez's all-or-nothing right-handed stick taking over that role from Adames as new acquisition Joey Ortiz steps into the shortstop job.

Any way you slice it, spending $14 million on Jakob Junis and Sánchez in the few days following trading a franchise cornerstone like Burnes is strange. Something bigger is afoot. Either the Brewers are making a late move to be very competitive in 2024 and beyond (perhaps by unexpectedly signing a top-flight starter to a long-term deal?), or this is another lateral move in a complicated maneuver designed to keep them relevant in 2024 while focusing most of their energy on 2025-27. Sometime in the next few days, we're going to get answers to these questions, and see some of this wide swath of possibility eliminated. In the meantime, this one is a puzzler.

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What comes next for the Brewers? What do you think of Sánchez, and what will his role be? Let's break it down together.

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[jay87shot]

???? How does he make us better???? Obviously he is going to DH a bunch but by doing that Yeli plays the OF more and takes ab's from our young guys. 

Sanchez will be fine against lefties and should hit in AFF but he is a low BA/OBP and has no versatility. After the 40 games or so against lefties he is no better than the next man up.

We have now spent 20+ million on Junis, Sanchez, Bauer, Haase, Ross, Rae, Clarke . We could have just signed 1 or 2 good players and not had an excessive roster crunch (we have like 32 worthy guys to make the roster). On top of that we have traded for Bauer and Clarke and had to release Small, Andrews, and a player to named for Sanchez.

[Sugarrayray]

At least this makes me think they’ll get rid of Bauers, who for the life of me I don’t understand why he would be wanted on a major league roster.

They need someone to catch 40 to 45 games and a guy who can help DH against righties. This is not surprising to me and seems like a solid low risk signing. 
 

Obviously they have their salary level ballpark set before the season. I think their thinking is just because they had to get something for Burns, doesn’t mean they should ignore adding ok talent on the short term. Sometimes guys have an unexpectedly good first half and can be flipped at the tradeline. It does no harm and all of these deals are very short term.

I think a lot of people are also overlooking another thing. This is going to be the youngest lineup the Brewers have had in a while. Even if the Brewers internally decided to not try to compete at all this year, it behooves them to have a couple guys like Hoskins and Sanchez in the lineup, as having power hitters takes pressure off others to go all out and start pressing. I think this is exactly what happened to Sal Frelick the last month of the season when Counsell insisted in batting him in the 4th spot - he seemed to start pressing and trying to be a guy who drives runs in instead slapping the ball around and trying to get on base.

So adding short term power to the lineup is always a good thing - it’s valuable to the lineup and development of hitters and can also be used as a trade asset, albeit a minor one in this instance.

It’s certainly not like he’ll be blocking anyone. If Quero is pounding on the door midyear, they can trade Sanchez :)

[gregmag]

If Boras and Hoskins were really surprised by the Burnes trade, I suggest they learn to read.  If that take is coming from Burnes, then one of Boras or Burnes is likely just being a prima donna.  They both have plenty of experience.

[Sugarrayray]

Couldn’t have said it more accurately. Burnes is like a light weight Aaron Rodgers when it comes to that diva stuff. Very light weight but still this kinda spin is right up his and Boras’ alley.

[Rick Daltons Flamethrower]

[Jake McKibbin]

This is almost becoming a tryout of spring training, but a trio of Sanchez Contreras and Hoskins Vs lefties sounds quite nice

[Harold Hutchison]

Very interesting. Batting average hasn't cracked .230 since 2019, and the OBP skills are okay-ish, but it's not been above .300 the last two seasons.

Think Jahmai Jones will be the likely DFA candidate here. As for the 26-man... does Haase have any option years left?

[sveumrules]

13 hours ago, jay87shot said:

???? How does he make us better????

2023 Haase: -1.4 WAR

2023 Sanchez: 1.7 WAR

Among 32 catchers with at least 750 PAs since 2021 Sanchez ranks 15th with a 99 wRC+ and 13th with 4.6 WAR (same as Mitch Garver).

We just added a starting calibre catcher to be our backup.

[Trax]

I hope the writer is correct when he ends with something bigger may be afoot.  I'm thinking (hoping) that too.

That would be in terms of signing an ace starting pitcher, spending some real money.  Snell or Montgomery?  Likely not, but someone who is a MLB starting pitcher without any of the doubt we have with so many others.  

[Terry]

Never understand how Sanchez get so much hate, despite being above average offensively and defensively.

[jay87shot]

32 minutes ago, Terry said:

Never understand how Sanchez get so much hate, despite being above average offensively and defensively.

Sanchez has been bad since 2020, I get his war looks nice from last year. He was a hack defensively until 2022 and was cut from 2 teams last year before catching on with the Padres. Also a bunch of the hate comes from playing in NY and not living up to standards.

 

3 hours ago, sveumrules said:

2023 Haase: -1.4 WAR

2023 Sanchez: 1.7 WAR

Among 32 catchers with at least 750 PAs since 2021 Sanchez ranks 15th with a 99 wRC+ and 13th with 4.6 WAR (same as Mitch Garver).

We just added a starting calibre catcher to be our backup.

In general Haase was much worse than his previous years and Sanchez was much better. I am really looking at Sanchez as a DH. At best Sanchez is a personal catcher for someone and starts 30-40 games catching. I will concede that Sanchez is a better option than Haase but it's not massive in my opinion. My issue is that as a DH this worries me because this takes AB's from our young OF talent (less Yeli DH and more OF). If this is really a transition year taking ab's from Weimer, Mitchell, Chourio, and Frelick and giving then to Sanchez doesn't make sense. On top of that this likely send Haase to AAA taking AB's from Quero potentially. 

My biggest complaint is just the nickel and diming looking to find a needle in the rough for 1 year. This team has seemingly been 1 or 2 solid consistent bats. With the money Sanchez and Junis make we could have landed Justin Turner or a true DH like JD Martinez and solidified the lineup not just made backup catcher a bit better and added starting pitching depth (which we had a bunch of).

[eddiemathews]

I don't see as much of a negative as others. If he just replaces Haase on the roster, that's fine. I don't see much more than 300 PAs.

It could mean one of the young outfielders will be included in a trade somewhere. It certainly means that they will now have a pinch-hitter available with some pop.

BTW...trading Burnes had to happen. He was gone after this year for a comp pick. Now, they get (potentially) 12 years of mlb sevice from Hall and Ortiz, PLUS they still get a pick. And the pick is a year earlier. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 hours ago, eddiemathews said:

I don't see as much of a negative as others. If he just replaces Haase on the roster, that's fine. I don't see much more than 300 PAs.

It could mean one of the young outfielders will be included in a trade somewhere. It certainly means that they will now have a pinch-hitter available with some pop.

BTW...trading Burnes had to happen. He was gone after this year for a comp pick. Now, they get (potentially) 12 years of mlb sevice from Hall and Ortiz, PLUS they still get a pick. And the pick is a year earlier. 

Welcome to Brewer Fanatic!

[Jason Wang]

23 hours ago, jay87shot said:

???? How does he make us better???? Obviously he is going to DH a bunch but by doing that Yeli plays the OF more and takes ab's from our young guys. 

Sanchez will be fine against lefties and should hit in AFF but he is a low BA/OBP and has no versatility. After the 40 games or so against lefties he is no better than the next man up.

We have now spent 20+ million on Junis, Sanchez, Bauer, Haase, Ross, Rae, Clarke . We could have just signed 1 or 2 good players and not had an excessive roster crunch (we have like 32 worthy guys to make the roster). On top of that we have traded for Bauer and Clarke and had to release Small, Andrews, and a player to named for Sanchez.

This franchise has now gotten rid of Kolten Wong (5'7) and Clayton Andrews (5'6). I don't know why, it just doesn't seem like the team wants to be a serious contender. Everyone knows short kings make the best ballplayers. Furthermore, this Gary Sanchez fella is a whopping 6'2, a statistical anomaly by all means.

Just another boneheaded move by the front office!

[eddiemathews]

I also think Nola was signed to be a player-coach at AAA, and wouldn't be surprised to see him on the big league staff in a year or two.

[Terry]

14 hours ago, jay87shot said:

Sanchez has been bad since 2020, I get his war looks nice from last year. He was a hack defensively until 2022 and was cut from 2 teams last year before catching on with the Padres. Also a bunch of the hate comes from playing in NY and not living up to standards.

 

In general Haase was much worse than his previous years and Sanchez was much better. I am really looking at Sanchez as a DH. At best Sanchez is a personal catcher for someone and starts 30-40 games catching. I will concede that Sanchez is a better option than Haase but it's not massive in my opinion. My issue is that as a DH this worries me because this takes AB's from our young OF talent (less Yeli DH and more OF). If this is really a transition year taking ab's from Weimer, Mitchell, Chourio, and Frelick and giving then to Sanchez doesn't make sense. On top of that this likely send Haase to AAA taking AB's from Quero potentially. 

My biggest complaint is just the nickel and diming looking to find a needle in the rough for 1 year. This team has seemingly been 1 or 2 solid consistent bats. With the money Sanchez and Junis make we could have landed Justin Turner or a true DH like JD Martinez and solidified the lineup not just made backup catcher a bit better and added starting pitching depth (which we had a bunch of).

Sanchez bat is better than Haase, while defense is miles better even if you count his early years. How anyone think this isn't massive upgrade is beyond me. 
Also assuming Contreras can just catch about 130 games is nuts and wishful thinking, if we actually sign some aging veteren like Turner or JD now that would really be taking away at bats from Yelich and rookies. 

[sveumrules]

18 hours ago, jay87shot said:

With the money Sanchez and Junis make we could have landed Justin Turner

Junis 2023: 0.7 WAR
Sanchez 2023: 1.7 WAR

Turner 2023: 1.2 WAR

So instead of a 39 year old DH they got two 31 year olds that can contribute from the rotation, the bullpen, catcher and DH who were already twice as valuable as a 38 year old Turner.

Turner is what he is and his wRC+ has been falling for three straight years, Junis and Sanchez both have areas where the Brewers could help them improve still.