The Mets have decided to gamble that former Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez can revive his career: They are bringing him to the majors on Friday instead of trying to talk him into extending his opt-out date and, if that failed, losing him to free agency.
Sanchez, who failed in a comeback attempt with the San Francisco Giants last month, found his swing with the Triple-A Syracuse Mets. He is hitting .318 with a homer and two doubles in seven games.
Sanchez, who will earn roughly $1.1 million for the rest of the season, will play rookie Francisco Álvarez, giving the Mets a veteran backup and a right-handed bat with power. Scouts say he is better defensively than he was with the Yankees, but he’s still a liability. Will Mets aces Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander want to throw to him if he’s still below average?
After going unsigned in the offseason, Sanchez signed with the Giants, who were frantically looking for catchers because their prospects weren’t performing, and backups were getting hurt or opting out themselves. But Sanchez couldn’t hit a beach ball with a tennis racket in Triple-A Sacramento, and the Giants — who had trumpeted his signing — gladly held the door open for him when he opted out.
He immediately signed a minor-league deal with the Mets that allowed him to opt-out on Friday. That forced the Mets into taking the gamble.
“I know he’s trying hard to get back to the big leagues,” manager Buck Showalter said. “Seems to be doing pretty well there. I know we have a lot of our catching people in town working with him.
“At some point, you’re hoping that maybe you can get something there that might click for him. But he seems to be swinging the bat OK.”
When he signed with the Giants, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge predicted Sanchez would be back in the majors soon — he just didn’t know it would be across town.
“I know what type of talent Gary is and what he’s done,” Judge told the San Francisco Chronicle. “When he was coming up with us, he was one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen and his arm behind the plate is one of the best I’ve ever seen, he can really control the running game. He doesn’t get enough credit for all the hard work he does to get himself ready in the offseason. He always gives you a competitive at-bat, he goes the opposite way really well and he’s just a really tough out.”
