Someone may be overselling their client.
Francisco Marquez, the agent for former Yankee Gary Sanchez, talked up the catcher to The Athletic during the Winter Meetings on Tuesday — and shaded Sanchez’s former team in the process.
“The most important aspect of the 2022 season was that at the end of the season Gary was able to finally and completely shake off the emotional baggage he had acquired during his previous two seasons with the Yankees,” Marquez said. “Whoever gets Gary this offseason will benefit from the rebirth of the Kraken.”
After a great start to his Yankees career that featured All-Star nods in 2017 and 2019, Sanchez struggled mightily with strikeouts and poor defense behind the plate. He was often the subject of ridicule and boos from Yankees fans due to his poor play, and was benched during the 2020 playoffs and the 2021 Wild Card game.
Sanchez was not exactly reborn during his first year in Minnesota. In 128 games, the 29-year-old hit .205 with 16 home runs and a .659 OPS, the latter two numbers representing full-season career lows.
Marquez pointed to advanced statistics, saying Sanchez’s “exit velocities last season compared well to those of [Willson] Contreras and [Christian] Vázquez, and that his expected slugging percentage and weighted on-base average were significantly higher than his actual numbers,” per The Athletic. Per Baseball Savant, his expected batting slugging percentage ranked 84th in the majors among all batters with at least 10 plate appearances and his barrel rate was 43rd.
The hot stove starts heating up today at the MLB GM Meetings in Las Vegas. Follow the New York Post’s live coverage with news, updates, and rumors of big trades and free agent signings.
Sanchez is currently a free agent after spending one season with the Twins. The Yankees traded the catcher to Minnesota after the 2021 season, along with Gio Urshela, for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt.
