The Orioles will sign Gary Sanchez

The Orioles have agreed to a one-year contract with the catcher Gary Sanchezaccording to a report by Jon Heyman of the New York Post, who adds that the deal guarantees Sanchez $8.5 million. Sanchez is represented by MDR Sports Management.

Sanchez, who celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week, returns to the AL East after spending the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the Yankees. The early years of his career saw him establish himself as one of the best offensive catchers in baseball with a .246/.328/.518 slash line in 327 games through the end of the 2019 season. In that time, he played two games All -Star and hit 105 home runs in 1576 plate appearances. That 30-for-35 homer power helped make up for Sanchez’s mediocre defense behind the plate, but things got worse when he began to struggle on offense. After hitting a 24.1% mark through the end of the 2019 season, his 2020-22 seasons saw that rate rise to 29.5%. Meanwhile, Sanchez’s home run power began to suffer as he hit only 49 homers in 294 games. This stretch also saw his defense drop from rough average to near-unplayable, including a -12 figure in Statcast’s catcher’s defense metric during the 2021 season.

These struggles led the Yankees to trade Sanchez to the Twins ahead of the 2022 season, where he continued to struggle at the plate but was able to bounce back a bit on defense. Sanchez then entered free agency but did not find a deal before the start of the 2022 season. He ultimately signed with the Mets during the season, but lasted just three games on the club’s roster before spending the remainder of the season with the Padres uniform. With San Diego, Sanchez was able to bounce back and display some of the power he displayed during his Yankees days, slashing .218/.292/.500 with 19 homers in just 260 plate appearances and a 114 wRC+. That earned Sanchez a guaranteed contract in Milwaukee last season, where he served as a reserve William Contreras at catcher and occasionally made his way into the first base/DH mix as well.

Since leaving the Bronx, Sanchez has generally looked like a solid, if unspectacular, catching option. In that time, he’s slashed .212/.291/.412 with a 96 wRC+ that’s about in line with his production for the Brewers last year, and he’s done so while providing the roughly average defense that offered at the beginning of his career. That’s enough to make him a quality pickup option for virtually any team, and he’ll take the spot vacated by James McCann when he elected free agency last month as Adley Rutschmann‘s partner in the Orioles catching tandem. In addition to sharing catching duties, Sanchez can also play a secondary role in helping improve the club’s offense against left-handed pitching by providing a right-handed alternative to throwing. Ryan O’Hearn at DH on days he doesn’t fill in for Rutschman behind the plate. This makes Sanchez the second player added today by the club who could give their offense against lefties a boost by coming together Tyler O’Neill who agreed to a three-year deal with the Orioles today.

While the Orioles had internal options to serve as the secondary catcher behind Rutschman as Rene Pinto AND Blake Huntthe club made it clear in recent weeks that they hoped to add a more established player to that mix. This included a reported interest in meeting with James McCannbut reports seemed to indicate that McCann might try to find a multi-year deal in free agency while the Orioles hoped to find a one-year deal given the presence of attractive prospects Samuele Basallo in their minor league system. To find a quality player willing to accept a one-year contract and a backup job that doesn’t guarantee regular playing time, it seems Baltimore had to go too far to get Sanchez; its $8.5 million one-year warranty matches the warranty Danny Jansen he arrived from the Rays yesterday to serve as a regular starter behind the plate and far exceeds the $3 million guarantee he received from the Brewers last year.

That willingness to stretch financially to get the right fit for their roster is a luxury that GM Mike Elias and his front office haven’t had in previous winters when the Angelos family owned the team. New owner David Rubenstein has given the club the ability to significantly expand payroll, and the Orioles now expect to open the 2025 season with a payroll of $122 million according to RosterResource. It seems reasonable to expect that the club’s payroll could continue to rise from here as well, with Baltimore seemingly ready to turn their attention to the starting pitching market they’ve been linked to. Jack Flaherty AND Nathan Eovaldi if they are unable to hold the ace Corbin Burnes. As for the capture market, Sanchez joins Austin Hedges, Jacob Stallings, Kyle Higashiokaand Jansen for already coming off the board in what has been the fastest-moving part of the positional market this winter. However, some quality options remain available, including Carson Kelly AND Elijah Diaz.