Pittsburgh Pirates Linked to Former New York Yankees Star in Free Agency
The Pittsburgh Pirates are reportedly interested in free agent catcher Gary Sanchez.
Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post:
The Pirates are among teams considering ex-Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who had a terrific year in San Diego and became Snell’s personal catcher.
The 31-year-old Sanchez played 72 games for the Padres last year after a three-game stint with the New York Mets. He’s hit for low averages for the last several years and that continued in 2023 as he hit .218, but he remained a power source, popping 19 home runs.
Sanchez is a nine-year veteran who has played for the New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, Mets and Padres. He came up with the Yankees and was a two-time All-Star in New York. Along with Aaron Judge and Luis Severino, he was part of the “Baby Bombers,” that were supposed to bring sustained greatness to the franchise.
He’s a career .225 hitter with 173 home runs.
As for the Pirates, they have stated that their goal is to remain competitive all season long. Pittsburgh started out hot in 2023 and was even in first place for most of the season’s first two months, but they petered off terribly from June-on and finish in fourth in the National League Central.
Thus far this offseason, Pittsburgh has added veteran starters Marco Gonzales and Martin Perez in an effort to fortify their rotation. They also have Oneil Cruz coming back from an injury that cost him nearly all of 2023, so perhaps the goal of contending is realistic after all.
Right now, Pittsburgh has Jason Delay, Endy Rodriguez and Ali Sanchez as catchers on the 40-man roster.
