Mets sign Gary Sanchez – former Yankees All-Star catcher – to minor league deal
CINCINNATI — The Mets have fortified their catching ranks with a familiar face for New York sports fans.
Catcher Gary Sanchez has agreed to a minor league deal with the Mets.
Sanchez spent the 2022 season with the Minnesota Twins, where he slashed .206/.282/.377 with 16 home runs, 61 RBI and 42 runs in 128 games. The 30-year-old signed a minor league deal with the San Francisco Giants in April and batted .165 with no home runs, eight RBI in 16 games with Triple-A Sacramento.
Sanchez opted out of his deal on May 2 after not breaking through onto the major league roster.
The Mets have Francisco Alvarez and Tomas Nido behind the plate on their major league roster. Offseason signing Omar Narvaez is recovering from a moderate- to high-grade calf strain that will keep him out until at least early July.
After a slow start following his early April call-up, Alvarez has begun to settle in at the plate. In the month of May, he is 4-for-14 with two doubles, two runs and two RBI. In the process, he has raised his average to .220 with one home run, five runs and four RBI.
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Meanwhile, Nido is batting .118 with a .266 OPS, including five runs and one RBI, in 19 games this season. Nido was in the top 10 in pitching framing among major league catchers last season. He is in his second and final year of a $3.7 million contract and has no more minor league options remaining.
It appears that Sanchez will serve as a safety valve in the event of another catcher injury. At Triple-A Syracuse, Michael Perez is batting .167 in 18 games with two home runs, six RBI and six runs. Nick Meyer is 6-for-40 (.150) with two RBI and three runs.
Perhaps, Sanchez can find some of his past form to make a push for another shot in the majors.
Sanchez was long viewed as the future behind the plate for the Yankees after finishing second in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2016 when he drilled 20 home runs and drove in 42 runs in 53 games. He had the best year of his career the following season when he collected a .876 OPS with 33 home runs, 90 RBI and 79 runs and .278 batting average.
He hit a career-high 34 home runs in 2019 but never saw his average rise higher than .232 following his second season.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Gary Sanchez: Mets sign former Yankees catcher to minor league deal
