Gary S¨¢nchez, Mets agree to Minors deal
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CINCINNATI -- Catcher Gary S¨¢nchez has agreed to a Minor League deal with the Mets, the team announced Tuesday. S¨¢nchez will report to Triple-A Syracuse.
Terms of the agreement weren't released, but according to a report from MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, S¨¢nchez would earn $1.5 million if he makes the Majors and the deal includes $1.2 million in incentives.
The 30-year-old backstop opted out of his deal with the Giants last week when he was not promoted to the big league roster. In 16 games with Triple-A Sacramento, S¨¢nchez batted .164 with no homers and eight RBIs, along with 19 strikeouts.
Mets manager Buck Showalter is familiar with S¨¢nchez when they overlapped in the AL East seven years ago. The backstop actually debuted for the Yankees against Showalter¡¯s Orioles in 2015 and went on to hit six homers in 25 games against the skipper.
¡°Obviously, we know the background of Gary and what he¡¯s capable of doing,¡± said Showalter, who was impressed by his power and throwing arm. ¡°He¡¯s getting an opportunity at Syracuse with our guys. We¡¯ll see where it takes us. I¡¯m worried about the people we have here and what¡¯s going on. I think we all know what he¡¯s been capable of in the past. We¡¯ll see what they say. We¡¯ve got people down there evaluating and looking, and we¡¯ll see if it¡¯s something that could potentially help us down the road.¡±
The Mets have rookie Francisco Álvarez and Tomás Nido on the big league roster, but this season, the club's catchers have produced a Majors-worst .456 OPS. Veteran Omar Narváez went on the 60-day injured list with a left calf strain and won't be eligible to return before June 5.
Traded from the Yankees to the Twins with Gio Urshela for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt in March 2022, S¨¢nchez slashed .205/.282/.377 (88 OPS+) with 16 homers and 61 RBIs over 128 games for Minnesota in 2022.
S¨¢nchez burst onto the scene with the Bronx Bombers in 2016, hitting 20 homers in 53 games and finishing second behind Michael Fulmer in the AL Rookie of the Year race. After following that up with 33 homers, 90 RBIs and an .876 OPS in 2017, S¨¢nchez looked to be a key part of New York¡¯s young core alongside Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres and Luis Severino.