By Jordan Long
The Chicago White Sox have already had a busy offseason. They signed free agent catcher Yasmani Grandal and agreed to a contract extension with first baseman Jose Abreu. Chicago decided to waive second baseman and Gold Glove winner Yolmer Sanchez.
Sanchez has been with the Chicago White Sox since 2014. He is not a power hitter. Last season his batting average was .252 with 2 home runs and 43 RBI’s. In his career, Sanchez’s batting average is .244 with 31 home runs and 214 RBI’s. This is not a player who helped the White Sox with his offense. Sure, he can smack the ball to be on base but he won’t drive in runs.
His defense is the best part of his game. Last season he was the everyday second baseman for the White Sox appearing in 149 games and starting 142 of them. He was able to pick the ball up to start double plays or throw the ball to an infielder to beat the base runner so they would be out. Sanchez ended with 416 infield assists and helped on 108 double plays.
His problem was errors. There were times when Sanchez rushed the throw or wasn’t able to catch the baseball. He ended with 9 errors. Despite the errors, Sanchez still took home the Gold Glove this year at second base.
The White Sox didn’t want to keep him. Sanchez was due to make $6.2 million next year and in 2021 he was eligible for arbitration. The $6.2 million salary didn’t make sense for the White Sox because of his offensive numbers. They deemed it to be too expensive. To save money, waving him was the right move.
Teams can claim Sanchez on the waiver wire where they can agree to a contract with him. It is possible he may not be claimed. If that is the case, Sanchez will be a free agent. Teams would be interested in him because of his glove. Sanchez may not be paid $6.2 million on the open market because of his offensive skills. A franchise will need to work with him so Sanchez’s offensive numbers improve to help them win games.
Leave a Reply