LA Angels: Gary Sanchez could be an option for catcher upgrade

The Angels must focus on pitching, but an upgrade at catcher could come in the form of Gary Sanchez.

Gary Sanchez showed loads of promise in his first MLB stint with the New York Yankees, blasting 20 home runs in 53 games back in 2016. Since then, Sanchez has largely been a disappointment, posting a measly 69 wRC+ in 2020. The season prior, though, Sanchez held a 116 wRC+ and .841 on-base plus slugging percentage — both solid marks.

The Angels currently have bigger needs than a catcher as Max Stassi remains merely passable as the top option. Gary Sanchez, however, is the type of player that teams go after in hopes that a change of scenery returns them to stardom. Sanchez was already being talked about in the ‘best catcher in baseball’ conversation in 2016 and 2017, but after falling off, his trade value is at its lowest.

Even taking the diminished trade value into account, reports are out there that the New York Yankees would like to move on from Gary Sanchez and are interested in trading him for best offer. The Yankees’ motive might be that they have interest in free agent JT Realmuto as has been widely reported as well.

The Angels’ catching situation is not their biggest need, but getting a new catcher to work with the pitching staff could do the club some good. A tandem of Gary Sanchez and Max Stassi could be a good one offensively if the Angels could use their major league player development system to their advantage to fix Sanchez’s swing.

I know lots of people will complain about this potential deal, but at the end of the day, Sanchez won’t cost much. The Angels would be buying him at his lowest price point, a tremendous value all things considered. This would certainly not impact them financially and would not take them out of the running for the top free agent starting pitchers on the market.

My final proposal to the New York Yankees would be to trade prospects Jahmai Jones and Hector Yan to the Bronx in exchange for Gary Sanchez and Jonathan Loaisiga. According to Baseball Trade Values, the Angels would actually be giving up a little bit more value in this deal.

Gary Sanchez is not a need, but because he can be had for cheap, the Angels should pursue him.