Former Angels free agent target inks deal with the Giants

There were points in time this offseason when it felt that Gary Sanchez signing with the Los Angeles Angels was inevitable. They were reportedly showing interest and there were times when reporters were saying a deal could be close.

Somehow the two-time all-star went through all of Spring Training without signing a deal. He played for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic and still couldn't land a deal.

Now, the day after Opening Day, Gary Sanchez has signed a minor league deal with the Giants.

Angels miss out on an opportunity to add more catching depth

The Giants have a ton of catching depth and have added another catcher. This offseason they added Roberto Perez in free agency as well as Blake Sabol in the Rule 5 Draft. Both are on their MLB roster right now alongside Joey Bart. Where Gary Sanchez fits in this equation I have no idea.

The Angels don't necessarily need Gary Sanchez. They have Logan O'Hoppe and Matt Thaiss on their roster right now with Max Stassi on the IL. My question is what happens when Stassi returns?

We know that when Stassi does return he will be on the roster whether Angels fans want to hear it or not. What we don't know is who he will replace. Logan O'Hoppe came through with the only RBI yesterday, if he's hitting I'd imagine he'd stay.

That leaves Thaiss as the odd man out and as we all know, he's out of options. So the Angels would have to DFA him and likely lose him. This makes Chad Wallach their third catcher. Would your rather Chad Wallach or Gary Sanchez?

Wallach has a .561 OPS in his career with seven home runs in 488 MLB plate appearances. Wallach is without a doubt the better defender than Sanchez, but Gary has made all-star teams before because of his bat. That's definitely taken a step in the wrong direction the last couple of seasons, but he did hit 16 home runs last season and 23 in 2021.

Hopefully losing out on Sanchez isn't a big deal as we hope Stassi, O'Hoppe, and Thaiss all stay healthy this season. If not, and the Angels have to rely on Chad Wallach to make starts, that might not go super well.