Yankees would be crazy to trade Gary Sanchez for J.T. Realmuto
On Thursday reports surfaced the Yankees are among the teams said to have interest in trading for Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto. It’s unknown what New York would have to give up to acquire the 2018 All-Star but it would be hard to imagine a deal getting done without Miami getting Gary Sanchez in return.
I know after last season a lot of Yankees fans are down on Sanchez and if it were up to them they’d include him a deal for Realmuto in a second. Personally, I’m not one of those fans because I believe the Yankees would be crazy to give up on Sanchez after one bad year and trade him away.
According to Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports, the Yankees along with the Dodgers and the Astros have checked in on Realmuto’s availability. All three teams certainly have enticing pieces to offer in a trade but the Yankees are apparently hesitant to send a package of Sanchez and some of their other top prospects.
I really hope this part of Heyman’s report is true even though Realmuto is probably the best all-around catcher in the game right now. However, I still don’t think it makes any sense for the Yankees to acquire him for multiple reasons.
The first reason is they already have one of the best catchers in baseball on their team. It’s not a pressing need for them to upgrade at the position when there are a handful of other holes on the roster to fill. It’s no secret that 2018 was a nightmare season for Sanchez but let’s not forget that before the start of last season there was no question he was the best offensive catcher in all of baseball. What he did during his first season and a half at the plate was historic.
Yes, last season he was awful at the plate but he was also plagued by injuries throughout the year and was limited to only 89 games because of an injured groin. Earlier this month it was reported that Sanchez underwent surgery on his left shoulder which had been bothering him since the 2017 season. That very well could have had played a big role in his lackluster performance during 2018.
When comparing Sanchez and Realmuto the Miami backstop is definitely the better defensive catcher but Sanchez is underrated at controlling the running game, pitch framing and game calling. He needs to improve his blocking and avoiding all the past balls but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not as big a deal as people make it out to be. Offensively there’s a rather easy case to be made that Sanchez is the better hitter. Last season Realmuto had the best offensive numbers of any catcher in baseball, but for his career, his numbers pale in comparison to those of Sanchez.
Realmuto (four full seasons): .279 AVG, 59 HR, 243 RBI, 114 2B, .768 OPS
Sanchez (two and a half seasons): .252 AVG, 71 HR, 185 RBI, 49 2B, .847 OPS
Now take a look at each player’s best offensive season statistically:
Realmuto 2018 (125 G): .277, 21 HR, 74 RBI, .825 OPS
Sanchez 2017(122 G) : .278, 33 HR, 90 RBI, .876 OPS
Clearly, Sanchez has more upside offensively, across the board. He missed a month of the season back in 2017 and yet he still drove in 90 runs and set the Yankees single-season record for home runs by a catcher. That’s not normal and tells you how special a hitter Sanchez is when he’s going well.
Even this past season Sanchez still hit 18 HR and drove in 53 runs in only 89 games. His .186 AVG was terrible but if he can stay healthy in 2019 and improve his plate discipline a bit I believe he can hit near .270 next season with close to 40 HR and over 100 RBI.
Realmuto is a very good offensive player for a catcher but at his best (which we probably saw last season) his ceiling production-wise over a full, healthy season is around 25 HR and 80 RBI. That’s not bad by any means but I’d take Sanchez and his offensive upside over any other catcher in baseball.
There’s also the fact that Sanchez is two years younger than Realmuto and is under team control for four more years. Realmuto is only under control for two more years and is in line to make $6.1 million in arbitration this offseason while Sanchez won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2020.
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Why trade away Sanchez who’s still making next to nothing and another quality prospect or two for a guy whose salary is only going to go up over the next two seasons?
I understand that the Yankees are in win-now mode and based off each players performance last season it’s fair to think the Yankees would better next season if Realmuto replaced Sanchez. However, who’s to say Sanchez won’t bounce back in a big way and regain his title as the best offensive catcher in baseball.
If that’s the case then there’s no doubt the Yankees are a better team with Sanchez behind the plate regardless of which player’s the better defender. That would also make them a better team over the long haul with Sanchez locked up until 2022.
I don’t think the Yankees and GM Brian Cashman would actually consider pursuing a deal like this because as he said earlier this offseason he has no interest in trading Sanchez. Time and time again he’s been one of Sanchez’s biggest supporters because he believes in the player and his potential.
Cashman knows better than anyone Sanchez’s season last year was somewhat of a fluke and that moving forward he still has the chance to be one of the best offensive catchers the game has ever seen. J.T. Realmuto’s a nice player but I don’t think anyone would ever say he has that kind of potential. That’s exactly why the Yankees would be absolutely out of their minds to trade Sanchez for him.