Saturday, February 17, 2018

He's low-risk until you put him on the roster

The Twins on Friday reportedly signed Anibal Sanchez to a major-league deal. The signing has not been made official pending a physical.

Sanchez was good -- years ago. Last season he put up a 6.41 ERA for the Tigers. The year before that, 5.87. The season before that, 4.99. I think you see the pattern.

When word broke Friday afternoon I figured it was a minor league deal, and while I wasn't enthused about that, it was acceptable. But the devotion of a 40-man roster spot, and the $2.5 million base with $2.5 million in incentives, suggests that the organization is serious about him for the rotation. (Apparently, despite the major league roster spot, the base salary isn't guaranteed.)

LaVelle Neal tweeted (and then deleted the tweet) that the Twins aren't done looking, but they thought Sanchez was an acceptable low-risk flier. But once Sanchez starts pitching, he's no longer low-risk. He's just a risk, even if he finished 2017 with four respectable starts.

Maybe the Twins' evaluators are correct. Maybe there's something left in Sanchez. I'd rather give somebody like Aaron Slegers the opportunity.

No comments:

Post a Comment