With his contract up and new ownership in place, Terry Collins has departed the New York Mets and has announced his retirement.
There’s a lot to say about Collins and his tenure as Mets manager. More than the wins and losses was Collins the person. He is a good and decent man who connected with everyone, and he’s going to be missed.
We’ve seen it from fans who remember him celebrating with them in Chicago. His players, like Noah Syndergaard, always spoke highly of him and continue to do so
I will always be grateful to this man. Simply an amazing human. Thank you TC. https://t.co/BEoeD0YmX7
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) November 20, 2020
It’s not just what we saw and heard from Collins. It is what he did when no one was looking.
Five years ago, as the Mets were going through a mercurial season which ended in heartbreak, Collins took the time to send condolences to a widow of a family he didn’t know.
For me, that’ll be the lasting memory of Collins. He was a man who took the time to do the right thing even when his job was extremely difficult and tense. He did it when no one was looking.
Overall, Collins is a good man, and you’re never better off as an organization when you lose genuinely good human beings like him.
Being the person he is, he still has a lot to offer the world. No matter what he does, here’s hoping he finds something which brings him as much joy as watching his team win a pennant. As a man, he deserves that and much more.
There are times when teams make trades they appear bad in hindsight. The classic example of this was the Nolan Ryan trade. Ryan was an enigmatic right-hander the Mets just couldn’t quite figure out, and they were going to get a former All-Star in Jim Fregosi to handle third. At the time, it made sense, but as time passed it looked worse and worse.
Then there is the Robinson Cano trade.
This was a trade deemed flat out dumb at its inception. It wasn’t just that Cano had what many perceived to be an untradeable contract. That was partially because he was already in his mid 30s. Mostly, it was because he was coming off of a PED suspension which should have cast serious doubt over not only his career stats, but also his ability to produce as he aged. Of course, Brodie Van Wagenen was the one person who actually bought the bogus explanation.
Brodie says he's comfortable with Cano and the violation. Said it was a suspension for a diaretic not steroids.
— Matt Ehalt (@MattEhalt) December 4, 2018
Despite all the red flags and warnings, Van Wagenen went forward to rescue his former client from Seattle to return him to New York like Cano wanted. In the process, he made what ranks among the worst, if not the worst, trades in all of Mets history. Certainly, it is easily the worst Mets trade this century.
Each and every year which passes, this trade gets worse and worse. To put it in perspective, all we need to do is examine where the pieces of this trade are and will be in 2021:
Mariners Return
Gerson Bautista – after dealing with injury issues has signed a minor league deal to return to the Seattle Mariners.
Jay Bruce – Free agent whose $14 million is off the books available for now the Philadelphia Phillies to invest this offseason.
Justin Dunn – projected to be part of the Mariners Opening Day rotation after posting a 104 ERA+ over the past two seasons. Notably, the Mets are looking to build not only a 2021 pitching rotation, but also pitching depth.
Jarred Kelenic – widely seen as one of the top prospects in all of baseball, and he may very well make his MLB debut at some point during the 2021 season.
Anthony Swarzak – did not pitch last year after making $8.5 million in 2019.
Mets Return
Edwin Diaz – after a terrible 2019, he rebounded to have a strong 2020 season albeit one with four blown saves in 10 attempts. The question for him in 2021 is whether his good year, bad year pattern continues.
Really, Diaz is it for the Mets return because Cano is not going to play in 2021. There is now a question about whether he actually plays another game again. Certainly, you could argue the Mets would look to buy him out at some point or just flat out release him. Who knows?
The only thing we do know is Cano is out of baseball in 2021. Perhaps, that is a large reason why Van Wagenen and the person who hired him, Jeff Wilpon, will also be out of baseball. In fact, this trio may very well be and probably should be out for good. That will give them all a front row seat to seeing Kelenic and Dunn lead the Mariners organization back to postseason contention.
With Robinson Cano‘s PED suspension, there’s at least the suspicion the Mets could look to replace him through free agency. Given Steve Cohen’s deep pockets, the popular name initially surfaced is DJ LeMahieu.
It’s certainly understandable why the Mets would have interest in LeMahieu. First and foremost, he has versatility allowing the Mets to move him and Jeff McNeil around the diamond.
He’s been a top five MVP finalist and a Silver Slugger both years with the Yankees, and he’s more than shown the ability to handle New York. The latter point is something which should never be discounted.
Still, LeMahieu isn’t perfect, and there are some indications he may not be a good fit with the Mets.
First and foremost, he is a Yankee Stadium monster. Over the past two years, he has hit .366/.421/.642 with a 183 wRC+. Away from Yankee Stadium, LeMahieu is a .309/.354/.439 with a 112 wRC+. Another important note is he has a .378 BABIP at Yankee Stadium and a .334 BABIP at home. That BABIP point is noteworthy because prior to his becoming a Yankee he was a .307 BABIP player. This means what he has done the past two years is outside of what his normal skillset is.
Put another way, if you take LeMahieu out of Yankee Stadium, we can very likely expect his offensive numbers to regress significantly. Now, if he is a 112 wRC+ player, that is very valuable. Realistically speaking, it should not be out of the realm of possibility he around that, but it should be noted LeMahieu was an 90 wRC+ hitter before signing with the Yankees.
Another important note with LeMahieu is his defense is slipping. When he was with the Colorado Rockies, he was a two time Gold Glover. This was more than reputation as his defensive metrics were quite good as well. In his final two years in Colorado, he had a 9 and 13 OAA as well as a 12 and 14 DRS. Simply put, there may not have been a better defender at second than him.
However, over the last two years, his defense has slipped. After a slightly above average 2 OAA and 3 DRS, he dropped to a -1 OAA and 0 DRS. That isn’t surprising as that occurred in LeMahieu’s age 30 and 31 seasons. That’s an important consideration as he is now at an age when his defense typically declines year-to-year.
What makes that all the more alarming is Michael Kay’s report on The Michael Kay Show that LeMahieu is looking at a five year deal. If you are the Mets, you already have a former Yankees second baseman signed to a burdensome contract. There is absolutely no reason to willingly become tethered to another one.
If the Mets want to bring in another second baseman a much more preferable option would be Kolten Wong.
Wong is coming off back-to-back Gold Glove winning seasons at second. Looking at his defense, he has had a 16, 19, and 6 DRS in each of the past three seasons and an 11, 8, and 2 OAA. It should be noted here last season’s numbers were not necessarily indicative of a drop off as much as it was because of the shortened 2020 season (yes, you can argue the same with LeMahieu).
At the plate, Wong is a batter who does not strike out often, and he has really improved his eye at the plate. Both his strikeout and walk rates have been above-average the past two seasons. That is a large reason why Wong has improved to being a 103 wRC+ over the past two years which is an improvement over his 96 career mark.
No, Wong is not as exciting as LeMahieu, and his ceiling may not be the same. However, Wong doesn’t present the same troubles LeMahieu present. He has not shown signs of decline in the field. His offensive stats have not been buttressed by unsustainably high BABIPs or by playing in an extreme hitter’s park, and he’s not going to command that monster contract which promises to be an albatross at some point.
Another very important consideration is there is not a wide chasm in terms of overall production from these two players. Over the past two years, LeMahieu has accumulated an impressive 8.7 WAR. For his part, Wong has accumulated a very overlooked 6.3 WAR. Yes, LeMahieu has been better, but not to the point where he should get significantly more in terms of years and AAV.
Overall, if the Mets don’t want to entrust second base to McNeil (which they should), it would seem the much better action would be to sign Wong to a shorter term and cheaper deal. With Wong, there is not the same regression fears, and it will open up money to invest in other areas of need.
The Mets had real issues regarding roster construction and much of it was related to Robinson Cano. His presence was a complication forcing a number of bad decisions.
With Cano at second, Jeff McNeil was displaced from the position he played best. That meant he moved to third where his arm didn’t translate well or left field.
If he was in left field, that meant Brandon Nimmo moved to center where he was ill suited. Really, every permutation of the lineup necessitated Nimmo in CF.
The Mets have two everyday caliber first basemen in Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith. If Cano needed to DH, that meant both first basemen played in the field.
That moved the Mets best defensive first baseman in Smith to left where he’s not particularly good. That was exacerbated by Alonso being a poor defensive first baseman.
Really, when you look at it, the necessity to play Cano and his $20.25 million salary just forces a series of terrible decisions. That’s a large reason why the Mets never hit their supposed ceiling – the defense was that bad and held the team back.
Now, with Cano gone for the 2021 season much of the Mets problems have been solved.
McNeil can now be the everyday second baseman. Nimmo can then go back to a corner outfield position where he belongs. Assuming the return of the DH, Alonso can DH with Smith at first.
As if this wasn’t good enough, the Mets have an additional $20.25 million to allocate towards their holes at catcher, third, center, and the pitching staff.
Every way you look at this, Cano testing positive is good news for the Mets, and that’s even before you account for any regression you should’ve expected from the now 38 year old. If this invites a buy out, this could make the situation even better.
With one incredibly poor decision by Cano, the Mets defense has been substantially improved, and they have enough resources to sign up to two additional impact players they may not have been otherwise able to sign. That’s why Cano’s positive test is great news for the Mets.
For some reason, despite making the postseason last year and in five of the last six seasons, the Chicago Cubs are going to tear it down. This couldn’t come at a better time for the Mets.
If you tick off the Mets needs this offseason, two which jump right off the page when looking at the Cubs is starter and third base.
At third is former NL MVP Kris Bryant. To be fair, when looking at Bryant, there are apparently three versions of him.
The first is the MVP level player we saw his first three seasons. Next came the All-Star level player he was the subsequent two. Finally, we have the disaster he was in 2020.
In 2020, he only hit .206/.293/.351. That drop off from a 132 OPS+ to a 73 was precipitous and completely unexpected. Looking at his Baseball Savant page, the biggest issue was a huge story in his barrel %.
If a team can fix that, they’ll get a star. At a minimum, Bryant remains a good third baseman by OAA making him seemingly worth a risk.
Notably, he’s more than just a third baseman playing all the defensive corner positions. In that vein, he’s really a right-handed Jeff McNeil with arguably more upside.
In addition to pursuing Bryant, the Mets should also show heavy interest in Yu Darvish.
While Trevor Bauer got all the attention and the Cy Young, Darvish arguably had the better season leading the league in FIP. Based on MLB Trade Rumor projections, Darvish will also cost at least $10 million less per season than Bauer.
That’s an important consideration when you realize that even with Bauer’s complete outlier career year against inferior competition, Darvish has had the better career with a 125 ERA+ and 3.43 FIP to Bauer’s 113 ERA+ and 3.85 FIP.
In Darvish, you’re not only getting the better pitcher, but the Mets would also have $10+ million free to add other players. That includes taking on Bryant or other players in a trade or signing a top end reliever like Brad Hand.
Bryant and Darvish are not the only Cubs who could help the Mets.
Since his MLB debut in 2016, Willson Contreras ranks third among MLB catchers in wRC+ and seventh in fWAR.
Ian Happ is a versatile player who plays a good center field and has a career 115 OPS+.
Accidental MVP vote getter Ryan Tepera struck out 13.5 per nine last year, and he has a 119 ERA+.
If the Mets really want to get something done with the Cubs, they could even entertain Jason Heyward. Yes, he has an awful contract, but he’s still a productive player, and he’s one who worked well with Mets Hitting Coach Chili Davis. He also remains a good defensive outfielder.
Of note with Heyward, the ability/willingness to eat that contract is a game changer. Remember, the Dodgers current run was jump started by their willingness to take on Carl Crawford‘s contract in that blockbuster where the Red Sox mostly looked to dump salaries.
In that trade, the Dodgers didn’t send much back to the Red Sox. Effectively speaking, the Dodgers reduced prospect and player cost by taking on the bad contracts. With Steve Cohen at the helm, the Mets are in that same exact situation.
Overall, the Mets have the financial ability and the need for players like Bryant and Darvish to make a blockbuster with the Cubs worth consideration. If you think about it, with one bold and daring trade, the Mets could fulfill nearly all of their offseason needs and transform this team from the last place team Brodie Van Wagenen and Jeff Wilpon left behind to a true World Series contender.
The Mets have been linked to Francisco Lindor leading to various outlets comprising trade proposals. One such proposal from MLB Network has Jeff McNeil headlining a trade for Lindor.
Simply put, it makes zero sense for the Mets to trade Jeff McNeil even in a deal for a Lindor.
The need for Lindor is obvious, and the Mets would match-up very well with the Cleveland Indians. One reason why is the Mets have logjams at different positions with cost controlled players. Those players could fulfill a reciprocal need for the Indians.
At first base, the Mets have Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith. Both would be a replacement and upgrade over the free agent Carlos Santana.
At shortstop, the Mets have Andres Gimenez, Luis Guillorme, and Amed Rosario. Any one of these three could be a short to long term replacement for Lindor.
At catcher, the Mets have defensive specialists in Tomas Nido and Ali Sanchez. That would at least seem to be of interest to an Indians team who puts a priority on catcher defense and framing. Notably, Roberto Perez will be a free agent after this year, and Austin Hedges will be one the ensuing season.
With the caveat of not knowing how the Indians value these players, or whether they’d take J.D. Davis off the Mets hands, it would seem mixing and matching from these groups could largely get a deal done.
Honestly, this is trading at its best. The Mets have a surplus of quality Major Leaguers at different positions. Those players would fulfill very specific needs the Indians have. This is why the Mets and Indians match up so well.
Of course, this assumes this isn’t an Indians fire-sale. Considering the Indians aren’t looking to trade Jose Ramirez, even with his being a free agent after the 2021 season, this appears to be a very safe assumption. That assumption would be bolstered by a presumed pursuit of McNeil.
The reasons why the Indians would want McNeil are obvious. He’s as versatile a player as there is in the game. He plays well defensively at second and both corner outfield spots. With work on his throws, he could be a very good third baseman.
In addition to his defense and versatility, he’s a good hitter. Since his MLB debut, McNeil has a 139 OPS+. Over the past three years, that ranks him as the 13th best hitter in all of baseball.
If the Mets are going to be bold and add players like Lindor, they need McNeil. They need his versatility, defense, and bat. Moreover, any deals the Mets make need to clear surplus and not detract from other areas.
In the end, the Mets have more than enough pieces to make a very good trade for both teams without including McNeil. With that being the case, there is absolutely no reason for the Mets to include McNeil in a trade for Lindor.
In what has been the complete polar opposite of Wilpon driven offseasons, the New York Mets are getting linked to nearly every free agent. The latest name to surface is Marcell Ozuna.
This is one which should stay a rumor because Ozuna is a very poor fit for the Mets.
That’s not to say Ozuna isn’t a good player. In his career, Ozuna has shown himself to be a good baseball player who has shown flashes of brilliance. That includes this past season with the Atlanta Braves where he led the league in homers while having the third best OPS+.
This was his best ever season at the plate. There are reasons to buy in on him producing at this level next year. Those reasons include his barrel percentage as well as his hard hit and whiff rates.
There are also reasons to believe he’ll regress. That includes this being a shortened season as well as his .396 BABIP, which was higher than his .319 career mark.
Regardless of which direction he’ll trend, the ultimate question for the Mets is how can they use him.
In his time with the Marlins, Ozuna was a great defensive outfielder. That includes his winning the 2017 Gold Glove. Since winning that award, it’s been a steep decline.
Ozuna went from a 7 DRS that year to a 0 this year. He had a -8 OAA last year and a -1 this year. This is indicative of a now over 30 outfielder who was primarily used at DH.
Simply put, a -8 OAA is unplayable out there. It’s even worse when shoulder injuries have cost him the ability to make strong or even poor throws. It’s a poor combination. With him having below average spring speed and his turning 30, the days of him being an even semi-regular outfielder have passed.
Of course, that’s not an issue with the Mets. With Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo, they are well set at the corner outfield position. They have good depth there with Jeff McNeil able to play out there quite well.
The problem with the Mets is they are also overly stacked at the DH position. That includes their right-handed hitting options.
As we saw last year, if there is going to be a DH, it should be Pete Alonso. Statistically, he’s been just about the worst defender at first, and his moving there allows Dominic Smith and his bat and glove to get into the lineup everyday.
There’s also the Robinson Cano issue. While he was quite good defensively at second last year, his playing second everyday at the age of 38 would be fairly unprecedented.
Ideally, Cano would be the everyday DH. This would keep him and his bat in the lineup everyday. It would also open up second for McNeil which is his best position.
Looking at it, the Mets have two bats in Alonso and Cano who ideally need to DH. They need to DH due to their own skill sets in addition to getting other very talented players in the lineup. Adding Ozuna to this mix only unnecessarily muddies the waters.
Sure, keeping tabs on Ozuna makes sense. That goes double if there is a big deal to be made for a Francisco Lindor, Nolan Arenado, or the players available in the Cubs fire-sale.
When you break it down, the Mets really could use right-handed balance in their lineup. However, with Alonso at DH, Ozuna is not a fit. As such, the Mets are better off pursuing that bat in the form of James McCann/J.T. Realmuto and/or George Springer.
In what feels like Omar Minaya taking the helm in 2014, the Mets are real players in free agency, and right now, it appears they’re going to get in touch with every available free agent. That goes double for free agent starters.
Considering the Mets still have two slots to fill in their rotation, at least until Noah Syndergaard comes back from Tommy John, that’s quite understandable. The question is how the Mets attack it.
One rumor has the Mets talking to Jake Odorizzi. In some ways, that’s a move which makes a lot of sense.
In 2019, Odorizzi worked with current Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who was then a Minnesota Twins assistant coach. That was Odorizzi’s best year as a pitcher.
In 30 starts, he was 15-7 with a 3.51 ERA, 1.208 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, and a 10.1 K/9. He had a career best 129 ERA+ and a 3.36 FIP. To date, it was his only All-Star appearance.
The hope with Odorizzi is this is the level of pitcher he can be working with Hefner again. There’s the added benefit of having a pitcher on the team who can help translate what Hefner is trying to accomplish to the rest of the pitching staff.
While all positives, there are some underlying problems with Odorizzi.
While he was an All-Star in 2019, he only averaged 5.1 innings per start. Still, if you’re the Mets or any team you take 5.1 quality innings every time. Of course, this would put increased emphasis on not just improving the bullpen, but also adding more multiple inning relievers.
The bigger issue for Odorizzi is he may not be the pitcher in 2019. In fact, that could have been nothing more than a career year. Another factor is Odorizzi attributes much of that success not to Hefner, but as Dan Laurila of Fangraphs wrote, to an offseason training regiment at the Florida Baseball Ranch.
Last year, in what was a bizarre year for everyone, Odorizzi really struggled. In his four starts, he was 0-1 with a 6.59 ERA. Certainly, back issues, blisters, and getting hit with an Alex Gordon liner didn’t help. To that end, for evaluation purposes, this season should be noted but largely disregarded.
On that note, we should consider what he was prior to 2019. Through six full MLB seasons, he was 47-47 with a 3.95 ERA, 1.240 ERA, 3.1 BB/9, and an 8.4 K/9. Looking towards his 102 ERA+ and 4.21 FIP, he was little more than a league average back of the rotation starter.
There’s value in that, but there are far better options in this suppressed free agent market. Certainly, the Mets would be better off with a Trevor Bauer or Charlie Morton.
If the Mets want to gamble on potential upside, Yankees starters Masahiro Tanaka and James Paxton are free agents. Tanaka has shown postseason mettle, and when healthy, Paxton has been good with a career 114 ERA+.
All that said, Odorizzi has real value and could help this team. Certainly, there are a number of factors at play like how and where the Mets choose to allocate their budget.
Odorizzi can help, but ultimately, as the Mets enter this new era, you can’t help for a better starter than Odorizzi in this rotation. That said, given the people in charge, if they go and grab Odorizzi, we can probably trust this was the right decision and part of a larger plan.
The New York Mets have to effectively rebuild much of their pitching staff. Put another way, they need to find a number of quality innings from their pitching staff. That’s why they should be considering Gio Gonzalez.
Getting the obvious out of the way, Gonzalez is not an answer in the rotation. In fact, he hasn’t really been that since the first half of the 2018 season.
Yes, Gonzalez did pitch effectively for the Milwaukee Brewers starting late in that 2018 season. However, they used him as a roughly four to five inning starter. This year he wasn’t even that for the White Sox.
Gonzalez lasted four starts before being moved to the bullpen. With his starting the year with a 6.00 ERA and being unable to pitch at least 5.0 innings at least once, he forced the White Sox hands. In some ways, they did him a favor.
After getting moved to the bullpen, Gonzalez made seven appearances pitching to a 2.53 ERA with him striking out nearly a batter over 10.2 innings. During this stretch, his innings pitched ranged from 0.1 to 3.2 innings.
Sure, it wasn’t all perfect with Gonzalez having a paltry 1.11 K/BB ratio. He also sputtered at the end allowing runs in two out of his last three appearances. Still, when you look at the whole picture, he’s an enticing bullpen option.
One major reason why is the three batter rule. With that rule, it is increasingly difficult to carry LOOGYS. Still, when you have a division with Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, and Juan Soto, you need left-handed relievers who can get big left handed bats out.
In his career, Gonzalez has dominated left-handed batters limiting them to a .228/.299/.346 batting line. He has also more than held his own against right-handed batters limiting them to a .243/.325/.374 batting line.
Now, his splits against right-handed batters have fallen off since his top 10 Cy Young finish in 2017, he did limit right-handed batters to a .212 batting average since being moved to the bullpen.
One reason why is Gonzalez still has good stuff. According to Baseball Savant, Gonzalez posted terrific exit velocity and whiff% numbers. His hard hit percentage and curve spin were also quite indicative of what you expect to see from a strong reliever.
By relying on just his best pitches in the bullpen, his numbers could improve. We’ve seen that time and again. Some classic examples are Andrew Miller, Oliver Perez, and Seth Lugo.
On the subject of Lugo, we’ve seen the immense value in having a multiple inning reliever in the bullpen. Lugo’s ability to do both this and close makes him a Swiss Army knife. It’d be great for the Mets to add a left-handed compliment. That’s what Gonzalez could be.
In some ways, Gonzalez could be akin to what the Mets got from Darren Oliver in 2006. In many ways, Gonzalez and Oliver compare favorably.
Both pitchers are fastball/curveball pitchers at their core. They both had control issues throughout their career. Both starting working out of the bullpen in their age 33 seasons.
The question for Gonzalez if he’ll accept the role in the bullpen to lengthen his career like Oliver did. When that happened, Oliver both prolonged his career and helped the Mets win the division.
Gonzalez may have that chance now. He could be the left-handed compliment to Lugo. He could be a key reliever. He could very well be a key piece to a team popping champagne at the end of the 2021 season.
When Steve Cohen had his introductory press conference, he named the Los Angeles Dodgers as a model organization. What’s interesting about the Dodgers is how they got to this point.
While the focus has been on their spending might and analytics, there’s another thing they’ve done extraordinarily well. That’s find the player whose career hasn’t quite planned out, acquire him, and turn him into a good everyday player.
Mets fans are well acquainted with Justin Turner, but it goes beyond him. There’s also players like Max Muncy and Chris Taylor. Much of the current Dodgers run has been fueled by identifying cast offs and utility players and making them good everyday players.
That brings us to Gary Sanchez.
According to reports the once future superstar is on the trade bloc. That’s understandable considering two of his last three seasons have been below league average at the plate, his production has dropped off considerably since 2017, and he effectively lost his job to Kyle Higashioka this postseason.
Seeing all that has happened, the Yankees probably should investigate moving on from Sanchez. That goes double considering the free agents available. In doing that, the Yankees are risking a catcher entering his prime taking off with another team.
We’ve seen Sanchez show flashes of greatness. Over his first two seasons, he hit .283/.353/.567 (138 OPS+). In 2018, he had a strong framing season. He’s always had a strong arm with great pop times. However, these are just flashes.
Behind that is the passed balls and the extremely poor framing numbers for most of his career. When it looks like he’s improved one part of his game, the rest of it suffers.
For example, in 2019, Fangraphs noted Sanchez stopped allowing passed balls only for his framing to take a dive. This year, Sanchez did things to improve his framing only for him to suffer a career worst season at the plate.
How you look at Sanchez depends upon your worldview. If you’re glass half-empty, you see a guy who will never put it together. If you’re glass half-full, you see a 27 year old making improvements to his game and is poised for a huge breakout season at some point over the next 2-3 years.
If you have a franchise truly investing in analytics and player development, you should probably jump at the chance to obtain Sanchez. He’s one of the most purely talented players in the game, he’s shown the ability and willingness to address his deficiencies, and he’s likely going to come at a cheap cost.
If you obtain him, you could have a potential All-Star. His floor right now is backup and power bar off the bench. That’s not a bad thing to ever have. If you’re a forward thinking organization maybe you look to pair Sanchez with a Yadier Molina who could mentor him and help him get the most out of his abilities.
If you lose out on J.T. Realmuto and James McCann in free agency, this is an interesting Plan B or C. If you have the right organization in terms of player development, this could be the best option of all.