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It feels safe to assume that the Baltimore Orioles have not had the season that they had hoped for.
Fresh off back-to-back postseason appearances, the expectations were through the roof and unfortunately for the fans, the team has not lived up to them this season.
The Orioles are 37-48 as of Wednesday and well out of the playoff picture in the American League. That does not mean, though, that there haven’t been any beneficiaries from the down year.
Current starting catcher Gary Sanchez has gotten a chance to play almost every day, and he has benefited greatly from it. He is turning himself into a coveted trade target.
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He has appeared with six teams over the last five seasons and could potentially be on the way to a seventh with his recent performance.
Sanchez had a scorching hot month of June, posting a slash line of .354/.415/.646, along with slugging four home runs and driving in 18 runs.
He’s off to the same hot start in July, as he hit a two-run home run against Texas Rangers starter Jacob deGrom on Tuesday and provided the lone run support in the game for Baltimore.
Several teams in the playoff hunt are struggling at catcher and could use Sanchez’s bat in their lineup.
The San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Rangers all rank in the bottom five in Wins Above Average from catchers. There is another team that ranks near the bottom of the league in catcher production that would make for quite the story.
The New York Yankees rank 24th in Wins Above Average from catchers and a reunion with Sanchez makes so much sense for both sides.
Sanchez could return to a place where he has a career slash line of .230/.318/.487, and the Yankees can bring back a fan favorite to help them produce at a major position of need.
If New York isn’t interested in a trade for its former catcher, there should be plenty of other suitors for Sanchez on the trade market.
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