Article: Should the Twins pick up Jonathan Sanchez?

[DaveW]

There really is no reason not to pick him up if we only have to pay the minimum. I'd rather see him out on the mound starting games then Duensing, DeDundo etc.

[Brock Beauchamp]

There really is no reason not to pick him up if we only have to pay the minimum. I'd rather see him out on the mound starting games then Duensing, DeDundo etc.

Well, Duensing is finally heading back to the pen. With Hendriks in the wings, he's probably next in line.

 

Given the Twins' season, I don't really see the point in picking up Sanchez, considering he's a FA after the season.

 

On the other hand, I don't really care too much if they do pick him up, either.

[DaveW]

Well, Duensing is finally heading back to the pen. With Hendriks in the wings, he's probably next in line.

 

Given the Twins' season, I don't really see the point in picking up Sanchez, considering he's a FA after the season.

 

On the other hand, I don't really care too much if they do pick him up, either.

Hendriks has bombed his first two time in the bigs, I'm not super concerned about that as I am sure he will be fine but I wouldn't mind the Twins giving him a bit more time in AAA to get his confidence high or fix whatever he is doing wrong in the big leagues.

 

Also Liriano will be gone within 2 weeks, I don't think Sanchez is anything special but at this point there is no reason not to take a chance on him and trot him out there for a few games, best case scenario is he shows some flashes of improvement and the Twins can lock him up to a team friendly 1 year/3 mil deal next year, certainly better than paying that money to the next Ramon Ortiz/Jason Marquis hybrid.

 

I'd be really curious to see if a change of scenery could do him some good, and again the risk is nothing.

[Jim Crikket]

I'm not sure I see the upside to picking him up at this point. In the unlikely event the Twins are successful in correcting whatever his issues are and he pitches well, he and his agent will simply sell his services to the highest bidder in the offseason. What's the point in fixing a pitcher so another team can benefit from it next year? Do we really think he'd be so grateful to the Twins that he'd sign a team-friendly deal to stay? Doesn't seem likely. If they can get some kind of team-option for 2013, maybe it would be worth a shot. Otherwise, I don't see the point.

[Parker Hageman]

In the unlikely event the Twins are successful in correcting whatever his issues are and he pitches well, he and his agent will simply sell his services to the highest bidder in the offseason.

Not suggesting he would experience a Liriano-like turnaround in 5-6 starts at the end of the year, but the Twins get to audition and first-hand experience with a pitcher who is likely poised to make less than $5 million. It gives them time to do some thorough due diligence on him. That's huge for a team who will be doing some shopping this winter.

 

Is it possible he and his agent choose another offer this winter? Sure but at least the Twins would know what they were buying versus a team on the open market who did not have the two-three months of being able to work with him.

[jjswol]

No question, the Twins should pick him up ASAP!

[Top Gun]

He is much like Liriano for one fourth the price.

Jonathan Sanchez threw a no-hitter in an 8-0 win over the Padres on Friday night.

 

Not only was it the first complete game of Sanchez's career, but he set a new career high with 11 strikeouts. Sanchez actually had a perfect game going Chase Headley reached on an error by third baseman Juan Uribe with one out in the eighth inning. Sanchez threw 110 pitches in the outing and didn't walk a batter. It was the 17th no-hitter in team history and the first since John Montefusco in 1976.

 

 

 

Sat, Jul 11, 2009

[Thrylos]

Nah. And using certain pitching performance indicators, it was not a surprise that he has been an average/below average pitcher. Luck can take you so far...

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

He's a free agent this season and we wouldn't re-sign him anyway. It's too late to build value and trade him too (which the Royals must have also realized).

[John Bonnes]

Not suggesting he would experience a Liriano-like turnaround in 5-6 starts at the end of the year, but the Twins get to audition and first-hand experience with a pitcher who is likely poised to make less than $5 million. It gives them time to do some thorough due diligence on him. That's huge for a team who will be doing some shopping this winter.

 

Is it possible he and his agent choose another offer this winter? Sure but at least the Twins would know what they were buying versus a team on the open market who did not have the two-three months of being able to work with him.

I think I agree with Jim - it depends on the art of the deal they work out. It couldn't be a standard deal. There is zero point in investing Aug and Sept innings in this guy just like there is zero point to investing Aug and Sept innings in Liriano - except that at leas Liriano is good.

 

But here's the thing - that is going to be the stance of every team, I would think. So maybe we're not talking about any team really wanting to give him a standard deal.

 

Sign him to a contract with a team option year at $6M or so. If he turns it around, great. If not, he is in the same place he was. At least with the Twins and their wide open rotation, he has the opportunity. If he doesn't want to go that way, forget it.

[Top Gun]

Why would you give him a raise, he would be lucky to get 3 or 4M next season.

[Thrylos]

Sign him to a contract with a team option year at $6M or so. If he turns it around, great. If not, he is in the same place he was. At least with the Twins and their wide open rotation, he has the opportunity. If he doesn't want to go that way, forget it.

That would be almost as bad a waste of money as the Capps, Marquis and Blackburn contracts...

 

His raw numbers say that he a. allows too much contact b. walks too many and c. when he goes to a league where the P does not bat, his K rate drops. Not a good combination for someone whose FB sits at 90-91. Disaster ready to happen like Marquis...

[Ultima Ratio]

No.... to answer the question.

[Parker Hageman]

His raw numbers say that he a. allows too much contact...c. when he goes to a league where the P does not bat, his K rate drops.

 

(A) That's completely inaccurate. Since 2008, even with the bad 2012 season factored in, his contact rate has been one of the lowest in baseball. At a 76% contact rate, only six other starters with 500 innings have had less contact against them in that time.

 

© He's had 37.2 innings against AL teams this year. Hard to make a sweeping judgement like that unless you are basing it on his 37 innings this year against AL teams. Almost all pitchers have a K-rate drop when they switch from NL to AL. Prior to this season, Sanchez had worked 90.2 innings against AL teams while posting an 84/46 K/BB ratio and allowed 37 earned runs (3.69 ERA).

 

There is zero point in investing Aug and Sept innings in this guy just like there is zero point to investing Aug and Sept innings in Liriano

 

Again, it's a first-hand look, that's the point. That's valuable for a team that is may be doing some heavy shopping this off-season. If he is available at no cost and the Twins can have a free 30-day trial period - great.

[powrwrap]

Mixed feelings on this one.

 

The Twins need pitching and taking a low risk look at Sanchez for a couple of months is a good move.

 

Sanchez's historical lack of command and correspondingly high walk rate is troublesome. I can't think of any pitchers that have corrected their command problem at his age. Can anybody name a pitcher that significantly lowered their walk rate while in the upper 20's, lower 30's?

 

So you are likely going to get a pitcher with ERA in the mid-high 4's that walks a lot of guys and not be able to change it. I wouldn't want that. But that's better than most of the guys the Twins are currently running out there....

[Mr. Ed]

That would be almost as bad a waste of money as the Capps, Marquis and Blackburn contracts...

 

His raw numbers say that he a. allows too much contact b. walks too many and c. when he goes to a league where the P does not bat, his K rate drops. Not a good combination for someone whose FB sits at 90-91. Disaster ready to happen like Marquis...

Let him pass through waivers, and if he's there, then sign him to a minor league deal, let Bobby Cuellar work with him. If he doesn't pan out, cut him loose.

 

No way should the Twins sign this guy to any Major League deal. The numbers are Matt Maloney-like.

[CDog]

Can anybody name a pitcher that significantly lowered their walk rate while in the upper 20's, lower 30's?

 

Randy Johnson comes to mind. Cue Lloyd Bentsen rip off...

[DaveW]

According to MLBtraderumors the Twins would have interest assuming he passed through waivers.

[Seth Stohs]

The Royals traded Jonathan Sanchez to Colorado for Jeremy Guthrie in an exchange of struggling veteran starters.

[minn55441]

The Royals traded Jonathan Sanchez to Colorado for Jeremy Guthrie in an exchange of struggling veteran starters.

 

Our struggling starter wasn't good enough for them?

 

This would have been one of those great trades. Blackburn pitches for them tonight and we could have had Sanchez start for us. Just have them switch uniforms in the tunnel under the stadium and put duct tape over the names on the back.