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  • Twins Sign RHP Anibal Sanchez... No, Really

    Seth Stohs

    By Seth Stohs

    News came out late Friday afternoon that the Twins have reached an agreement with free agent right-hander Anibal Sanchez. The veteran will be 34-years-old before the calendar changes.

    Jon Heyman reported the agreement - which, of course is pending a physical - and later said it was a $2.5 million deal with incentives that could make him another $2.5 million.

    Image courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, USA TODAY Sports

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    Nick wrote about 24 hours ago of this winter of discontent about how the Twins have reportedly been in on Shohei Ohtani, and Yu Darvish, and Gerritt Cole, and even Chris Archer. There were, of course, other rumors that they may be talking to guys like Jaime Garcia and Chris Tillman.

    In Anibal Sanchez, the Twins got a right-hander who has been injured and ineffective the last three years of his big, six-year deal with the Detroit Tigers. In his past three seasons, his ERAs have been 4.99, 5.87 and 6.41. His WHIPs have been 1.28, 1.46 and 1.60.

    Last year, he asked to go down to the minor leagues to get another opportunity to start.

    Hey, the deal is low dollars, and if he reaches any of the incentives, he can make more money, but that likely means he's pitching well. It's also highly unlikely that he'll be particularly effective.

    The deal, according to Rhett Bollinger, is also not guaranteed.

    The other negative is that the Twins will have to remove someone from the 40-man roster in order to make room for Sanchez. Is there anyone on the 40-man that you would trade for Sanchez? That information will be interesting.

    Maybe there is another move up the sleeves of the front office. Or maybe they're just going to show a lot of confidence in the likes of Adalberto Mejia, Aaron Slegers, Felix Jorge, Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero and Zack Littell.

    For a team on the brink of perennial playoff possibilities, this is a strange move, especially when there are several other AL teams that they will be competing for a wild card spot with.

    Maybe some of our readers can explain this one to me?

    Seth Stohs has been blogging about the Minnesota Twins since May 2003. A founder and owner of Twins Daily, Seth has been a Twins fan for 40 years and has a passion for covering the minor leagues and prospects.
    Follow Seth Stohs on Twitter: sethtweets

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    Featured Comments

    Blake

    Blake 12,585

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Show of hands!

     

    How many people thought the Colon signing was a great idea last year?

     

    Now, how many people think the Sanchez signing is a great idea this year?

     

    Anyway, this signing moves the needle. Of course, when the gauge starts at queasy and ends at vomit, well...

     

     

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    youngpadawan

    youngpadawan 70

  • Provisional Member

    • Posted

    I love this move. This isn't a pitcher that had 1 good year 3 years ago. He was dominate for a while. This will be his last chance to put himself in a position to make money for a few more years. He finds it again, you have a front line starter for 5 million. Assume we still sign or trade and we end up with this for a rotation:

     

    FA/trade piece

    Santana

    Berrios

    Sanchez

    Gibson/Mejia/prospect

     

    That would be great. It's worth the no risk.

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    Vanimal46

    Vanimal46 28,724

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted (edited)

    Could be worse. Look at some of the arms the Twins used last year.

    Sigh... Yeah, it looks like they're going to ride the waiver wire carousel this year again.

     

    I don't have a strong opinion anymore about who to sign. Let's go after someone who had an ERA better than 5 last year.

    Edited by Vanimal46
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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted (edited)

    This will be his last chance to put himself in a position to make money for a few more years.

    Might just be his last chance, period.

     

    How did his previous "chance to put himself in position to make money" go? That is, 2017? A half decent year could have netted him $16 mil for 2018 (team option), although he did get a $5 mil buyout just for trying.

    Edited by spycake
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    Blake

    Blake 12,585

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    Sigh... Yeah, it looks like they're going to ride the waiver wire carousel this year again.

    I don't have a strong opinion anymore about who to sign. Let's go after someone who had an ERA better than 5 last year.

    I sort of think last year was "check out the position players" and this year is "let's look at the arms."

     

    I'm pretty sure the Twins have an idea of where their weaknesses are at the position player level, but, they've got some intriguing arms that need a look at the MLB level. 

     

    I'm hoping for a fun year, which means a year in which the Twins are competitive.

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    spanman2

    spanman2 294

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I see what Falvey and Levine are doing here. Actually pretty genius. Sign Sanchez for $2.5M, then use the $147.5M you saved on Darvish to buy a time machine and swap out 2018 Anibal Sanchez for 2013 Anibal Sanchez.
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    kab21

    kab21 2,459

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Honestly I can live with this move. I almost consider it a 'let's see if Hughes or Sanchez have anything for the 5th spot' type of move and am okay with one of them being in the rotation until Ervin comes back. If they are awful then this was a low dollar band aid.

     

    Getting Sanchez doesn't change the necessity of adding one very good pitcher and that is and always has been the priority this offseason. That can (and must) still happen. If that move doesn't happen that is when I will get upset.

     

    One little bright side is that Sanchez has been enormously unlucky (HR/FB rate and BAPIP). IFFFFFFFF those returned to normal then he could be sort of solid this year. I don't have high expectations for Sanchez but the Twins also didn't pay a lot.

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    ahart10

    ahart10 264

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I understand making low risk deals to cover for Ervin being hurt. This is a no upside move. If he breaks camp with the team you can throw away your hopes and dreams because that means they’re not willing to pay the price, $ or prospects, for an impact player.

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    Mr. Brooks

    Mr. Brooks 7,174

  • Provisional Member

    • Posted

    I understand making low risk deals to cover for Ervin being hurt. This is a no upside move. If he breaks camp with the team you can throw away your hopes and dreams because that means they’re not willing to pay the price, $ or prospects, for an impact player.

    I see 3 opening day rotation spots that could use an upgrade.

    So, I don't see how this prevents them from adding an impact player.

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    Vanimal46

    Vanimal46 28,724

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

    Honestly I can live with this move. I almost consider it a 'let's see if Hughes or Sanchez have anything for the 5th spot' type of move and am okay with one of them being in the rotation until Ervin comes back. If they are awful then this was a low dollar band aid.

     

    Getting Sanchez doesn't change the necessity of adding one very good pitcher and that is and always has been the priority this offseason. That can (and must) still happen. If that move doesn't happen that is when I will get upset.

     

    One little bright side is that Sanchez has been enormously unlucky (HR/FB rate and BAPIP). IFFFFFFFF those returned to normal then he could be sort of solid this year. I don't have high expectations for Sanchez but the Twins also didn't pay a lot.

    He allowed a 37.4% hard hit rate last year. It's going to be ugly.

     

    What are we hoping for here? Something better than Colon last year for 10 starts?

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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    Actually, perhaps we could send him to the minors to open the season. Since it is a "split" contract, it sounds like they have already agreed upon a $500k salary if he is sent to the minors, and a $2.5 mil salary if he makes MLB. Sanchez did consent to go to AAA last year for Detroit. So while he will be sucking up a 40-man spot (and perhaps just sucking in general), we may be able to avoid the "opt out" drama that usually comes with veterans on minor league deals at the end of spring training.

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    jimbo92107

    jimbo92107 7,419

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    This is our BIG HINT: The Twins are going to use 2018 as a season-long tryout for every plausible pitching prospect in AAA and AA. 

     

    If you thought 2017 was musical chairs in the starting rotation, you ain't seen nothing yet. Expect to see half again more candidates try their hand at pitching in the majors. Wouldn't surprise me to see 25 different starters this season. 

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