2062.13 Sanchez Complicating Trade Deadline

[ae37jr]

Sanchez Complicating Trade Deadline
Octavio Sanchez is one of many River Monsters over achieving. The 21 year old rookie started the season as the opening day second baseman. This was a backup plan after Twin Cities failed to land Miller Shed in the winter. Just 10 days into the season Sanchez hurt his back on a dirty takeout slide by Des Moines Alonso Flinn. Out for a month, the team was pressed to put injury prone Niaz Minhas at the keystone and hope he could make it through the month.

This was really an unacceptable situation. The River Monsters have long been known as a deep team. "Bullet Proof" is what they call it, others prefer "Next Man Up". So the team knew they needed to add depth to the roster up the middle. In house options Pat Currie, Eduardo Galvan, and Juan Martinez are nothing more than a redundancy of mediocrity. Those guys are ok to call up and fill a bench role, but pressed to being starters, even for a short time, is a sure sign of a team that is not a winner. So the River Monster rekindled talks with Valencia and got the deal done.

When healthy, Sanchez went to AAA for a rehab assignment. There he sat for the whole month. Rather than sulk about it, Sanchez mashed. .320 /.424 /.660 was his batting line. He couldn't be held back. His developmental momentum suggested he needs to be in the BBA or he will stall. There was a role as platoon partner at 2B with Shed waiting, but finding a roster spot would be tough. Coincidentally Juan Serna suffered an injury. Sanchez was able to fill it because of his versatility. Though not very experienced, scouts convinced managed Gerald Brandt that he would do fine after some initial learning curves. After all, he couldn't possibly be worse than McCoy.

Deja Vu right? First Sanchez is a placeholder at 2B, holds his own before losing his job. Now he is a stop gag LF with plans to replace him yet again. Buddy just rakes. When are the River Monster going to put some respect on his name? Sanchez is batting .270/.363/.540 and plays plus defense at 2B.

I think it's time to figure him in as a core player. But where does he play? His best position is 2B. Twin Cities could technically nontender Miller and "Shed" roughly 7 million in 2063 commitments. That's not likely though. Cornbread has 1.3 WAR, batting .308/.352/IDGAF in 70 games while the team is not short on cash/cap space. If Sanchez bat is for real, he does hit enough to play LF, which is currently unoccupied. But playing a 8/7/5/7 infielder in the corner outfield full time is criminally bad waste of an asset.

There is some talk within the organization to send Sanchez to the D-lab to strengthen his arm with the thought of making him a 3B. We did some research and Cam Lee of Sacramento farm system is the only 8/7/6/7 infielder in the Universe. He has 7 potential at 3B. That should be passable even for a team with high defense standards. Especially if they have a .360 OBP and hit 25-30 bombs. As far as roster construction, it makes sense. The River Monsters need to upgrade at 3B to sit at the big kid table. Of course there is always the unpredictability of the d-lab. Not only could it be detrimental or not successful, but he could end up coming back with a raggedy looking catchers mitt like Mathew Malone and Darren Wearne did.

So what does this have to do with the trade deadline? Twin Cities is riding a hot streak and this year is as good as any to win a Brewster. The River Monsters could use another bat as 6-9 in the order is pretty weak. Jose Perez has been targeted by the "What the Frick" podcast as a possible scapegoat.

The problem is.... there aren't many upgrades at 3B. Checking the trade block, Don Hale is probably the only player available better than Perez. On paper, he looks like a player that Twin Cities should back up the Brinks truck for. 24 years old, lefty hitter, can play defense, solid middle of order bat. But he has two red flags that have the River Monster backing off. Plus, if they acquire Hale, he is their long term 3B, once again Wally Pipp'ing Sanchez. We've looked long and hard for other possibilities. One interesting idea was acquiring Steveland Morris to play 3B. But his offense seems washed up and not worth the haul he'd likely require.

I guess the easier option is to acquire a big lefty bat and move Gallehos to 3B temporarily. There are 3 main targets on the list. One is a young LF that we likely don't have enough trade capital to get, one is an old friend who makes too much money and would keep Gallehos at 3B for multiple years(not ideal), and the third is undoubtedly the best fit, but we keep getting said GM's voicemail.

Will Twin Cities make a big trade? Only time will tell. As you can see we are fairly meticulous about finding the right fit. It's not about the highest POT or the biggest WAR. It's about putting a piece of the puzzle together. In this case, possibly the final piece, which is likely why finding it is so tough.

[BaseClogger]

The best TN writer in the business strikes again.

Sanchez should not be able to hit .270 consistently until at least that AVK rating develops fully and even then it will require a high BABIP and a lot of homers. That's the BA he put up last year in A ball. His ~25% strikeout rate seems low for 3 AVK. Serna was striking out ~33% of the time with his 4 AVK rating. It would leave plenty of bat for a second baseman but starts to look more meh in the outfield.

Want Ramos back to play 3B? I'd retain 50%

I'm trying to identify Hale's two red flags. I assume personality is one but can't figure the other.

[BaseClogger]

Dave McClain strikes me as your type too.

[ae37jr]

Sanchez should not be able to hit .270 consistently until at least that AVK rating develops fully and even then it will require a high BABIP and a lot of homers. That's the BA he put up last year in A ball. His ~25% strikeout rate seems low for 3 AVK. Serna was striking out ~33% of the time with his 4 AVK rating. It would leave plenty of bat for a second baseman but starts to look more meh in the outfield.

I agree with all of that. Thought he would be a .200 hitter, which is why I traded for Shed. Figured he'd be a good short side platoon. I'm only playing him in LF cause he is hot and I haven't found my LF of the future yet. In an ideal world I acquire a right handed 3B and Sanchez aces d-lab enough to be decent at 3B. Then I can platoon him at both 2B and 3B while serving as injury insurance.

Want Ramos back to play 3B? I'd retain 50%

I've thought about it, and may consider it again. His defense at 3B is why I traded him in the first place. But if my alternative is moving Gallehos there... Ramos looks like a Zimmer. lol

I'm trying to identify Hale's two red flags. I assume personality is one but can't figure the other.

That is the big one. Interesting enough, I did make an offer for Hale earlier in the season... he was not disruptive. So him becoming a turd may have had a great impact on Louisville falling off a cliff recently. The other red flag is a small one. It's hard to judge left handed bats in Louisville. His road split is a little worse. Not that bad, but my stadium is tougher on lefty power and I was at a point where I thought about "doing what it took to get a deal done". i feel like those those two things would mean he wouldn't make us a better team.

Dave McClain strikes me as your type too.

I do like McClain. But he isn't a clear upgrade from Perez. Perez is younger, a lot cheaper, has more power, slightly better defense and is having a better year. I' can't really justify adding McClain for $9 million plus and giving up prospects.

[BaseClogger]

Yeah you’d want Madison to retain some of the contract. His production looks worse because he’s playing 1B. Hes a plus defender at 3B. Maybe his power comes back too.

Do personality ratings change over time? You indicate Hale’s got worse mid midseason.

[ae37jr]

I don't know if ratings change in personality, but his classification did. He just become disruptive within the last month or so. I've seen this with other players too. A captain one week, next week just a leader. So I guess they do. Seems ridiculous that one point out of 100 of greed or leadership or whatever can screw with your team like that. I'm sure10-20 PP would give him a decent enough attitude. But that wouldn't help my playoff push now.