Gary Sanchez: Hall of Fame ?

[Earthman]

Wanted to get a jump on things. On his way with 18 HR's in only 162 ab's.
Yogi and Derek Jeter in one.
A few more HR's and he'll get ROY for only a third of a seasons work

 

[cjericho]

Yes

 

[Earthman]

Make that 19hrs

 

[cranberry]

A Yankee probably hasn't had his career start like this since Kevin Maas.

 

[Earthman]

A Yankee probably hasn't had his career start like this since Kevin Maas.

Shane Spencer

 

[outofplace]

A Yankee probably hasn't had his career start like this since Kevin Maas.

Maas wasn't this good. Not even close. Is Sanchez a sure thing after so few at-bats? Probably not, but he is a hell of a lot more likely to develop into an elite player.

 

[cjericho]

He also is good defensively, can't tell yet how he calls a game and works with pitchers. But he blocks the ball well and has a strong arm with a quick release.

 

[Guy_Incognito]

His rise reminds me a bit of Cano's. A prospect we heard a lot about when he was very young. Took a while in the minors without really excelling, and was considered a potential disappointment as other prospects got more attention, and then seemed to wake up when they made it to the majors.

 

[Steak Snabler]

How about Phil Plantier with the 1991 Red Sox?

Phil Plantier Statistics and History | Baseball-Reference.com

 

[CD Boogie]

I just hope his nickname is Dirty

 

[Earthman]

What's impressive is that he has already worked his way out of a slump and pitching adjustments.
I think he's become a better hitter than The Yankees expected. Will be interesting to see if they
keep him catching.

 

[cranberry]

McCann has two years ($17 million) plus a club option ($15 million), so I'm wondering where Sanchez fits, too.

 

[Steak Snabler]

There were rumors at the trading deadline that the Braves were interested in bringing back McCann, but the Yankees were asking for too much. I think if the Yankees ate most of the money and settled for a middling prospect or two, that deal could get done over the winter.

 

[cranberry]

That wouldn't make sense for the Yankees.

 

[Earthman]

That wouldn't make sense for the Yankees.

Agreed no reason to just give away a catcher of McCanns caliber that's under contract

 

[Steak Snabler]

Whoever misses out on Wilson Ramos and/or Matt Wieters will probably come knocking at some point.

 

[Earthman]

Between Sanchez and McCann The Yankees have gotten 38 Hr's/ 94 RBI's from catcher pos
so far this year. Pretty good production

 

[cjericho]

Wieters has come nowhere near the hype, remember reading how he could be an all-time great. Career ops 736 and in a hitter-friendly park his career-high is 23 hr. McCann's contract looks bad now, but he had several seasons with an ops over .800 and he was going to a park with a short RF porch.

 

[Earthman]

Wieters has come nowhere near the hype, remember reading how he could be an all-time great. Career ops 736 and in a hitter-friendly park his career-high is 23 hr. McCann's contract looks bad now, but he had several seasons with an ops over .800 and he was going to a park with a short RF porch.

McCann's numbers were good last year 26 HR / 96 RBI/ 756 ops

 

[Steak Snabler]

McCann still has power, but he's a league-average hitter by most measures, and has been since he came to the Yankees. He'll be 33 by opening day next year.

Nearly all catchers, even the great ones, are pretty much washed up by 33 or 34. Carlton Fisk, Jorge Posada and Gabby Hartnett are among the few who bucked that trend.

Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Mike Piazza, Gary Carter, Mickey Cochrane and Bill Dickey — all Hall-of-Famers — were all either no longer above-average offensively or no longer every-day catchers by their 34th birthdays.

Joe Mauer moved from catcher to first base at age 30.

Ivan Rodriguez caught nearly every day until he was almost 40, but had his last great offensive season at 32.

Roy Campanella had his last great year at 33 (he had two bad ones before his career-ending car accident at age 35).

Thurman Munson was essentially a league-average hitter with no power — and had been for almost two years — by the time of his death at age 32.

Russell Martin was great offensively at 31, pretty good at 32, and below average this year at 33.

It's a difficult position physically, even for the great ones.