TAMPA. Although Gary Sanchez became a lightning rod among Yankees fans, the homegrown catcher was well-liked in the organization.
So while the team’s decision makers were ecstatic about Sunday night’s blockbuster with the Twins, which touched on multiple areas of need in a single deal, they also had to have some tough talks with Sanchez after trading him and Gio Urshela in Minnesota.
“It was an emotional conversation,” manager Aaron Boone, one of Sanchez’s biggest supporters, said Monday afternoon. “Essentially thanking him, saying I love him. I want him to be successful. But I’ve always liked Gary and appreciated our relationship with him.”
The Yankees are currently planning to move forward with a nimble tandem of Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt, the latter an improvement over Sanchez, who was part of a comeback from the Twins along with third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Isaiah Keener-Falefa.
Sanchez, 29, will play out the final year of his rookie contract with the Twins after six rollercoaster seasons with the Yankees.
Gary SanchezCory Sipkin/New York Post
“FROM [Sunday] That chapter is over at night,” Sanchez told reporters at the Gemini camp when asked if he thought it was time to leave New York. “It’s in the past.”
After signing with the Yankees in 2009 from the Dominican Republic — a deal that general manager Brian Cashman personally sought and talked about with nostalgia on Monday — Sanchez arrived permanently in the Bronx in 2016 and made an immediate impact, crushing 53 home runs. in 175 matches. games between 2016 and 2017. He was an All-Star in 2017 and 2019 but struggled heavily in 2018 and 2020 both on offense and behind the plate.
Sanchez had some success last year, but it wasn’t enough for the Yankees to trust him with another season.
“He has a love for this franchise, a passion – he grew up in this place,” Cashman said, adding that Sanchez took the news professionally. “He cares a lot. … We have invested a lot of time and effort into him, and he into us. All he ever wanted to do and all we ever wanted to do was win as many games together as possible. He definitely helped us in that category quite often.”
Just not quite to the extent that many dreamed of when he was a baby bomber.
Aaron BoonCori Sipkin/New York Post
“Gary is a quality man,” Boon said. “A guy who went through a lot of adversity and for me it revealed his character and the person he has become and the maturity he has developed over the years. He never stopped being a really good teammate. He never stopped working hard to be the best he could be. I hope it works for him as he moves on.”