Keeping Faith in Gary Sanchez Was Yankees’ Smartest Decision of Offseason

The Yankees made plenty of savvy decisions over the winter. They swung a deal for a stellar starter in James Paxton and signed the hitting machine that is DJ LeMahieu.

But perhaps their best move was their show of faith in slugging catcher Gary Sanchez.

The Yankees could have easily shipped Sanchez off for a decent prospect haul and signed a free agent catcher after his abysmal 2018 campaign.

Few people would have batted an eye. Sanchez slashed .186/.291/.406 last year. His hustle was consistently called into question, he struggled mightily on defense, and more often than not, he was hampered by injury.

It took a fair amount of gall for them to stand behind him after a year of shortcomings, but with his massive upside both offensively and defensively, the Yankees opted to give him another go. And boy has he rewarded them.

Sanchez has blossomed into arguably the game's best catcher, particularly on offense.

Among all backstops with at least 190 plate appearances, he ranks first in isolated power, slugging, home runs, runs batted in, wOBA and wRC+. He also leads the MLB in barrels per plate appearance. In short, he's ridiculously good at hitting the baseball.

It took a fair amount of courage for the Yankees to give Sanchez another go despite numerous calls from their fanbase to show him the door. But after a torrid start to the 2019 campaign, all seems forgiven from the fans and management, and El Kraken is helping keep the Yankees afloat during their injury-riddled campaign.

In the end, keeping Sanchez in the Bronx has turned out to be the wisest decision they could have possibly made with the 26-year-old backstop.