Getty Image / Logan Riley
There hasn’t been much that has been working for the San Francisco Giants so far in the 2023 MLB season.
They currently have the 2nd worst record in the NL West and have allowed the league’s 6th most runs while putting together an average offensive season.
Now it looks like their issues could extend to the minor league level.
During the offseason, the Giants signed former AL All-Star Gary Sanchez to a 1-year minor league deal.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, they released Sanchez today after he had requested his release from the team.
Gary Sanchez requested his release from the Giants, and they accommodated him
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 2, 2023
Sanchez was once a rising star in the New York Yankees’ organization.
He finished 2nd in the AL Rookie of the Year voting back in 2016 after batting .299 with 20 home runs and 42 RBIs. He followed that up by earning an All-Star nod and a Silver Slugger award the next season as he hit .278 with 33 homers and 90 RBIs.
He earned another All-Star nod in 2019, but has struggled since.
In the following two seasons, he hit .147 and .204 for the Yankees. He was then traded to the Minnesota Twins as part of the deal that brought Josh Donaldson and Isiah Liner-Falefa to New York.
The change of scenery didn’t help Sanchez’s batting average as he hit .205 in his first season in Minnesota, but he did drive in his most RBIs since 2019.
That wasn’t enough to convince the Twins to bring him back, which led to him signing with the Giants.
Sanchez continued to struggle at the plate even at the AAA level. He was hitting just .164 in 16 appearances in the minors this year.
Sanchez has never been a great defensive catcher, which could make will likely make it difficult for him to find another team with the way he has struggled at the plate.
Maybe somebody will take a chance on him because of his All-Star past, but he’ll have a long way to go to work his way back to the major league level.