Anibal - Rhymes with Cannibal - Sanchez

[UMDNats]

We signed Anibal Sanchez.

2 years/19 million.

[imref]

Nats agree to a deal with Anibel Sanchez per @anthonyfenech - 2 years / $19 million

136 innings last year for Atlanta, 105 the year before, and he'll be 35 when the season starts.  he did have a stellar year, but he was horrible the three seasons before 2018.

Not feeling good about this.

[Mattionals]

Nats agree to a deal with Anibel Sanchez per @anthonyfenech - 2 years / $19 million

136 innings last year for Atlanta, 105 the year before, and he'll be 35 when the season starts.  he did have a stellar year, but he was horrible the three seasons before 2018.

Not feeling good about this.

Yeah, this move is bad.

[UMDNats]

Yeah, not feeling this move either. 35 and he sucked the three seasons before 2018. He apparently made some tweaks in 2018 but we're paying a guy $19 million and we really don't know what we're getting.

[Trea Burner]

Whoever said it could be Dan Haren 2.0 is on to something.

[Jeff in Gaithersburg]

Would have opted for someone like Fiers instead, but Sanchez has had an excellent K/BB ratio the last several years and consistently went at least 5-6 innings in his starts last season. Struggled his last few years in Detroit but could just be his stuff plays better in the NL where he's been very solid in his career. One interesting thing, his numbers in Detroit when Max was there with him were good and started to tumble after Max left there. Could just be a coincidence but if Max was giving him some advice when both of them were there together it's good to know Max is here to help him again. 

[Elvir Ovcina]

Would have opted for someone like Fiers instead, but Sanchez has had an excellent K/BB ratio the last several years and consistently went at least 5-6 innings in his starts last season. Struggled his last few years in Detroit but could just be his stuff plays better in the NL where he's been very solid in his career. One interesting thing, his numbers in Detroit when Max was there with him were good and started to tumble after Max left there. Could just be a coincidence but if Max was giving him some advice when both of them were there together it's good to know Max is here to help him again.

He's also constantly injured.  Dude hasn't made 30 starts in a season since 2012.  Roark and Gio at least showed up and took the ball every 5 days.

[varoadking]

Roark and Gio at least showed up and took the ball every 5 days.

...and choked...

[Squab]

Would rather gamble on Roark than Sanchez (for 2 years). But I guess Roark wasn't a good enough soldier or whatever.

[bluestreak]

Roark at least gave you innings. I guess I’m fine with this. Go out and sign Hellickson and the have spots 4-5 occupied by Hellickson, Ross, Fede and Sanchez. See which one sticks. Overall it’s cheaper than what Gio and Roark were going to make this year.

[imref]

Heyman says there’s a $12 million team option for year three.  Plus incentives.

[Squab]

Just trolling around through pitchfx, Anibal's release point has changed pretty drastically from his career last year, about an inch vertically and 4 inches horizontally. He was top 1% of the league in limiting hard contact last year, and allowed the lowest launch angle by quite a bit since at least 2015 for him.

[imref]

Just trolling around through pitchfx, Anibal's release point has changed pretty drastically from his career last year, about an inch vertically and 4 inches horizontally. He was top 1% of the league in limiting hard contact last year, and allowed the lowest launch angle by quite a bit since at least 2015 for him.

And we no longer have to face him.

[Expos]

Would rather gamble on Roark than Sanchez (for 2 years). But I guess Roark wasn't a good enough soldier or whatever.

We got Anibal Sanchez, our potential closer of the future in Tanner Heisey and saved 2 million for Tanner Roark.

Let's not pretend like Roark was some beast last year. He was brutal for 3 months then turned it around a bit for 3 months but still couldn't be counted on. Sanchez is trending up while Roark is trending way down.

Take that 2 mil and put it towards a starting 2B like Marwin Gonzalez and we are set.

[imref]

If we get 2018 Sanchez then great, but at most we get him for maybe 130-150 innings, so we need backups. 

[sixthree175]

Would rather gamble on Roark than Sanchez (for 2 years). But I guess Roark wasn't a good enough soldier or whatever.

Many of us lost confidence in Roark, including Mike Rizzo.  I think Sanchez has more upside.  Even though he's not a workhorse,  I want quality over quantity. 

All focus is on second base now.

[varoadking]

Roark at least gave you innings. I guess I’m fine with this. Go out and sign Hellickson and the have spots 4-5 occupied by Hellickson, Ross, Fede and Sanchez. See which one sticks. Overall it’s cheaper than what Gio and Roark were going to make this year.

I'd really like to see Hellickson back this year as well...

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I think this was a reach.  Giving him a second year at that age surprises me.  I would have figured we would have taken some left-overs in the market in about a month and not needed the second year.  They must really like something about what they saw last year and think he's durable.  Someone said he was good when Max was in Detroit. I suspect Max had a lot to do with this signing, on top of the scouts.

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

Pitchers changing their pitch mix is a trend that has completely turned around some guy's careers...including Corbin and now Anibal of the Nats.  It's similar to the whole launch angle movement for hitters (Daniel Murphy). 

I like what I see when you look under the hood.  The lowest hard hit rate in all of baseball.  Good K rate.  Low walks.  He made 3 starts (4 appearances) against us last year and had a 1.50 ERA and held us to a .576 OPS.  Nice to move him from the rival Braves. 

There is a proven trend that explains his season last year.  Look at Charlie Morton as another guy in his mid-30s that started doing something different with his pitch mix and skyrocketed.  19 mill over 2 years isn't that much to pay, even if Sanchez becomes just an average mid-rotation guy.  If he keeps close to the same numbers again as last year, then we got a steal. 

If he has a few DL trips and makes 25 starts, then I'm fine with using a Fedde to fill in for a handful of starts.  I want a vet like Sanchez healthy down the stretch when we could be playing huge games against the Braves/Phils/Mets.

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

I think this was a reach.  Giving him a second year at that age surprises me.  I would have figured we would have taken some left-overs in the market in about a month and not needed the second year.  They must really like something about what they saw last year and think he's durable.  Someone said he was good when Max was in Detroit. I suspect Max had a lot to do with this signing, on top of the scouts.

I'm sure we'd have preferred to sign him for just a year, then re-visit next Winter, but there surely was some competition for him that made giving the 2nd year a must to get it done. 

[mmzznnxx]

Two years, $19MM for Sanchez. So freaking dumb.

[Lintyfresh85]

Very bad move.

[Slateman]

We got Anibal Sanchez, our potential closer of the future in Tanner Heisey and saved 2 million for Tanner Roark.

Let's not pretend like Roark was some beast last year. He was brutal for 3 months then turned it around a bit for 3 months but still couldn't be counted on. Sanchez is trending up while Roark is trending way down.

Take that 2 mil and put it towards a starting 2B like Marwin Gonzalez and we are set.

Potential future closer?

[Expos]

Potential future closer?

Why not? Have you seen the numbers he put up last year in AAA? He definaltely had the arm. Just needs to work on his control and walks.

[hotshot]

And we no longer have to face him.

Yeah, he looked great against us. But, our offense had very anemic stretches where any number of rookie or mediocre pitchers looked very good against us. 2018 Nats (and many other teams in MLB) hardly featured scary offenses.