Twins, two-time All-Star C Gary Sanchez avoid arbitration with one-year, $9M deal

After signing with the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in July 2009 at the age of 16, Sanchez made his major league debut with two games in October 2015 and spent the first seven years of his career in the Bronx. A native of the Dominican Republic, Sanchez appeared in 53 games in 2016 and collected 20 home runs and 42 RBI — while posting a .299/.376/.657 slash line — to finish as the runner-up in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.

The 29-year-old had arguably his best season in 2017, hitting 33 home runs and recording career highs in RBI (90), hits (131) and runs scored (79), while earning a Silver Slugger Award and his first All-Star nod. Sanchez had rough, injury-plagued 2018 campaign, registering 18 home runs, 53 RBI and a .186/.291/.406 slash line while playing just 89 games.

He bounced back in 2019 with his second All-Star season and ended the year with a career-high 34 home runs, before struggling in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Sanchez had 23 home runs and 54 RBI in 117 games in 2021 before being traded to the Minnesota Twins in the offseason.

While he's known for his power and low batting average, Sanchez is also thought to be one of the poorest defensive catchers in baseball. He's led the league in errors committed by a catcher three times (2017, 2019, 2020) and passed balls three times (2017, 2018, 2020).