Blue Jays sign catcher Ali Sánchez to a minor-league deal

Sánchez, 27, signed with the New York Mets during the 2013 International Free Agency period. Seven seasons later in 2020, Sánchez made his debut with the Mets, getting 10 plate appearances with his first career hit, a single.

A year later, Sánchez played for the St. Louis Cardinals, getting four plate appearances where he hit two doubles in the two games that he played. However, the Cardinals have always been loaded with catchers, meaning he didn’t get much of an opportunity.

After spending 2022 in the Cardinals and Detroit Tigers organization, and 2023 in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization, Sánchez became somewhat of a regular in 2024. With the Miami Marlins, he had 96 plate appearances with a slash line of .167/.211/.190 with no home runs, along with two doubles for an 11 wRC+. He also walked four times and struck out 24 times for a 25 K%.

Defensively, Sánchez played 244 innings behind home plate in 2024 for the Marlins, where he had 0 Defensive Runs Saved and 1 Fielding Run Value.

To say that the Blue Jays’ catching depth is shallow would be an understatement. In 2021, they had five catchers on the 40-man roster – Danny Jansen, Alejandro Kirk, Riley Adams, Reese McGuire, and Gabriel Moreno. For the past three seasons, the Blue Jays have mainly run Jansen and Kirk, with Moreno getting a handful of games in the big leagues before being traded at the end of the 2022 season.

Now, the Blue Jays have a tandem of Kirk and Tyler Heineman, who has had three separate stints with the Blue Jays the past three seasons. Those are the only two catchers on the Jays’ 40-man roster, as the Jays designated Nick Raposo for assignment on Friday.

If there’s an injury to one of the Blue Jays’ two catchers, Sánchez or Phil Clarke would be in contention to be called up.