Royals, Aaron Sanchez Agree To Minor League Deal

The Royals and right-hander Aaron Sanchez are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. The former Blue Jays All-Star will be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. The Smooth Baseball client would earn $1.35MM if he makes the roster, per Murray, and the contract contains both incentives for further earnings and opt-out dates on April 15 and May 15.

Sanchez hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2022 and was out of baseball entirely in 2025. The 33-year-old set his sights on a comeback effort this winter though and more than earned a look with a big league club while pitching in the Dominican Winter League. He started eight games, pitched 46 1/3 innings and recorded a pristine 1.55 earned run average. Sanchez’s 19.1% strikeout rate isn’t much to look at, but he also walked only 5% of his opponents and has always been more of a ground-ball pitcher than a premium strikeout arm anyhow (career 52.7% grounder rate).

A former top prospect and No. 34 overall draft pick with the Blue Jays, Sanchez looked like a budding star in 2016. He paced the American League with a flat 3.00 ERA in 192 innings, finished seventh in Cy Young voting and made his lone All-Star team that year. Injuries have derailed him since. In addition to recurring blister troubles on his pitching hand, Sanchez has been plagued by a lat strain, a biceps strain and a torn capsule in his right shoulder.

Since that brilliant 2016 showing, Sanchez has managed only 367 2/3 innings in the majors. He’s pitched to a 5.29 ERA with a 17.5% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 49% ground-ball rate in that time, bouncing between five major league clubs along the way.

The Royals have a strong rotation, but clubs are always on the hunt for low-cost depth starting pitching depth. Cole Ragans, Kris Bubic, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha and Noah Cameron give the club five quality arms to carry into the season. Right-handers Alec Marsh, Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek and Mason Black are on the 40-man roster and all have starting experience in the majors, as does out-of-options left-hander Bailey Falter, who seems ticketed for a swingman role.