Written by Greg Fertel | 21 June 2009

Since we learned that Gary Sanchez will sign with the Yankees on July 2nd for around 2.5 million dollars, I figured I'd chime in with my thoughts about the signing.

Contrary to Sean's report on Sanchez, the post has him listed at 6'2" and not 190 pounds, but 210 pounds. That is one big 16 year old. Just for comparisons sake, Montero is 6'4" and 225 as a 19 year old, and he is expected by most scouts and evaluators to be forced off of catcher. If Sanchez already weighs 210 at age 16, I worry that he will get too big to play the position as well. There also has to be some concern that he will get too big to be an effective hitter as well. I know BMI isn't the best measure, since it doesn't take into account muscle mass, but it would consider Sanchez to be overweight, which is not a good sign for a 16 year old. I assume the Yankees have some nutritionists on the payroll that would help out with these types of individuals, but it still has to be a concern.

I hope that the signing of Sanchez doesn't hinder the Yankees from going after Miguel Sano, the top international free agent, a shortstop, and a player that I would prefer to Sanchez. While you shouldn't signed international free agents based on need, the Yankees system is full of catchers, and the shortstop position is a big hole in the organization.

I actually do like the signing, because $2.5 million isn't that much for the Yankees in the grand scheme of things, and he could be another Jesus Montero. However, I would prefer that they had signed Sano over Sanchez if he was going in the 3.5 million range. The Yankees definitely did their due dilligence on both players, and if they decided that Sanchez was a better value, I have to defer to them, because their scouts are way more educated on the two players than I am. The international free agent market is a great place for the Yankees to flex their financial muscle, and hopefully they continue to do just that.

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