The Yankees may have considered the idea of letting Gary Sanchez go to JT Realmuto.
As far as we knew, the Yankees’ off-season consisted of waiting for DJ LeMahieu to come to his conclusions before using the minimum amount of money left to complement the list.
Apparently, though, the wheels below the surface for Brian Cashman may have spun a little more wildly than we thought.
LeMahieu’s widely known “Plan B” was Francisco Lindor, who ruined the Yankees’ works when he was negotiated with the Mets a week ago, which will certainly be extended in the coming weeks.
But, according to Jayson Stark, New York could have an entire archive of Plans B, some of which would have done very little to solve the inner puzzle.
Penetrating an article about the free agency of JT Realmuto and the Philadelphia Phillies, Stark noted that the Yankees had at least considered chasing the All-Star catcher this off-season and dismissing (sigh) Gary Sanchez if LeMahieu had taken his talents (and salary) elsewhere.
Sorry, what?
This sounds like something a Yankee fan rolled over in the middle of the night to scribble on the notes on the iPhone, not something that Cashman and company have reflected with complete sincerity.
But Realmuto and Sanchez have been connected for a long time, since the post-2018 crazy rumors that it looked like the two names could be involved in a three-way trade shipment. Noah Syndergaard to the Bronx. Remember this?!
Based on the latest update, however, it appears that the Yankees have been somewhat in love with Realmuto for a while, who has been neck and neck with Sanchez for the honor of “Best Catcher in Baseball” before departing in recent years.
In person? We will take LeMahieu and Sanchez. There is much less dirty laundry there, and we are not left wondering what are the alternative points that fit the team’s luxury tax limit.
But that It’s wild that this was apparently a 2020-21 consideration and not a 2018 notion. It really could have happened this week if LeMahieu’s negotiations had soured and had Canadian flavor.
Bizarre. It is probably incorrect. But tempting!