The Diamondbacks have designated catcher Ali Sánchez for assignment. The move creates the necessary 40-man roster spot to facilitate today’s major trade sending Daulton Varsho to Toronto for Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Arizona just nabbed Sánchez off waivers from the Pirates a few weeks back. The backstop has moved around the league via waivers fairly frequently in recent months. Dating back to June, he’s gone from the Cardinals to the Tigers, Pirates and Diamondbacks in quick succession. Sánchez did not appear at the MLB level with any of the latter three teams, and his time in the Arizona organization could come to a close after less than a month.
Sánchez, 26 next month, is a glove-first catcher. He drew some attention from prospect evaluators while with his original organization, the Mets, as a potential backup on the strength of his glove. He’s yet to carve out a lasting MLB role, though, picking up just seven big league appearances dating back to 2020.
The Venezuelan native spent the entire 2022 campaign at Triple-A. He hit .262/.354/.389 through 291 cumulative plate appearances. He’s never shown much power but drew plenty more walks this year than he had in previous seasons. That came with an accompanying uptick in strikeouts but resulted in roughly league average offensive numbers at the top minor league level.
Arizona will have a week to trade Sánchez or waive him. No team has yet managed to run through unclaimed waivers, as he’s landed spots at the back of a few 40-man rosters.
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