Ali

Sanchez

Sánchez was designated for assignment on Tuesday but will remain with the Marlins and serve as organizational catching depth at Triple-A.

Sanchez is now off the 40-man roster. The Marlins used the room to claim Anthony Veneziano off waivers from the Royals. Sanchez now himself hits the waiver wire, and could be of interest for teams desperate for catching help.

Fortes had really stepped it up of late, so this is disappointing timing for him. A disaster offensively for three months, he’s hit .353 since June 26 to raise his OPS from .414 to .534. Ali Sánchez will serve as the Marlins’ primary catcher until Fortes returns.

Sánchez will take the roster spot that was vacated when the Marlins designated Christian Bethancourt for assignment. He hit .240 with three home runs and 21 RBI in 129 at-bats in Triple-A this year. The 27-year-old backstop is on the bench to begin Friday’s game with Nick Fortes getting the start and batting ninth against the Mariners.

Bethancourt was acquired from the Guardians last December and wound up hitting just .159/.198/.268 with two homers in 88 plate appearances over 38 games. It’ll most likely be newly-acquired Ali Sánchez taking his spot on Miami’s active roster.

Sánchez heads to Miami as extra minor league catching depth after spending the first couple weeks of the year with the Cubs organization at Triple-A Iowa. The 27-year-old backstop has gotten into seven contests in the majors since 2020.

Sánchez elected free agency after being removed from Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster last weekend and will head to Chicago as emergency catching depth. The 27-year-old backstop has gotten into seven contests at the highest level since 2020.

Sanchez was one of the players removed from the 40-man roster by the Pirates to make room on the Opening Day roster. The backstop went unclaimed, and now will be a depth piece in the International League. He’ll need to be added back to the 40-man to rejoin Pittsburgh this season.

The Pirates gave Sánchez a one-year deal this offseason, but he was bumped off the 40-man roster to make room for other players on the Opening Day roster. Jason Delay will serve as Henry Davis’ backup, at least until Yasmani Grandal is ready to return.

Interesting. The 26-year-old backstop has just 14 career plate appearances in the big leagues — dating back to his time with the Mets and Cardinals in 2020 and 2021 respectively. He spent the 2023 season at Triple-A Reno for the Diamondbacks — slashing an impressive .311/.375/.492 with 11 homers, 43 RBI and a 42/26 K/BB ratio in only 267 plate appearances. Financial terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed. It’s possible this signing could mean that one of the Pirates’ other catchers will be on the move shortly.