Jonathan Sanchez will try to resurrect his career in Pittsburgh, agreeing to a minor-league deal with the Pirates that includes an invitation to spring training.
Once upon a time Sanchez looked like a very promising young left-hander, but control problems have consistently wrecked any chance he had of emerging as a front-line starter and he was an absolute mess last season with an 8.07 ERA in 65 innings for the Royals and Rockies.
Kansas City gave up Melky Cabrera to get Sanchez from San Francisco last offseason and then he walked more batters than he struck out, was traded to Colorado, and then shut down in August with arm problems.
Sanchez had a 3.75 ERA in 458 innings from 2009-2011, so he’s not that far removed from being a plenty useful pitcher, but last season was so bad that it’s tough to imagine a successful bounce back.
