Milwaukee Brewers Free Agent Targets: 3B/2B Yolmer Sanchez

Yolmer Sanchez recently cleared waivers and became a free agent. The Milwaukee Brewers should look at him as a potential third base answer or utility player.

Yolmer Sanchez is a lot of fun. I’m talking Carlos Gomez levels of fun. Gomez became a fan favorite of the Milwaukee Brewers’ fan base because he could fly around the bases, make dazzling defensive plays, and loved to have fun playing the game every day. Well if you like all those things I have the perfect player for you and his name is Yolmer Sanchez.

First up, flying around the bases. Former Milwaukee Brewer and consensus Greatest Brewer of All Time, Robin Yount said the triple is the most exciting play in baseball. Sanchez has hit 22 triples in the past three years, including a league-leading 10 in 2018. He also stole 14 bases in that 2018 season. Only Lorenzo Cain and Christian Yelich swiped more bags than that this season.

Next, dazzling defensive plays. Sanchez is coming off of a 2019 campaign where he won a Gold Glove in a full season at second base. Yes, second base is not a great defensive position in the MLB, and as a guy who can play third base, he should be a top defender at a less challenging position, but he is a Gold Glover nonetheless. For those concerned about positional issues, he played 141 games at third base in 2018 and was an above-average defender there at three total runs saved above average and five defensive runs saved above average. At second base in 2019 those numbers were 16 and 11. He can flash the leather and play all around the diamond, even playing shortstop in a few games over the course of his career and right field once. A Gold Glover playing second base on Keston Hiura’s off days sounds pretty great to me.

Before we get to my favorite part about him, how much fun he has at the ballpark every day, we’ll look at his bat. As a potential every day third baseman, he’s not a great option. His OPS has only eclipsed the .700 mark once in his career and he’s only hit double-digit home runs once, both in 2017. He is slightly better as a right-handed hitter, making a platoon with Travis Shaw a potential idea, but who knows if Shaw will be in Milwaukee in 2020.

I really see his bat as a replacement for Hernan Perez. Lots of players like Perez because of his leadership and he could play anywhere. Sanchez gives some similar things. With five full seasons in the MLB under his belt, he is equipped to be a leader in the Milwaukee Brewers’ clubhouse and keep things loose. In terms of defense, Perez has been about average in every spot whereas Yolmer is above average to great. Hitting, they are very similar Yolmer’s career slash line is .244/.299/.357 for an OPS of .656. And Perez’ is .252/.282/.387 for an OPS of .668.

Not much is lost offensively with Yolmer Sanchez, and he’ll take most of his at-bats left-handed because most pitchers are right-handed. Left-handed hitters have had great success hitting home runs in Milwaukee recently. Christian Yelich, Eric Thames, Yasmani Grandal, and Travis Shaw his first two years just to name a few. He could very easily hit 15 home runs for the Milwaukee Brewers and do the utility role better than Perez.

Finally, we’ll talk about having some fun at the ballpark. Perez pitching was always fun. But you know what’s even more fun than that? Yolmer Sanchez dumping an entire Gatorade bucket on himself in pouring rain.

This is just a guy having fun in a situation that most would be disappointed in getting rained out. He’s done this Gatorade dump multiple times and it’s entertaining every time. In addition to this, he has a great simple celebration for base hits. Similar to Cain’s “Show Me Some Love” that was huge in 2018, Sanchez does Mickey Mouse ears for his young son. He’ll bring plenty of energy to Milwaukee and a few extra wins too.

He is a guy who can help the Milwaukee Brewers win games now and will not break the bank. He is an upgrade from Perez, especially if he sees the same increase in home runs that lefties have seen historically at Miller Park. This is definitely an option that the Brewers need to look into seriously for the 2020 season.