Three seasons ago, the Phillies wanted to get rid of Bobby Abreu so badly that they were willing to a) pay him $1M to wave his no-trade clause, b) include the late Cory Lidle in a trade, and c) accept four okay prospects for him. The Yanks were the benefactor of that trade, and the two main pieces the Phillies received in return (C.J. Henry and Matt Smith) are both out of baseball while the third piece (Carlos Monasterios) is a fringe relief prospect still in A-ball.
The fourth player Philadelphia received in the trade was a minor league catcher by the name of Jesus Sanchez, an 18-year old that was hitting .252-.323-.311 in the Rookie level Gulf Coast League at the time of the deal. The Phillies added Sanchez to their 40-man roster yesterday to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft, except he’s no longer a catcher; Sanchez now does his work from the pitcher’s mound.
With his career line sitting at .220-.295-.274, the Phightin’s moved Sanchez to mound in 2009, and he proceeded to put up a 3.44 ERA (3.25 FIP) with a 120-42 K/BB ratio in 136 IP as a starter for the Low-A Lakewood Blue Claws. In his final 13 starts, the righty posted a 2.59 ERA (2.39 FIP) with a 59-18 K/BB ratio 73 IP. The Phillies are still deep in the red when it comes to this trade, but it looks like there’s a chance Sanchez will contribute to their big league club, which is better than nothing.
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