Detroit Tigers: Significance of a Potential Anibal Sanchez Bounce-Back

Increased Trade Value

According to Spotrac, Anibal Sanchez will make $16 million next season.

Per the same website, the pitcher has an option on his contract for 2018 that would also pay him $16 million. However, he can be bought out for $5 million prior to 2018.

Considering Sanchez’ struggles in 2016, it won’t be easy to find a taker for that kind of money.

Should the starter rebound somewhat, Detroit could eventually trade him to get out of some of his salary while also netting some sort of return.

A similar type of trade happened during the offseason, as the Boston Red Sox dealt Clay Buchholz.

In late December, the Red Sox sent Clay Buchholz to the Philadelphia Phillies for second base prospect Josh Tobias.

Per Spotrac, Buchholz is slated to make $13.5 million next season.

Around the time of the trade, The Philly Inquirer’s Matt Gelb tweeted details of the trade, “Josh Tobias is going to Red Sox, according to a source. No cash involved; Phillies assume Buchholz’ 1-year, $13.5 million deal.”

Buchholz, who’s career WAR of 14.3 pales in comparison to Sanchez’ 24.7 number, was dealt despite posting a 5.09 SIERA and a 5.32 xFIP in 139.1 innings last year.

In a perfect world, the Detroit Tigers will be able to find a similar taker for Anibal Sanchez’ contract while also seeing a young pitcher like Jaye or VerHagen fill in as a reliable depth piece.

Next: The 2017 Tigers Have What It Takes to Make a World Series Run

With the team looking to become more financially sustainable long-term, getting the starter’s salary off the books would be significant.