No. 9 Gary Sanchez, New York Yankees, $2.163 value; $670,000 salary
Sanchez is Contreras’ body double at the plate. Both generated a 3.1 WAR in 2019 that valued out at $1.371 million when considered against the average of their peers in the ranks of catchers who worked at least 500 innings.
In Sanchez’s case, that sprang from a .232 batting average but 34 home runs and 77 RBIs. His 119 OPS+ provides statistical backing for the concept that he is a solidly above average MLB player at the bat.
He is basically also Contreras’ double behind the plate. Sanchez’s -3 defensive runs saved translates to a negative $115,000 value purely based on his defense.
Where Sanchez has a slight edge –and it’s only a slight one – is in his pitch framing. He still needs work; his -3 runs saved via framing ranks only 24th among his MLB peers, and values out at -$123,000. But the sum of all the components puts Sanchez’s overall value at $2.163 million in 2019, a few nickels ahead of Contreras and nicely above his approximate $670,000 salary.
Like Contreras, Sanchez will have to materially upgrade his defensive work to justify the higher salaries he’s likely to command in arbitration. That, however, is a story for a future season.