The New York Mets have released struggling reliever Duaner Sanchez.A major hat tip has to go to Joel Sherman, who rumored this back on Feb. 26. He wrote:
Sanchez has something at stake, as well, namely a job with the Mets. He has to make a positive impression or else the Mets will seriously consider releasing him by 2 p.m. on April 1 and owing the righty just one-quarter of his $1,687,500 contract ($421,875).And that is exactly what the Mets did.
Omar Minaya had this to say:
We looked at it, really his overall performance based upon last year to where he is now, we really didn't see the improvement that we felt was needed to be effective in the major leagues.Pretty telling, if you ask me.
Sanchez was struggling through spring, and seemed to never recover from his taxi accident back in 2006. Sanchez came to the Mets from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization on Jan. 4, 2006 in a trade that sent Jae Weong Seo and Tim Hamulack out west and brought Sanchez and Steve Schmoll to the Mets.
Appearing in only 49 games in 2006, due to the accident, he posted a 2.60 ERA. You may remember his 18 scoreless innings to begin the season that year.
On July 30, Sanchez was in a taxi heading to a restaurant in Miami, when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident. Sanchez suffered a separated shoulder, and would miss the rest of the season. This forced Omar Minaya's hand, as he then dealt Xavier Nady to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Roberto Hernandez and Oliver Perez. (My father still claims this cost the Mets the championship.)
In 2007, attempting to come back from the shoulder injury and surgery, he injured himself again. At the end of spring training, he suffered a hairline fracture in his shoulder, which forced him out for all of the '07 season.
In 2008, Sanchez was healthy enough to pitch, but not very effectively. He had lost a lot of power off his fastball, and he just couldn't control at bats the way he used to. He ended up throwing just over 58 innings in 66 games, putting up a 4.32 ERA.
Though I think the Mets should have given him a little more time, it's obvious this was bound to happen eventually and they might as well cut him now and save some money. The Mets must now rely on some younger pitchers and possibly the Rule V draft picks to fill the vacated role.