In another case of "what could have been," the A's reportedly extended a three-year offer to pitcher Aníbal Sánchez before he signed as a free agent with the Washington Nationals in December.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, "the exact terms of the A's proposal are not known," but the location of Washington D.C. to his home in Southern Florida played a huge role in the decision.
The addition of Sánchez would have been a very A's-like move in all accounts but the monetary value.
The 34-year-old righty accepted a two-year, $19 million deal with the Nats.
Now, we know pitchers are getting very much taken care of with these lucrative contracts lately (ahem -- Trevor Cahill) so that factor isn't surprising, but the green and gold isn't used to making it rain. This is good news for a few reasons, however.
First, if the A's were willing to give him an offer that ballparks (pun is very much intended) around that $19 million offer and the deciding factor was geared toward a geographical aspect, does that mean the A's are hopping on board with the rest of the league and willing to pay the big bucks for the good arms?
Perhaps.
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I know what you're saying: "Jess, Sánchez had a good season last year, but was it an outlier?"
Last year with the Braves, he was sensational boasting a 2.83 ERA with 135 strikeouts in 136.2 innings.
His previous seasons with the Tigers were very hit and miss -- more miss than anything. Across three seasons (2015-17), he had an ERA of 5.67 with 377 strikeouts in 415.2 innings.
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While those numbers are on completely different spectrums, it's interesting to know the A's appeared to be willing to take a chance on him. And whether it's a coincidence or not, four days after Sánchez was in agreement with the Nationals, the A's signed Mike Fiers to a two-year, $14.1 million contract.
