At this point, it’s safe to say that most of the MLB starters who could really make a difference, or tip the scale so to speak, are probably not available.
At one point, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodon, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, Nathan Eovaldi, Corey Kluber, Jacob deGrom, Jameson Taillon, and many more impact arms were available through free agency.
That’s not the case anymore.
However, there are still a couple of veterans who could potentially fill fifth starter or swingman roles in MLB.
Anibal Sanchez may be one of them.
Anibal Sanchez is still a free agent pic.twitter.com/bPUHlKttwB
— Camrin (@DETBaseball) January 18, 2023
Of course, @DETBaseball posted some highlights from when Sanchez was at his peak.
Right now, he is a 38-year-old depth starter struggling to find a job.
However, as you can see in the video, Sanchez was a really great pitcher in his prime.
His fastball is probably a “fatball” that rarely breaks 90 mph these days, but back in the 2000s and the early 2010s, it was an effective 94-mph bullet.
Sanchez arrived in Detroit in 2012, to bolster their World Series bid that fell just short.
He stayed there until 2017.
He posted a fine 3.74 ERA as a Tiger in 2012 and was at 2.57 and 3.43 in 2013 and 2014, respectively.
He was inconsistent after that point, but still delivered a few solid seasons and even won the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals.
He posted a solid 4.28 ERA in 69.1 frames in 2022 and could still help get some outs as a depth starter.
He is probably bound to get a one-year deal from a team at some point.
