Pirates DFA former first-round pick Tony Sanchez
The Pittsburgh Pirates made an acquisition on Wednesday, which proved to be bad news for former top prospect Tony Sanchez.
In conjunction with the Pirates' acquisition of reliever Neftali Feliz, they designated their 2009 first-round pick Tony Sanchez for assignment to make room for Feliz on the 40-man roster.
The #Pirates have also designated catcher Tony Sanchez for assignment.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) January 6, 2016
Sanchez, who was drafted with Pittsburgh's fourth-overall pick in 2009, played 51 games with the Pirates' major-league club over the past three years, in which he hit .259/.303/.378 with four home runs and 18 RBI in 143 at-bats.
The 5-foot-11, 220-pound catcher has hit .261/.357/.408 in seven seasons in the minors, hitting below .240 despite an on-base percentage above .335 for the past two years.
"A very difficult decision," general manager Neal Huntington said of the move, per the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He's worked hard, but there were some challenges along the way."
In addition to his unimpressive performance at the plate, Sanchez failed to impress the Pirates behind the dish, often making poor throws to second base on stolen base attempts.
Nonetheless, the Pirates still believe he has potential.
"We still see major-league upside for Tony," Huntington said. "Given where we are and where we feel we're going, we felt this was the best move."
