Gary Sanchez adapting well since Yankees dealt him to Twins

MINNEAPOLIS – Gary Sanchez hasn’t looked back.

The catcher, a Yankee since being drafted at the age of 16 out of the Dominican Republic in 2009, suddenly found himself an ex-Yankee late on the night of March 13 when Sanchez, along with Gio Urshela, was shipped to the Twins in exchange for third baseman Josh Donaldson, shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and backup catcher Ben Rortvedt (who has been out all season with an oblique injury).

There was initial shock and disappointment at leaving close friends like Luis Severino and Kyle Higashioka behind.

But there wasn’t time to dwell on it, either.

“It was changing my mentality of, I’m not Yankee anymore,” Sanchez, looking a bit thinner and sporting a full but neatly trimmed beard, said in the Twins dugout before Tuesday night’s game of his first thoughts upon hearing he had been traded. “Turn the page and move forward.”  

Sanchez, 29, came into Tuesday night hitting .229 with seven homers, 27 RBIs and a .735 OPS in 43 games, 23 of them at catcher. Sanchez, who started at catcher and batted fifth Tuesday, entered the night with five homers and an .830 OPS in his previous 19 games.

“I feel good,” he said. “This organization has been very welcoming to me – my coaches, my teammates, the front office. I feel proud and glad that I’m doing what I have to do on the field.”

The toughest part of being traded away from the only organization he had ever known in professional baseball?

“The most difficult thing is adjusting to new faces and at the same time leaving a lot of friends behind, starting a new chapter in my career,” Sanchez said. “But at the same time Minnesota was really welcoming.”

Urshela,who quickly became a fan favorite in 2019 when he took hold of the starting job at third after Miguel Andujar’s freak right shoulder injury at the start of that season, entered this series hitting .268 with five homers, 23 RBIs and a .722 OPS in 49 games.

“It’s going to be fun playing against my former teammates,” Urshela said. “A lot of memories, a lot of good times the past three years.”

Still, it was the departure of Sanchez that made the trade the headline-grabber it was, the exit of one of the most polarizing players among the Yankees fan base in some time.

It did not start that way as Sanchez early on enjoyed near universal acclamation and seemed destined to be one of those players who would be a Yankee for life.

Sanchez was among the more hyped prospects to join the franchise in the last two decades after the Yankees signed him for $3 million out of the Dominican Republic.in 2009.

The catcher embarked on a steady climb through the minors — which was not without a few speed bumps — before debuting with the Yankees in October 2015.

After being recalled on Aug. 3, 2016, Sanchez, whom general manager Brian Cashman dubbed “the Kraken” the year before, began a historic tear, keeping a team that sold off big pieces like Aroldis Chapman, Andrew Miller and Carlos Beltran at the trade deadline in contention. Sanchez finished with 20 homers in 53 games, including 19 in a 37-game stretch.

But after All-Star appearances in 2017 and 2019, Sanchez began to slide, specifically at the plate, which brought more attention to his defensive struggles, which few people mentioned when he was consistently pumping balls over the wall.

In the end, the change of scenery seems to have benefited both the Yankees, who grew tired of nearly every game becoming a referendum on the catcher’s future, and Sanchez.

“Maybe,” Sanchez said of the “change of scenery” theory. “I really don’t know how to answer that. But I got traded and then I took up on this opportunity and I think I’m doing the best of my ability to do my job.”

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.