Blue Jays: Top five extension candidates on the current roster

#4- Aaron Sanchez

Coming in at number four on my list is Aaron Sanchez, another talented righty that also has two years of arbitration eligibility before he’ll be a free agent.

The story is obviously a lot different for Sanchez as a starter, and as someone who has struggled to stay healthy for the past two seasons. His fingernail, blister, and tendon issues on his pitching hand have been well documented, and hopefully he’ll be able to finally have a healthy campaign after offseason surgery.

There was a time just a couple short seasons ago that Sanchez was on track to be one of the highest paid pitchers in baseball, but unfortunately injuries have all but trashed his value at the moment. However, with two years remaining before he hits free agency, he could still theoretically have time to change the narrative and earn back a ton of value. Free agency has frequently been able a “what have you done lately?” attitude rather than a long term track record, but there’s no doubt his injury woes have harmed his potential value.

They’re also taken their toll on the Blue Jays front office, and have no doubt changed the way Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro may view Sanchez as a building block to a World Series contender. If had continued to take positive steps after his ERA title in 2016, chances are he’d already be fielding big extension offers. As it is now, I’m not sure he can be totally relied upon as a starting pitcher. And until he proves that he can stick in the rotation for at least a full season, that question is going to remain.

To complicate things even further, Sanchez is represented by none other than Scott Boras, the same super-agent who has openly criticized the Blue Jays for their lack of spending over the last couple of winters. Boras will suck up the bad taste in his mouth if it means his clients gets the most money from Toronto, but it’s more likely the Jays would be looking for a hometown discount of some sort, at least if they were talking about the idea right now.

After saying all of that, I do think it’s possible that Sanchez sticks around in Toronto for more than the next two seasons, but it’s going to depend on a lot of variables all coming together. The young team would probably have to be a contender sooner than expected, otherwise Sanchez could become valuable trade bait either this summer or next. He’d also have to establish who he is as a big leaguer, whether that’s as a top-end starter, a mid-rotation guy, or maybe even a reliever. Whatever the answer to that question is, it’s going to define a lot about what Sanchez is paid a couple years from now.

And of course the most important factor is whether or not he can stay healthy. There’s no doubting his talent, but it doesn’t do a lot of good sitting on the disabled list either. He’s not quite in the Tulowitzki level of injury-prone, but he’s not terribly far off either, and we saw how this front office eventually tired of that situation. Hopefully Sanchez can finally turn the corner on his injury problems and have the type of season he’s capable of. That’s the type of pitcher the Blue Jays should be interested in having around for the short, and long term.

Likelihood of an extension right now: 1.5/10