Who is Juan Sanchez, and why should Blue Jays fans get excited?

The Toronto Blue Jays had a busy offseason during the International Free Agency period. They signed nine players, including Juan Sanchez, a 17-year-old shortstop and third baseman from the Dominican Republic, who signed for $997,500. At the time of the signing, he was Baseball America’s 44th-ranked available prospect, and MiLb.com currently has the righty listed as the 25th prospect in the Blue Jays’ farm system.

Sanchez is in Rookie Ball playing for the Dominican Summer League's Blue Jays Red, and is performing exceptionally in his first professional season. After his August 9th game, at the plate, he's slashing on the season .333/.443/.552 with a .995 OPS, seven home runs, 42 runs, and 37 knocked in.

The 17-year-old also possesses great vision at the plate, drawing 25 walks compared to 38 strikeouts over 221 plate appearances with seven games remaining in the DSL season. It's more impressive knowing that Sanchez has only played in 49 of the team's 65 games played.

With his hot start, he earned the honors of being selected for the DSL AL All-Stars, and received Player of the Week honors during the week of July 21-27. Defensively, Sanchez needs improvement. At both shortstop and third base, he has 49 putouts but has 20 errors.

Sanchez, being 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, has a strong arm that’ll make him a perfect fit on the left side of the infield, but his size may be a better fit for third base. This would be ideal because the Blue Jays also signed another International player out of the Dominican Republic, Christopher Polanco, who signed for $2,297,500. Sanchez and Polanco were the only ones out of the nine signees to sign for over $800,000, but Polanco is also a shortstop, so they may bump into each other throughout the minor leagues (they played on different DSL teams).

Although Sanchez is a few years away from being ready for the MLB level, fans should be excited about what this prospect has to offer. With the uncertainty of the Blue Jays' left side of the infield, knowing a player like Sanchez is the future can let fans rest easy. Bo Bichette is a free agent at the end of the season, and third base is a toss-up. Addison Barger seems to be the primary third base lately, but Ernie Clement makes quite a few starts at the hot corner, and Buddy Kennedy, who was signed as a minor league free agent this offseason, was recalled to the majors on August 5th.

Kennedy has played in 60 MLB games over a four-year career, but he needs some massive improvements if he wants to finish the season in the majors. This season, he’s been abysmal at the plate, slashing .083/.214/.167, so it's safe to say that without significant improvements, he won't be a long-term option at third, and blocking Sanchez's advancement.

Barger appears likely to be the one to block Sanchez, as he is a young and controllable player with five years of contract control remaining after this season. However, Barger can also play in the outfield, especially right field, with his strong arm.

No matter what happens with the Blue Jays over the next few years, fans should get excited about Juan Sanchez potentially becoming a future rookie sensation to wear the Toronto Blue Jays jersey, joining current young standout rookies like Barger and Joey Loperfido (although Loperfido has a small but impressive sample size in MLB). Nathan Lukes is having a solid rookie season, but he's 31 and likely won't be around when Sanchez could get called up in a few years.