Minor Leaguer of the Year: Humberto Sanchez
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Minor Leaguer of the Year
This is a tougher call than I’d expected it to be, but I sided with Humberto Sanchez, of AAA Toledo and before that, AA Erie. Cameron Maybin was another strong possibility with his stellar season at Low-A West Michigan.
What did Sanchez do? For one, he started the 2006 Futures Game for the World Team and easily handled the three batters he faced.
He went 5-3 in Erie with a 1.76 ERA, a walks+hits of just over 1, about 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a 3.2:1 walks-to-strikeouts ratio. Oh, and he allowed just two home runs in 71 innings. Wow!
In Toledo, he didn’t quite duplicate that success, but he continued showing good numbers: a 3.86 ERA, a 2:1 K:BB rate, 7.5 K/9, and 2 home runs allowed in 51 innings.
What’s of interest is whether his dropoff came from facing more experienced batters, or if some of it came from tenderness in his elbow that eventually shut him down for the rest of the season beginning in late July. That is the only fear, of course, for the 23-year-old. Sanchez will likely be a name Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski hears often when listening to trade talks this offseason.
Barring a trade or any lingering effects on his elbow, Sanchez will definitely be in the thick of the fight to fill out the Tigers rotation next season, competing against the likes of 2006 first round pick Andrew Miller and 2006 starters Mike Maroth and Zach Miner.
This hasn’t been discussed, certainly you can call me nuts, but I think it wouldn’t be bad idea to think about bringing him north as a late-innings reliever even if he doesn’t make the cut for a starting spot. He’s major league ready, he’s of proper age, he probably shouldn’t be left to linger in the minors for too much longer. Long term, the Tigers would certainly benefit from having both him and Miller in a starting spot. Short term, it can’t hurt to have this kid in the bullpen during the quest to return to the World Series.
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