San Diego Padres claim catcher Gary Sanchez off waivers

The San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sanchez off waivers from the New York Mets on Monday.

The Mets designated Sanchez for assignment Thursday after a brief stay with the club.

The 30-year-old former New York Yankee signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants to begin the season and played in just 16 games for Triple-A Sacramento before opting out of the deal. The Mets brought Sanchez in on a minor league deal, and after he played eight games for Triple-A Syracuse, he was called up.

In just three games for the big league club, Sanchez went 1-for-6 with an RBI single.

Sanchez spent 2022 with the Minnesota Twins after a seven-year tenure with the Yankees, where he was a two-time All-Star.

The Padres had a need at the catcher position. Austin Nola is batting .131 in 39 games and Brett Sullivan is batting .170 over 21 games. Nola has also caught just three players stealing and allowed 33 stolen bases (8% success rate).

Sanchez also could be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sanchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.