Avila Explains Why Tigers May 'Cling Onto' Sanchez

By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid

The Tigers optioned Anibal Sanchez to Triple-A Toledo on Monday after Sanchez gave his consent. As a veteran player with 10-and-5 rights, he could have rejected the move and remained in the big leagues.

Sanchez, who posted a 9.00 ERA and a 2.048 WHIP out of the bullpen this season, wants to make himself back into a starter. His best shot, he figured, was by accepting a demotion to Toledo.

As Tigers GM Al Avila told the Jamie and Stoney Show on 97.1 The Ticket, the Tigers essentially had three options in regard to Sanchez.

"Our choice was to leave him in the bullpen, release him or send him to the minor leagues. Now to send him to the minor leagues, because of his contract status and veteran status, he didn't have to do to that. He actually wanted to go back there and continue to work," Avila said.

Prior to this season, Sanchez had worked almost exclusively as a starter. Of his 256 big-league appearances, just 11 had been in relief.

The Tigers and Sanchez discussed a potential move to Triple-A over the weekend.

"Part of the reason in talking to him was he's never worked out of the bullpen. He's been a starter and he doesn't feel that he can be consistently good without having enough work," Avila said. "So what we figured is it wouldn't hurt to do it, just to send him down there and get him in the starting rotation, start him every fifth day where he can have a routine as a starter and see how he does."

The Tigers haven't established a deadline by which Sanchez needs to prove himself in the minors.

"We didn't decide any particular amount of days or starts, but normally three, four, five starts and see how he progresses. If all of a sudden he has a pick up in velocity, he's sharp - in spring training he had three outstanding outings - if something like that continues to work out, maybe then we have something there that we can cling onto and add him to our pitching staff again. So it's kind of an experiment to see if we can get any improvement out of him," said Avila.

In theory, the Tigers could have designated Sanchez for assignment and cleared a spot on the 40-man roster. But Avila never seriously considered that.

"DFA-ing him is not a choice here. Usually when you designate a player for assignment...you're gonna add somebody to the roster that's not on there, but you can't be at 41. In order to get to 39 you would designate a guy for assignment, which gives you seven days to do something with that guy's contract, which means you either release him, trade him or get him off the roster," Avila said.

RHP Warwick Saupold was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take Sanchez's place on the 25-man roster.

The Tigers owe Sanchez $16 million this season, with a 2018 club option that includes a $5 million buyout.

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