NEW YORK — The Yankees currently command most of the attention in the sport. Aaron Judge is chasing history. Ben Rice looks like a future All-Star. Cam Schlittler is turning a rivalry into something personal. There is no shortage of pinstripe storylines in April 2026.
In the background of all of it, two former members of the Yankees organization are quietly having the best starts to their seasons in years. Neither is in the Bronx or generating back-page headlines. But both are reminders of what the Yankees parted with, and why those decisions still draw scrutiny.
Gary Sanchez is hitting like it is 2017 again. Randy Vasquez, a footnote in the Juan Soto trade, has become a legitimate starting pitcher in San Diego. The two stories are very different. The resonance for Yankees fans is the same.
Gary Sanchez: ‘The Kraken’ roars again in Milwaukee
Not long ago, Gary Sanchez was the player Yankees fans believed would anchor the lineup alongside Judge for a decade. His arrival in 2016 was explosive. In just 53 games, the Yankees catcher launched 20 home runs and posted a 1.032 OPS, instantly establishing himself as one of the most dangerous young hitters in the game.
A year later, while Judge captured Rookie of the Year honors with 52 home runs, Sanchez added 33 of his own, earned an All-Star selection, and secured a Silver Slugger Award. The expectation was clear, he and Judge would anchor the Yankees lineup for years.
But Sanchez’s production steadily declined, with his OPS slipping to .852 in 2019 before falling sharply to .615 in 2020 and .626 in 2021. Defensive struggles compounded the Yankees issue. He led the American League in errors as a catcher three times, and criticism of his work behind the plate grew louder with each season.
By March 2022, the Yankees moved on, trading Sanchez and Gio Urshela to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt. At the time, the Yankees decision felt more like a reset than a risk.
What followed was an unexpected stretch of instability. Sanchez moved through multiple organizations—the Twins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, and back to the Brewers—signing a one-year, $1.75 million deal in February 2026. Six teams in four years reflected a dramatic shift from Yankees cornerstone to journeyman.
Now 33, Sanchez is producing at a level that recalls his early peak. Through his first 11 games of the 2026 season, the Yankees star slashed .233/.395/.733 with five home runs, nine RBIs, and a 1.128 OPS, a mark that led Major League Baseball as of mid-April. His role in Milwaukee is modest. Sanchez backs up William Contreras and rotates between catcher, first base, and designated hitter. The expectations are significantly reduced compared to his time in New York.
That shift appears to be working. The power remains intact. Five home runs in limited action is not simply a statistical blip—it underscores that his offensive ceiling never fully disappeared. Instead, the environment around the ex-Yankees catcher has changed, allowing that ability to surface again.
Randy Vasquez, throwaway piece turned Padres weapon
When the Yankees sent Juan Soto to the Padres in December 2023, the headline return was Michael King. Alongside King went Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, Kyle Higashioka and Randy Vasquez. Most casual fans would have struggled to identify Vasquez. In 37.2 innings with the Yankees during his 2023 rookie season, he had been inconsistent and largely unremarkable.
The Padres filed him away in their system and watched. The ex-Yankees arm made 26 starts in 2024 across six separate stints with the major league club, going 4-7 with a 4.98 ERA. The control was shaky. The strikeout rate was one of the lowest in the league. In 2025, he improved to a 3.84 ERA over 133.2 innings but still showed more reliability than dominance.
Then something shifted. Vasquez began working extensively with veteran right-hander Yu Darvish, who taught him how to recover between starts and study hitters more effectively. By September 2025, his fastball velocity had jumped. Entering 2026, both his four-seamer and sinker were sitting near 95 mph, up from 93-93.5 mph the previous year.
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller analyzed the early returns and pointed to the results across Vasquez’s entire arsenal.
“On each of his seven pitches, he has a higher whiff rate than he did in 2025, with the changeup in particular becoming a wipe-out pitch against lefties,” Miller wrote. “His average velocity is also up across the board, now pumping in both the four-seamer and the sinker at nearly 95 MPH after hovering in the 93.0-93.5 range last year.”
Through his first three starts this season, the ex-Yankees pitcher carries a 1.02 ERA, a 2.57 FIP, 19 strikeouts and just four walks across 17 2/3 innings. FanGraphs described him as pitching like a top-20 starter in the majors to begin 2026. His 27.5 percent strikeout rate and 5.8 percent walk rate represent career bests.
His debut was a six-inning shutout against the Detroit Tigers with eight strikeouts. His third start brought eight more strikeouts against the Colorado Rockies. Miller’s assessment in Bleacher Report noted the significance for a Padres team now leaning on him heavily, with Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta sidelined by a flexor strain.
“He won’t maintain a 1.02 ERA or anything like that, but Vasquez could be a big key to the Padres getting back to the postseason,” Miller added.
FanGraphs noted that the lowest strikeout rate among starters from 2023 to 2025 belonged to Vasquez. With two additional mph on his fastball in 2026, that part of the ex-Yankees arm’s profile has completely changed.
Sanchez’s defensive problems and offensive decline were real in the Bronx. Vasquez’s inconsistency during his time in New York gave the organization little reason to believe him.
Two players who left the Yankees without much ceremony are now among the more interesting stories in baseball. Nobody is talking about them in the Bronx. They are doing their talking elsewhere.
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