Sanchez, Saguaros search for AFL title

As manager of the Surprise Saguaros, Carlos Subero wanted to have meetings with his players at the end of their Arizona Fall League regular seasons. He wanted to talk to them individually after he'd seen his club of players from five separate organizations (Royals, Brewers, Yankees, Cardinals and Rangers) bond from the second day of the season -- as evidenced by a noisy, bouncing and fun dugout during games -- and eventually finish with a 19-11 record, tops in the circuit.

But when Subero called in Gary Sanchez to talk about the season passed, the Yankees' No. 5 prospect was more interested in another topic. Thinking a few days ahead, he had jotted down in his phone his thoughts on how the Saguaros should line up in Saturday's AFL championship game against Scottsdale (to be broadcast on MLB Network at 3 p.m. ET) -- yes, he placed himself among the starting nine at catcher -- and needed the skipper's approval as quickly as he could get it. Subero was surprised at what he saw.

"I loved it," Subero said. "I could have looked at it two ways. One, hey, I'm the manager -- let me do what I'm here to do. Or two, this guy wants to win. That's why he brings in the lineup. Maybe nobody else is thinking about that, but there he is, pulling out his phone and saying, 'Am I right, Carlos? Did I get it right?' I'll tell you, he got all nine guys I was thinking about and was pretty close with where they were going to hit. That just tells you how involved he's been in the action here."

If Sanchez seems overly excited about a title game that's off the radars of most baseball fans, maybe that's because Saturday presents one more chance to show he's ready for the big time. 

The 22-year-old catcher finished the Fall League season as the circuit's leader with seven home runs -- no one else had more than five -- and the co-leader with 21 RBIs. In 98 plate appearances, he produced a .295/.357/.625 line. All of that came after a 2015 season in which he hit .274/.330/.485 with 18 homers and 62 RBIs in 93 games at Double-A and Triple-A and made his Major League debut Oct. 3 in a two-game cameo with the Yankees. 

The 2015 season very much feels like the one in which Sanchez, who had long been ranked as the top prospect in the New York system before expectations got the best of him, blossomed into an exciting talent on the cusp of Major League fame. The Yankees may have signaled their confidence in Sanchez by dealing backup catcher John Ryan Murphy to the Twins in exchange for outfielder Aaron Hicks last week, thus clearing Sanchez's path to the Bronx.

But though homers and RBIs pop out of box scores, perhaps the biggest area of growth Sanchez has been behind the plate, rather than at it. 

Back in 2011 in his first full season at Class A Charleston, the then-18-year-old Dominican Republic native had 26 passed balls. That number decreased to 18 in 2012 at Charleston and Class A Advanced Tampa and has done so every season since. In 2015, Sanchez's catching skills had improved so much that he allowed only two passed balls in 727 innings as a catcher at Double-A Trenton and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Neither of those miscues came with the RailRiders with whom he caught 247 frames to end the season.

Sanchez carried those catching skills to the AFL, where he had only one passed ball in 145 innings with the Saguaros. His arm, which had always been his best defensive tool, was on full display as he threw out 16 of 26 (61.5 percent) would-be basestealers. 

Subero, who works in the Brewers system, was taken aback by what he's seen on the defensive side from the best catcher on the Surprise roster.

"Once you heard about him signing at 16, all you heard about was the offensive potential, and through the course of his career, it's become that he's not a defensive guy. You hear the rumors and all that," Subero said. "But here, I've gotten a fresh look and seen just what he's capable of defensively. It's not necessarily blocking the ball or throwing so many guys out at second. It's more gamecalling, talking to the pitcher, setting up hitters, knowing and planning for the next three guys coming up. Gary's had all that."

He's had "all that" this Fall League season, except one thing -- the trophy that comes at the end -- and Subero isn't one to doubt his temporary backstop's desire for that either.

"I've seen Gary this season disappointed about losing a shutout in the ninth inning," said the Surprise manager. "I've seen him yelling at me to get in a pinch-hitter when there are two lefties coming up, saying 'I want to win!' Even if he went 0-for-4 during a mini-slump he had here, he had a big old smile on his face after if we were winning ballgames. It tells you a lot about Gary, what you can see on the outside. He's a winner."

Scottsdale notes: The Scorpions are scheduled to start Twins No. 13 prospect Taylor Rogers on the hill in Saturday's championship game. The outing might be the second-biggest thing to happen to the 24-year-old left-hander this weekend, though -- he was added to Minnesota's 40-man roster Friday afternoon ahead of the Rule 5 deadline. Rogers posted a 3.98 ERA in 174 innings at Triple-A Rochester during the regular season and went 2-2 with a 2.88 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 25 frames in the AFL with Scottsdale. The Scorpions offense boasts Giants prospect Mac Williamson (.935) and Red Sox prospect Sam Travis (.900), both of whom finished among the AFL's top 10 in OPS.