#Gary Sanchez’s regression could force drastic Yankees move

When you scroll through the questions facing the Yankees in the wake of their latest premature ouster from the postseason, the checklist is lengthy and includes high-profile names and important positions.

None of them top Gary Sanchez’s drastic decline this past season and the question of his future with the Yankees.

It was one thing to pair Kyle Higashioka with Gerrit Cole in three postseason starts based on how well (1.00 ERA; .147 BA in four games) they worked together.

But Higashioka was the catcher in Game 3 of the ALDS when Masahiro Tanaka started and in Game 4 with Jordan Montgomery in addition to catching Cole in Game 1 and the season-ending Game 5.

Manager Aaron Boone never said Higashioka had taken over as the Yankees’ first-string catcher, but he explained during the ALDS the situation would be day-to-day.

“It comes down to Kyle earning these opportunities. I feel he is providing enough offensively and doing a great job behind the plate,’’ Boone said of his Game 4 choice. “Honestly, I felt I could have gone with Gary as well and felt good about that. In the end, after contemplating and talking with some coaches a little bit, this is the way I felt I wanted to go.’’

Left unsaid was a belief within the organization that Higashioka, a 30-year-old who has played in 72 big league games, has a career .186 batting average and has been thought of as a defense-first catcher, was a better option than Sanchez.

So, what becomes of Sanchez, who was paid $5 million this year and is eligible for arbitration?

Could he be dealt?

Anybody can be traded, but that is a lot of money to take on for a .147 hitter.

Could he be non-tendered?

That’s certainly a possibility if the Yankees deem a raise in arbitration would push the 2021 payroll too high.

If Sanchez is traded or released who would replace him?

J.T. Realmuto will be the top free-agent catcher and the industry buzz on Saturday was that the 29-year-old right-handed hitter could be looking for a six-year deal for $25 to $35 million per. That would seem to be outside the Yankees’ reach because they gave Cole $324 million last year for nine seasons, owe Giancarlo Stanton $218 million through 2027 and will need money to retain soon-to-be free agent DJ LeMahieu, who is coming off a year in which he led the majors in hitting with a .364 average.

How far Sanchez has fallen is mind blowing. Sanchez finished second in the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting when he played in 53 games, batted .299, hit 20 homers and drove in 42 runs. He was an All-Star in 2017 and 2019.

While Sanchez has been a below-average defender for several years, his bat was undeniably real. From 2016 to 2019, Sanchez appeared in 370 games, hit 105 homers, drove in 262 runs and posted a. 847 OPS hitting in the middle of the order. Yes, he had more strikeouts (396) than hits (343), but power-hitting catchers are hard to find.

And though his defense in 2019 (seven wild pitches) was better than 2018 (a major league high 18), Sanchez’s calling card remained a bat that produced a career-high 34 homers and drove in 77 runs in 106 games.

Durability was an issue in 2018 and 2019 when Sanchez was on the injured list four times (two each year) with lower body muscle strains.

Still, nothing in his profile indicated what 2020 brought. Appearing in 49 of 60 games, Sanchez hit an unfathomable .147 (23-for-156) and struck out a whopping 64 times.

Too many of his at-bats were non-competitive.

“A lot of times his balance was off and looked non-athletic at the plate, lot of chasing and then missing good pitches to hit,’’ a scout long-versed in watching Sanchez said. “He needs to go home, hit the reset button, lose some weight to be more athletic and work on the high velocity [pitching machine] and set it at the top of the zone so he can feel like a kid. He doesn’t look like a kid.’’

Or anywhere near the hitter he should be.