Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez Jul 7, 2021; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) is congratulated by catcher Gary Sanchez (24) after hitting a home run during a game against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. The Yankees won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-USA TODAY Sports

Former New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins catcher Gary Sanchez has finally found a new home. On Friday, it was reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal that the two-time MLB All-Star would be signing a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants, which involves an opt-out clause if Sanchez is not promoted to the big leagues by May 1.

While Sanchez has not been with the Yankees organization for over a year now, he still maintains a close friendship with Aaron Judge. The reigning American League MVP made his MLB debut 10 months after Sanchez, but the two came up in the Yankees minor league system with one another and were teammates in the Bronx for the better part of six years.

Ironically enough, the Giants are opening up their season against the Yankees when the team elected to sign Sanchez on Thursday. Before the team’s second game of the season, Judge spoke with Susan Slusser, who covers the Giants for the San Francisco Chronicle.

“Aaron Judge tells me he’s very excited Gary Sánchez has signed with the Giants, thinks he can bring the team a lot between his bat and his strong arm behind the plate,” Slusser tweeted on Saturday afternoon. “His parents are already talking about going to see Sánchez at Triple-A Sacramento when Sánchez is there.”

Judge originally being from Sacramento fueled a lot of speculation that he would spurn the Yankees to join the NL West this past offseason. Instead, he signed a massive deal to return to the Yankees, but his connections to the West Coast may just very give a former teammate that much more support.

[Ken Rosenthal, Susan Slusser]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.