Shapiro: Sanchez moving to bullpen, GM to speak with him in Houston
The Toronto Blue Jays' front office is putting its foot down on the Aaron Sanchez situation.
One day after manager John Gibbons said the team is "still debating" whether to move their young ace to the bullpen in an effort to limit his innings, club president Mark Shapiro all but refuted that statement, reiterating that the team will move Sanchez to the bullpen despite his Cy Young-caliber numbers.
"I did make one absolute statement (that) this guy's not gonna pitch 220 innings this year," Shapiro told MLB Network Radio on Thursday, echoing his comments on a Toronto radio station Wednesday night. "He's not gonna pitch 230 innings. And if you project out what it would take to start through October, that would be the impact. So that is absolute."
The decision to move Sanchez has been a lightning rod of controversy during an otherwise successful Blue Jays season - so much so that Shapiro revealed general manager Ross Atkins is joining the team in Houston, where he'll meet face to face with Sanchez, Gibbons, and pitching coach Pete Walker.
Related: Sanchez could make 1-2 starts before bullpen move
Shapiro also poured cold water on the notion of Sanchez being re-inserted into the rotation come October, or even resting the 24-year-old by skipping some of his starts. What they want is for Sanchez to not only be comfortable with the move, but also for the AL's ERA leader to still contribute as the Blue Jays push for a championship. In the team's eyes, moving Sanchez in the near future accomplishes both those goals.
"There is no safe way to shut him down and then ramp him up again," Shapiro explained. "So if you take that out it's simply ... do you let him start to a point where he either fatigues and mandates being shut down or he reaches some arbitrary innings amount - 190, 194, whatever it is - that would be the most in probably history, and then say that's it? Or, do we re-allocate those innings in the bullpen and let him continue to contribute to this team in high-leverage situations? And that's gotta be a decision that Aaron feels good about."
Unfortunately for Shapiro and the Blue Jays, only time will tell if this ends up being the right move. The road they're about to travel down, he explained, is one of an inexact science that may never be perfected.
"Look at (Stephen) Strasburg, look at Matt Harvey," Shapiro said. "This is not the first instance (of limiting innings), and they're all confusing, they're all challenging. I'd love to present complete clarity to you, and as much as I feel like the better answers are clear, I still would say we're not gonna end up with an absolutely perfect answer. It's an imperfect question."