Reds' fans will be focused on Astros' outfielder with non-tender deadline looming

The Cincinnati Reds have seen many potential targets to improve their offense fall off the board already. Josh Naylor re-signing with the Seattle Mariners put an end to a pipe dream the club likely couldn't afford. Hometown kid Taylor Ward being dealt to the Baltimore Orioles also cleared a more reasonable target from the board.

However, as the targets fall by the wayside, new ones will crop up to take their place as the non-tender deadline approaches. One such player who could be on the chopping block with his current team is Houston Astros outfielder Jesús Sanchez, and if he hits the market, he could be the perfect reclamation project for Cincinnati.

Astros outfielder Jesús Sanchez could be cut loose and would present the Reds with an exciting buy-low opportunity

If you are reading the tea leaves, you know that a bat with pop from the left side, preferably one that can play left field, is the ideal fit for the Reds. That, among many other reasons, is why fans dreamed of Kyle Schwarber, and why more realistic fits like Trent Grisham were bandied about before he came surprisingly accepted the qualifying offer to return to the New York Yankees.

Of course, Schwarber is well outside of the Reds' price range, and even if Grisham didn't accept the QO, the draft pick compensation likely removed him from Nick Krall's board. But if the Astros really cut ties with Sanchez, he'd be a perfect gamble to take.

So far, the 28-year-old has been more potential than production, with a 98 career wRC+. Following the deadline deal that sent him from the Miami Marlins to Houston, Sanchez truly bottomed out. After a .740 OPS in Miami, Sanchez slashed just .199/.269/.342 in 48 games for the Astros. That's what puts him on the non-tender block, but there are reasons to believe that, with some small tweaks, a load of production can be unlocked.

Sanchez is a physical specimen standing at 6-foot-4, 222 pounds. He's better defensively in the corners, but athletic enough to cover center field from time to time, while also possessing the speed to rack up double-digit steals annually.

The real tantalizing part of his game, though, is what his offensive tools can bring if fully unlocked. Sanchez certainly struggled this year, but his strength gives him 93rd percentile bat speed, which he used to post an average exit velocity of 91.3 miles per hour (79th percentile) and an 11.1% barrel rate (69th percentile).

If you go back to 2024, a season in which Sanchez hit 18 homers with a .731 OPS, you'll see even more elite underlying metrics, with his bat speed, hard hit rate, and average exit velocity all coming in at 90th percentile or better marks, as well as an 83rd percentile barrel rate, a .263 xBA, and a .467 xSLG.

Translating that into actual production will be the task, and the key to unlocking it is figuring out a way to get him to hit more balls in the air. Sanchez owns a career fly ball rate of just 32.2%, and his launch angle sweet spot percentage (the frequency with which he hits balls in the launch angle range where they can do damage) has always been below average, bottoming in 2025 at 30.3%, a 10th percentile performance.

Tweaking his launch angle could unleash a world of power from the lefty-swinger, something that could elevate the Reds' 24th-ranked .384 SLG from the lefty batter's box in 2025, into something formidable.

Sanchez is projected to make $6.5 million in arbitration, and if given his walking papers, likely commands less than that on the open market following his disappointing season.

Signing him would be a risk, but the financial stakes wouldn't be high, and a little launch angle maintenance could unlock superstar-like production. Even if he falls short of that, he could provide a baseline of at least a league-average bat, which, for the money he'd make, would still have some value. A bat with more certainty would be nice, but when you're playing in this economic sandbox, these are the types of gambles you need to take.