PITTSBURGH (93.7 The FAN) - The Pirates have a history of All-Star second basemen competing for a batting title as Adam Frazier is this season. Back in 2006 Freddy Sanchez had a season that draws quite a few parallels to that of Frazier.
When he joined The PM Team, Sanchez was clearly impressed with Frazier as he strives to join him as a batting champion.
"I just love his approach, he's short and compact, and I'm thinking he's right where he needs to be and hopefully he can do it."
Though with half a season left, Frazier still has a long way to go. Sanchez wasn't even thinking about it at this point in the 2006 season.
"I didn't really feel that pressure until like the last week when I was like oh my gosh this could become a reality, but definitely not at the All-Star break."
He even credited playing table-tennis with his teammates Jack Wilson and Ryan Doumit for relieving that pressure and allowing him to just, "see ball hit ball" as he said.
The parallels between the two don't end with competing for a batting crown. Frazier is currently one of the most sought-after position players on the trade market as the Pirates look to continue a rebuild. Back in 2009 the Pirates were in year 16 of a 20 year rebuild and Sanchez was dealt midseason along with a few of his teammates.
"Obviously Jack (Wilson) was my best friend and we saw (Adam) LaRoche, we saw Jason Bay, and we knew it was a matter of time before we left."
It became clear that it was not easy for Sanchez, and likely is not for Frazier, to be on the trade block midseason.
"It's tough cause you build families there, your family is used to being there... you try to avoid it but everybody is talking about it, it is in the papers. So every time you see someone walking toward your locker you're thinking oh crap this is it. This might be it I'm getting traded."
Frazier will likely face the same fate as Freddy Sanchez did 11 years ago when he was dealt away. Though Ben Cherington will hope to get a better return than Tim Alderson who never ended up playing in the MLB.
