Giants sign Gold Glover Sanchez

The Giants weren’t going to simply hand the secondbase job to Mauricio Dubon. Not after just 111 plate appearances in the big leagues.

They’d prefer he win the job over a competitive field.

That field includes Gold Glover Yolmer Sanchez, who agreed on a minorleague contract, according to multiple reports Tuesday, including MLB.com and the Athletic, which indicated Sanchez preferred the Giants over bigleague offers from other teams because of the opportunity for more playing time.

Sanchez, 27, would be a nonroster player with a chance to make the Opening Day roster. He played for the White Sox last season and was the American League’s Gold Glove second baseman but hit .252 with a .318 onbase percentage and two home runs in 555 plate appearances.

The switchhitter played in Chicago for all six of his bigleague seasons, and his best year was 2017 when he hit 12 homers with a .267/.319/.413 slash line. Projected to receive more than $6 million through arbitration, he was nontendered after last season.

The Giants could use more productive offense at the position. Dubon, acquired from Milwaukee at the July 31 trade deadline, had a promising lateseason stretch in San Francisco, hitting .279 with four homers and showing keen defensive skills at second base and shortstop.

With first baseman Brandon Belt, shortstop Brandon Crawford and third baseman Evan Longoria under contract, the only apparent hole on the infield is at second. It’s possible Dubon could play multiple positions even if he’s deemed the No. 1 second baseman.

Donovan Solano also figures to compete for playing time at second.