MLB Rumors: Washington Nationals Sign Anibal Sanchez To Succeed Tanner Roark

The Washington Nationals have reportedly signed veteran Anibal Sanchez to a two-year pact. The 34-year-old veteran is expected to take over from Tanner Roark who is now with the Cincinnati Reds.

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Sanchez deal is done, but there is still a physical pending. The deal is for two years and worth $19 million. The Venezuelan pitcher will earn $6 million in 2019 and then $7 million in 2020. Assuming there are no findings, Sanchez is expected to be inserted into the Nationals rotation and join the likes of Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin, and Stephen Strasburg.

Sanchez is coming off a minor league contract with the Atlanta Braves where he finished with a 2.83 ERA with 8.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.99 HR/9 and a 45 percent ground ball rate in 136 2/3 innings, CBS Sports reported.

The 34-year-old pitcher's deal is expected to give the Nationals increased financial flexibility as they look to make more short-term moves before wrapping up a busy offseason. Sanchez has split much of his career with the Miami Marlins and Detroit Tigers where he had a career-low 2.57 ERA in 2013 and was fourth in American League Cy Young Award voting at the end of that season.

With his coming, Washington has addressed its hole at the pitcher position following the Roark move. Aware that Roark would be getting around $10 million in his final year, the Nationals skimmed the market for a player that costs a bit less. And that turned out to be Sanchez, someone who has a proven arm to fill out the rotation, the Washington Post reported. Other candidates for the position included Wade Miley and Mike Fiers.

The Nationals are hoping that Sanchez can maintain his performance from last year to help their campaign. Prior to that, the Venezuelan did not actually pan out the previous three years as the stats mentioned prior showed. But if he unfurls the same performance as he did with the Braves, he may end up being better than Roark.

The Sanchez move is the Nationals' eighth major one this offseason. Prior to that, Washington had already acquired two proven catchers and also signed Patrick Corbin. They also brought back the first baseman Matt Adams recently.

The Nationals still have around $18 million to spend before they reach the luxury tax threshold. They could go after a full-time second baseman. If not, they do still have some internal options that include Joe Ross, Erick Fedde and Henderson Alvarez.