Sanchez, who was 20, never regained consciousness following the accident, in which he was struck by a propeller while swimming off the coast of Venezuela.
The hard-throwing righthander started 23 times last year for the Double-A Jackson Generals, a Mariners‘ farm club, and went 7-6 with 97 strikeouts in 124 innings, according to the Bleacher Report website.
“Sanchez’s agent confirmed the news Saturday,” said that Greg Johns of major league baseball’s MLB.com website.
“Sanchez was 20 years old and had been in the Mariners minor league system since signing as an international free agent at 16,” Johns said.
He was considered one of the league’s 11 best prospects for landing a major league roster position next season, according to the ESPN.com website.
Mariners General Manager Jack Zduriencik released a statement via the team’s Twitter account, calling Sanchez “a tremendous young man” and “a wonderful teammate.”
“The Mariners are saddened to learn of the passing of Victor Sanchez,” Zduriencik said.
“He was a very talented player who was close to fulfilling his promise as a Major Leaguer,” he said.
In his three years in the Mariners farm system, Sanchez went 19-14 with a 3.43 ERA and struck out 245 batters in 323 innings.
