Crickets for Sano

[strumdatjag]

There is an article in today’s STRIB that is more of a eulogy for the ultimately disappointing Twins career of the former can’t miss prospect.  Once many of us worried Miguel would go elsewhere and become another David Ortiz.  Now it’s  Chirp Chirp.  

[CRF]

I wish him the best...hopefully he can latch on with some team like the Hiroshima Toyo Carp for next season. 

[bighat]

I don't think his career has been a disappointment.

He's been an All-Star, has had seasons of 25, 28, 30 and 34 HRs, has played over 100 games for the Twins in four of his 8 big league seasons, and has been a part of division-winning teams. He's played two positions in the big leagues, made a few memorable defensive plays and has always been considered a good teammate. Never complained about playing time, never was a prima-donna in the club house.

When it's all said and done, Miguel Sano will be able to say he's had a good MLB career and I hope the day will come when Twins fans stop the unnecessarily inconsiderate behavior towards a guy who's always tried his best for their team.

[FlyingFinn]

19 minutes ago, bighat said:

I don't think his career has been a disappointment.

I do think his career has been a disappointment BECAUSE, as someone said about Gordon, of the expectations we all had for him. If he was a 20th round draft pick, what would we be saying?

[big dog]

35 minutes ago, bighat said:

I don't think his career has been a disappointment.

He's been an All-Star, has had seasons of 25, 28, 30 and 34 HRs, has played over 100 games for the Twins in four of his 8 big league seasons, and has been a part of division-winning teams. He's played two positions in the big leagues, made a few memorable defensive plays and has always been considered a good teammate. Never complained about playing time, never was a prima-donna in the club house.

When it's all said and done, Miguel Sano will be able to say he's had a good MLB career and I hope the day will come when Twins fans stop the unnecessarily inconsiderate behavior towards a guy who's always tried his best for their team.

Three positions- 3rd, 1st, and outfield. Or should we say that the outfield played him? It was a bad experiment. 

[bighat]

18 hours ago, FlyingFinn said:

I do think his career has been a disappointment BECAUSE, as someone said about Gordon, of the expectations we all had for him. If he was a 20th round draft pick, what would we be saying?

So Sano was signed in 2009 at the age of 16 out of the DR for 4.5 million dollars. He wasn't drafted, but let's look at some of the guys drafted in the 1st round in 2009 and compare their careers to Sano: 

Who's had a better career than Sano from the list below? Trout, Strasburg, Zack Wheeler, and (maybe) Gibson? The other 30 guys aren't even close to the output that Sano has given. Heck, some of them never even made the bigs. 

 

1	1	JR	Stephen Strasburg	Washington Nationals	RHP	San Diego State University
1	2	JR	Dustin Ackley	Seattle Mariners	CF	University of North Carolina
1	3	JR	Donavan Tate	San Diego Padres	CF	Cartersville High School (Cartersville, GA)
1	4	JR	Tony Sanchez	Pittsburgh Pirates	C	Boston College
1	5	JR	Matthew Hobgood	Baltimore Orioles	RHP	Norco High School (Norco, CA)
1	6	JR	Zach Wheeler	San Francisco Giants	RHP	East Paulding (Dallas,GA)
1	7	JR	Michael Minor	Atlanta Braves	LHP	Vanderbilt University
1	8	JR	Michael Leake	Cincinnati Reds	RHP	Arizona State University
1	9	JR	Jacob Turner	Detroit Tigers	RHP	Westminster Christian High School (St. Louis, MO)
1	10	JR	Drew Storen	Washington Nationals	RHP	Stanford University
1	11	JR	Tyler Matzek	Colorado Rockies	LHP	Capistrano Valley High School (Mission Viejo, CA)
1	12	JR	Aaron Crow	Kansas City Royals	RHP	University of Missouri
1	13	JR	Grant Green	Oakland Athletics	SS	University of Southern California
1	14	JR	Matt Purke	Texas Rangers	LHP	Klein Collins High School (Spring, TX)
1	15	JR	Alex White	Cleveland Indians	RHP	University of North Carolina
1	16	JR	Robert Borchering	Arizona Diamondbacks	3B	Bishop Verot High School (Fort Myers, FL)
1	17	JR	Allen Pollock	Arizona Diamondbacks	CF	University of Notre Dame
1	18	JR	Chad James	Florida Marlins	LHP	Yukon (Yukon, OK)
1	19	JR	Shelby Miller	St. Louis Cardinals	RHP	Brownwood High School (Brownwood, TX)
1	20	JR	Stephen Jenkins	Toronto Blue Jays	RHP	Kennesaw State University
1	21	JR	Jiovanni Mier	Houston Astros	SS	Bonita High School (La Verne, CA)
1	22	JR	Kyle Gibson	Minnesota Twins	RHP	University of Missouri
1	23	JR	Jared Mitchell	Chicago White Sox	CF	Louisiana State University
1	24	JR	Randal Grichuk	Los Angeles Angels	LF	Lamar Consolidated (Rosenberg,TX)
1	25	JR	Mike Trout	Los Angeles Angels	CF	Millville High School (Millville, NJ)
1	26	JR	Eric Arnett	Milwaukee Brewers	RHP	Indiana University
1	27	JR	Nicholas Franklin	Seattle Mariners	SS	Lake Brantley (Altamonte Springs,FL)
1	28	JR	Reymond Fuentes	Boston Red Sox	CF	Fernando Callejo (Manati,PR)
1	29	JR	Slade Heathcott	New York Yankees	CF	Texas High School (Texarkana, TX)
1	30	JR	LeVon Washington	Tampa Bay Rays	2B	Buchholz High School (Gainesville, FL)
1	31	JR	Brett Jackson	Chicago Cubs	CF	University of California
1	32	JR	Timothy Wheeler	Colorado Rockies	CF	Sacramento State

[chpettit19]

Sano was/is a victim of hype and circumstance. He's had a nice career to this point, but he was hyped as the next Miguel Cabrera (awful comparison from the start) and co-franchise savior with Buxton during a really awful stretch of Twins teams. That leads to fans being disappointed that he didn't become a hall of famer and carry the squad to championships with Buck. His style of play leads to disappointment as he strikes out at record rates and it makes it really hard to watch. He is the epitome of a streaky hitter and goes from unplayable to best hitter in baseball at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately for him the hype combined with the style of hitter he is leads to a disappointing feeling even though he's actually been an overall above average hitter in the majors. Overall above average just wasn't enough, unfortunately. His time with the Twins is likely over, but I expect him to get a chance somewhere else and I hope he does become the next Big Papi. Silly to me that we'd wish anything but the best for any player who isn't just a bad human.

[Number3]

I think the main disappointment was/is that if Sano made even decent contact with the baseball and got it air born it was probably going out of the park. The one he had against Cleveland in maybe 2019 that ended any hopes the then Indians had of catching the Twins was the one that sticks out. Unfortunately most of the " 4baggers" he had were ball hitting bat. If he got enough plate appearances no way was he not going to have around 30.

[Vanimal46]

Nothing left to say about Sano as a Twin. The last 3 years have been a disaster and it’s best for both parties to go their separate ways. 

[RpR]

Sano will be in spring training next year, mark my word.

[ashbury]

4 minutes ago, RpR said:

Sano will be in spring training next year, mark my word.

With the Twins?

[nicksaviking]

11 minutes ago, RpR said:

Sano will be in spring training next year, mark my word.

Well since it would cost them 14M I guess people can stop with the complaints about the Twins being cheap.

[Original_JB]

I guess I'm just disappointed; obviously, there are no guarantees that the results wouldn't have been the same, but had Miguel shown up in Fort Myers in 'baseball' shape, eager to take instruction, and put in the work, and it just didn't work out after all this time, it would be easier to take. And he's gotten paid and will be OK; It's just all the "what ifs?" that sting.

[stringer bell]

Sano has never advanced his bat-to-ball skills and that is probably what has limited his career along with injuries every year. It has never been that he doesn't work hard or doesn't care as long as he gets a paycheck. He misses too many pitches in the hitting zone. 

Despite a strong arm, he isn't a natural defender so he's needed to be well above average as a hitter and he's only been above average,

[RpR]

50 minutes ago, ashbury said:

With the Twins?

With the Twins; his defense numbers at first bast are approx. equal with Kirilloff's so unless the Twins sell the farm for C.J. Cron, Twins need a First Baseman.

[MABB1959]

I hope he gets DFA's and picked up by a team who can get him to his potential.  I bet he would love that too!

[bean5302]

I suppose it's possible for the Twins to decline his option and sign him to a MiLB contract with an invite to Spring Training... that's the only way Sano is at Twins Spring Training. Actually, Sano will not get an MLB contract with anybody, I don't expect.

In any case, yes, Sano's MLB career has been wildly successful from the viewpoint of 2009 international signing to where he got to today. Prospects don't pan out all that often.

 

[bighat]

On 8/8/2022 at 1:38 PM, bean5302 said:

I suppose it's possible for the Twins to decline his option and sign him to a MiLB contract with an invite to Spring Training... that's the only way Sano is at Twins Spring Training. Actually, Sano will not get an MLB contract with anybody, I don't expect.

In any case, yes, Sano's MLB career has been wildly successful from the viewpoint of 2009 international signing to where he got to today. Prospects don't pan out all that often.

 

I bet he does get a contract. Prediction: Pittsburgh. They wanted to sign him way back in 2009 and the Twins beat them out. I think they would be happy to roll the dice on Sano in 2023. 

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

With the Twins; his defense numbers at first bast are approx. equal with Kirilloff's so unless the Twins sell the farm for C.J. Cron, Twins need a First Baseman.

I'd wager neither CJ Cron NOR Miguel Sano are in Twins camp next spring. 

6 pack?

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

With the Twins; his defense numbers at first bast are approx. equal with Kirilloff's so unless the Twins sell the farm for C.J. Cron, Twins need a First Baseman.

As mentioned above, I can think of 11,250,000* reasons they would look elsewhere for Kirilloff insurance than Sano  And Colorado has 7,250,000 reasons not to just cut Cron.  A trade?  Probably does neither team much good.

 

* Salary minus buyout I see at b-r.com

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

With the Twins; his defense numbers at first bast are approx. equal with Kirilloff's so unless the Twins sell the farm for C.J. Cron, Twins need a First Baseman.

You're having the Twins pay Miguel Sano 14M next year....for his defensive value?

[CRF]

2 hours ago, RpR said:

Sano will be in spring training next year, mark my word.

Not...Hap...Nin. 

[ashbury]

3 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

You're having the Twins pay Miguel Sano 14M next year....for his defensive value?

[ashbury]

34 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I'd wager neither CJ Cron NOR Miguel Sano are in Twins camp next spring. 

6 pack?

Careful, RpR.  Chief likes good whiskey.

[USAFChief]

7 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Careful, RpR.  Chief likes good whiskey.

There's another kind??

[KirbyDome89]

Not sure how Sano is viewed as anything other than a disappointment. He was a top prospect in all of baseball and nearly won ROY playing only half a season in '15.

He became a defensive liability wherever the Twins put him, and he devolved into the worst kind of 3 true outcome hitter. It's a bummer, because he and the rest of that prospect group were one of the few things worth paying attention to during that awful mid 2010s run, but 6 years later if he can't even carve out a minor role in the lineup, eh, it's hard to see his Twins tenure any other way. 

[ashbury]

2 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

There's another kind??

The kind I experienced my first hangover with.

[USAFChief]

14 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Not sure how Sano is viewed as anything other than a disappointment. He was a top prospect in all of baseball and nearly won ROY playing only half a season in '15.

He became a defensive liability wherever the Twins put him, and he devolved into the worst kind of 3 true outcome hitter. It's a bummer, because he and the rest of that prospect group were one of the few things worth paying attention to during that awful mid 2010s run, but 6 years later if he can't even carve out a minor role in the lineup, eh, it's hard to see his Twins tenure any other way. 

Concur.

[PDX Twin]

15 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

Not sure how Sano is viewed as anything other than a disappointment. He was a top prospect in all of baseball and nearly won ROY playing only half a season in '15.

He became a defensive liability wherever the Twins put him, and he devolved into the worst kind of 3 true outcome hitter. It's a bummer, because he and the rest of that prospect group were one of the few things worth paying attention to during that awful mid 2010s run, but 6 years later if he can't even carve out a minor role in the lineup, eh, it's hard to see his Twins tenure any other way. 

This. The lack of progress or any kind of learning or response to his failures was the most frustrating thing to me. It didn't seem to matter whether he was hot or cold, whether the club needed a single/walk or homerun, or who the opposing pitcher was, he just seemed to go up there and swing as hard as he could at every ball.

Rod Carew made a telling comment on a preseason broadcast about how Arraez took on everything Rod said and improved day to day as a result, but that Sano never seemed to listen to what anyone was telling him. That rings true to my observation of his results.

[bean5302]

1 hour ago, bighat said:

I bet he does get a contract. Prediction: Pittsburgh. They wanted to sign him way back in 2009 and the Twins beat them out. I think they would be happy to roll the dice on Sano in 2023. 

What are we betting? It's conceivable a team could sign Sano to an MLB minimum (or near minimum) contract in the hopes he produces and they're able to flip him for a mid level prospect at the deadline. Considering how short their leash was with Sano, and the roster crunch, it's unbelievable to me the Twins didn't shop him as hard as they could, even throwing in cash to for his salary and clearly nobody in baseball was biting.

All 30 teams in MLB wanted to sign him back in 2009. Not sure what that has to do with Miguel Sano 13 years later.