The Twins have optioned struggling third baseman Miguel Sano, the club announced and Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was among those to report on Twitter. Outfielder Jake Cave will also go down on optional assignment with the team preparing to activate Joe Mauer.
Sano, 25, has long been seen as a premium talent and had been a high-quality big-league hitter through his first three seasons in the majors. Despite ongoing questions about his propensity to strike out and generally subpar work in the field and on the bases, Sano entered the year as an important part of the Twins lineup.
Unfortunately, the results have been brutal thus far in 2018, particularly since Sano returned from a DL stint. In 73 plate appearances since being activated, Sano has racked up thirty strikeouts while recording only a pair of walks and a .191/.247/.353 overall batting line.
Given the severity of his struggles, Sano isn’t just going to be heading to the team’s top affiliate. Rather, he’ll report to High-A Fort Myers. Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey explains, via Miller (on Twitter), that the organization “wanted to take a step back and blank-canvas this” and saw the team’s Spring Training home as “the most supportive environment” for Sano.
Sano surely still holds a place in the team’s future plans at the moment. After all, he was coming off of an All-Star appearance in 2017 and at times has looked like one of the game’s more fearsome power hitters. He has not expressed any intransigence in the wake of the move, instead telling reporters (again, via Miller on Twitter) that he’s “happy” to go down and rebuild himself at the plate.
There are several interesting dimensions to this move, of course, but it doesn’t seem that Sano’s contractual status will be a source of any real intrigue for the time being. He entered the year with 2.095 years of service to his credit, leaving 77 to go before he’d top three full years of service and thus qualify for arbitration. Sano recently cleared that bar, so there won’t be any question as to whether the Twins ought to hold him down and keep him from reaching the arb process.
Wow!
Again……
The Twins rebuild that was supposed to kick in around 2015-16 has been a total failure. The FO knew they were in rebuild mode going into 2018, hence they have not held talks with Mauer or Dozier over (pricy) extensions. The only quality player they’ve developed is Rosario. Berrios may pan out.
The Twins are 7 games under .500 playing in what is far and away the worst division in MLB. They now join the Tigers, Sox, and Royals in a known total rebuild. Am sorry for the fans that waited for years and deserved much better.
Berrios “may” pan out? He was almost a half-run better than the league average ERA last year and he’s gotten better in almost every way so far this year. Don’t look now, but he’s really good.
It’s his first full year. The league will make adjustments. Then we’ll see.
Sano looked like a coming star – in all stats – his first few years. Rosario has stood the test of time. As a pitching example, Sonny Gray looked like a dominating pitcher his first few years in Oakland. Now he’s just a very expensive #4 – look what the Yankees had to trade to get him.
This guy is sounding an awful lot like Aaron Sapoznick or whatever’s alter ego …..
I don’t think you follow baseball very well…
Mauer extension? Why?
He’s gotta lose some weight.
Prince Fielder had a pretty nice career while still being an incredibly round and overweight individual…… he even managed to hit a few triples in his day. Good Ballplayer!!!
Sano probably does need to lose some weight….. but there’s plenty of players that have had pretty solid careers when they weren’t in very good physical condition (say hello, John Kruk…lol)
I remember Prince’s in the park hr at the HHH….was classic
Yeah Prince was actually decently fast for a guy his size
How could one un-see all of that bouncing up and down as he rounded third?
Prince did not bat .191
Tony Gwynn did ok, imagine how many more hits he’d have had if he was in better shape. Some of plays he got thrown out on in the infield could’ve been hits.
That’s a stretch. Sano has an easy 60 pounds on prime Gwynn, likely closer to 80.
Tony Gwynn 6’0 225 lbs
Miguel Sano 6’4 260 lbs
Conclusion:
Both fat
Try closer to 300 lbs. Twins have been hiding his true weight from the public for a few years.
Sano reported to spring training around 290 this year
Wow
Finally. And to class A. Doubt that it will help, though. Dude doesn’t care.
Mostly surprising because the entire dh platoon is awful. Robbie grossman and Logan Morrison are wastes of roster spots
Agree.
If another team picks him up, do the twins still pay the salary?
He was optioned, not DFAd. Salary is MLB minimum, anyway.
he was optioned not designated for assignment
You’re confusing Optioned with DFA. Optioned means he’s sent down to the minors but still on 40. DFA means off 40.
Hey guys was he dfa’d or optioned? I could use an explanation or 3
He was optioned.
Once placed on the 40 man roster, a player has 3 option years – meaning there are unlimited demotions available for the front office on that player. Once they have been optioned at least once in each of those three years, they are “out of options” and must be DFAd (designated for assignmemt.) A DFAd player must be traded, accept the assignment, or be released.
Your sarcasm wasnt felt by some
I agree
Lol
Might be a good time to trade with the Braves: Miguel Sano for Ryan Flaherty and Matt Wisler.
It’s the worst time to trade him. He has no value right now.
Backatit is obviously a Braves fan?
He has some of the stupidest trade ideas proposed on this site. He’s either an idiot or a troll.
Those aren’t mutually exclusive
I don’t call names or criticize commenters
No, you just put forward really really dumb and biased trades
The Twins GM would be promptly fired
Whoa
Wow, he went downhill fast.
Say No!!! Or Say Yes!!!
Baltimore will take the flyer on him.
They’d have to trade for him. Do you suspect that will happen?
I suspect the Twins would not trade him with so little current value.
They should swap Sano for Chris Davis
There is absolutely no motivation to get rid of him. Not anywhere near the giving-up point yet.
If the twins thought they’d be a serious contender this year, there could be some sort of deal between Baltimore and minn. but there’s no reason for them to give him up, particularly when they’re not very good.
Yes, if the Twins were playing .600 ball the team would probably be considering a different series of transactions
Ah yes, Jake Cave, another Ex-Yankee farm hand. Happy for him. He never had chance since OF is NYY’s deepest position
Cave was also optioned…not recalled. Had one good game. Not that impressed.
Aww just noticed.
You’re not impressed with .267BA, 5 RBI, 2 HR, and 0.3 bbref WAR in 15 AB?
3 of the hits in one game. It’s like looking at Brian Dozier’s baseball card stats and being impressed. Then, when you watch him every day, you realize he doesn’t hit in the clutch and he’s really not that great of a fielder.
yea, that’s pretty good. I’d keep him up, basically the same player as Kepler, though
Cave is nobody.
“Cave is a nobody”
Cave has more WAR in 15 AB than Pujols’ 251 AB 2018 [bbref: +0.2 WAR, Fangraphs: -0.2]
Actually, Cave has more WAR in 15 PA, than Pujols’ 636PA 2017: bbref: -1.8 fangraphs: -1.9
Guys, I’m trying to make a joke. contract’s not pretty but Pujols should get the first 100% unanimous HOF selection if he retired today.
OwO.
This thug is lucky to be playing pro ball
You’re lucky to be alive. Someone as stupid as you probably forgets to breathe at least 15 times a day.
Screw off loser.
Why is he a “thug”?
Our Boston fan made the comments about Cave being a THUG because he was a former Yankee..should be no surprise at his racist idiotic comments given his lineage.
Nothing to do with his race at all.. It’s to do with the accused attempted rape which I believe.
That was an incredibly non-credible story. Have you seen how big sano is? She didn’t fight him off for “literally 10 minutes” like she claimed. And an investigation was done and they found nothing to hold a case on. There’s no reason to assume he’s a “thug” because one person gave a very dramatically told accusation.
Anyone surprised that a Boston fan was the guy making the racist comments?
How is it racist? Thug could refer to any race. Brock Turner for instance, is a thug. I belive the alleged attempted rape story, thats why I think he is a thug.
You believe it based on what evidence?
Definition Time….
Thug…………”a violent person, especially a criminal”
Also Found……..”a brutal ruffian or assassin”
Nowhere……except in the minds of some people……does the word THUG mean anything else……especially anything racist. There’s NO reference to racism in any of the definitions that I have looked up…..and I’ve been researching it for a while.
Stop making everything about race.
If a player does something questionable……..
1. Look at the man.
2. Look at the stats.
3. Look at his track record.
Those details are telling, and they never incorporate race. They DO, however….say volumes about a player.
I tend to agree; however there are a lot of people whose only definition of “thug” is black guy with chains and saggy pants. I definitely remember in the 90s when I used to watch wrestling the commentators called “razor Ramon” and “degeneration x” thugs, but over time it’s kind of evolved into basically the look that Tupac sported on his “thug life” album. And if you’re only using it to describe that, it gets a little iffy.
I think it’s intended innocently more often than it is in a racist manner, but it’s still a word you should use with caution
Its not a codeword at all and it doesn’t have any racal connotations. Take out black guy and put White guy with chains and maybe tats and boom thug.
Now why in the world would you call Sano a thug? Get a life.
Sano and Stanton have been striking out at an unbelievable pace this year with Sano having missed 2 weeks with injury. Dave Kingman and Rob Deer could not have kept up with these two.
I’d rather see Cave get at bats than LaMarre or Grossman.
Cave will be getting them, in AAA
Dang all the way to Single A.. crazy
Man. Sano just doesn’t care as long as he’s getting paid. Hopefully this knocks some sense into him, especially since its Single A. I remember when Buxton and Sano were supposed to be the faces of the franchise. Not bad players, but not what they were supposed to be.
The silver lining in all this is that the FO didn’t give either Sano or Buxton extensions. Some organizations would have already extended them. Both have plenty of time to work out their issues and become the solid players we’ve glimpsed, but if not the org isn’t committed to them long term.
Cave should get more at bats. Still has years of control.
First off Sano should be move to either 1B or DH permanently. He is way to large to play a solid 3B and it has been the case for other players that if they move from 3B to an easier position it could cause less stress and could have a positive impact at the plate. I believe at this point a position change is worth a try
Mauer is the problem. Next year Sano at first, Escobar at 3b, Polanco at SS, and Gordon at 2b.
Mets should take note of this for Conforto.
Why don’t the Phillies do this with Make El Stanco? Or better yet see if Minny wants to swap one underachieving 3b for another? Seems like they’d both benefit from a change of scenery.
As bad as Sano has been I wouldn’t trade him for Maikel Franco.
Sano is love sick, suffering from a broken heart.
Nick Gordon please
The Twins were six years into a failed rebuild when Falvine took over.
They should just give him to Boston. That worked out well for the twins before.
They aren’t getting rid of Sano anytime soon. He was an All Star last year, and when he’s on track he is far and away their best power hitter, one of the better ones in the league. He’s also only 25 and on a dirt cheap contract.
The biggest concern right now beyond he poor batting line is that he had that shin injury at the end of last season and then a hamstring earlier this season. It’s likely his weight and be conditioning played into those injuries. My guess is that they will be really drilling that stuff hard into him and get him really understanding how much it affects his hitting and everything else. If they can get him to slim down a bit and stay healthy, he can be a serviceable third basemen, and the longer he can handle that position the better. We’ve already got Morrison and Mauer jockeying for playing time at 1B/DH in the immediate future. If Kennys Vargas can get consistent and live up to his potential he could be slotted in there for quite awhile. Plus below average power hitting 1B/DH types are pretty easy to pick up these days.
A big question is who will be coming up in the short term. They only have two guys now on the 25 man that can handle SS/3B and it’s still gonna be awhile before Polanco will be ready and able to play
77 is a lot of years
Considering this year is lost the best thing would be to get to him and figure out his holes. Sano at this point chases all breaking pitches behind in the count and the league knows it. He has no approach at the plate and it hurts to see.
This season isn’t lost yet. We’re only 5 games back with a lot of games left to play against the central division. We also have played two fewer games than Cleveland and 5 fewer than detroit.
Plus, within the next month or so we should be getting out #1 pitcher, our starting shortstop (and one of the best offensive bars in the latter part of last season), and arguably one of the best defensive center fielders in the
Game.
It’s no sure thing, but even without Sano we could get things turned around in a hurry.
Being that a kid from my hometown is currently the 3rd baseman for Fort Meyers, I can’t say I’m thrilled about Sano being sent there. I’m hoping Sano DH’s some while he is in Fort Meyers.
Who’s that? Can we rush him to the big leagues?
It’s entirely possible that Sano won’t actually play many games in Fort Meyers. All the roving instructors are there right now getting the rookies setup, and they have major league quality workout facilities and such. It’s likely he’ll be spending much of his time doing conditioning and a whole lot of batting practice.
Could be fun for all our new pitchers
Say it ain’t Sano
But really, I am sure most commenters here have seen Ballplayer: Pelotero and know what Miguel went though as a young player in the Dominican.
.191 ugh. Well he’s still ahead of Gary Sanchez
He’s also 40 points better than Chris Davis and 60 points up on Roberto Perez. If you ask us he’s doing fine by those standards.