Justin Upton, BJ Upton, Bryce Harper, Mike Trout, Ken Griffey Jr - All of these guys are American-born players that were OUTFIELDERS. Their advantage was not in just understanding the culture, which is a major hurdle, but they are playing defensive positions that allows them to use there athleticism to its fullest. When Miguel Cabrera first came up with the Marlins, he was playing left field. Centerfield is a very important defensive position, but when you have the natural ability to run the way all of these guys I listed, it can cover up some of the technical flaws in their defense.
With Sano, clearly the Twins management thinks he can be a corner infielder. He isn't allowed to just shag fly balls and make sure he is hitting the cutoff man, he is having to work hard on his defense. The time and practice this takes is mentally taxing enough, but add to it the offensive expectations and cultural adjustments.
Sano was 16 when he came to the Twins. Most of us would have been playing our SOPHOMORE seasons of high school ball. Byron Buxton was just drafted and as an 18 year old (only one year younger than Sano), fans and experts alike expect him to spend probably 4 years in the minors before getting a sniff at MLB. The Sano debate is only a debate, because it seems like he has been in our system for awhile. His age is huge to consider. He has tremendous power as we know, but the SKILLS in his game need a lot more than just some tweaking. If Buxton has at least four years to go, can't we wait three more for Sano?
Lastly, if our favorite team was competitive and in the midst of a mid-2000's type of run, would we as fans be pushing for some of our top prospects to be pushed so hard or would we be patient and just wait for them so we could reload instead of rebuild? Elite prospects should be treated correctly and pushed on the timeline that is right for them and REGARDLESS of how the parent club is doing.
