Molitor: Sano could be called up soon

[Steven Buhr]

I think I have a solution to all of this.

 

Let Plouffe and Sano BOTH play the infield. Use five infielders and just let Buxton and Rosario (or Hicks when healthy) play a 2-man OF. Pretty sure they'd cover as much ground as the Twins' Opening Day outfield did and nobody has to play an unfamilar position.

 

Simple.

 

I really can't believe the Twins haven't hired me in to their front office yet.

[ericchri]

 

Hanley Ramirez who played shortstop, then 3B, is horrific out there in LF.  I mean, comically bad.

Yep, and yet he still gets to play OF in the major leagues.  That's kinda the point.

 

I'm not exactly in favor of Sano playing OF.  I do think it might end up being the least bad of the bad choices, though.  For this year.  I'm doubtful it's the most helpful for Sano, depending on how much time difference in his getting to the majors it makes.  If he's up this week but has to play a little outfield versus not up til September but only playing 3B?  I can't definitively say what I think is the right thing to do.

 

There's so many variables that go into this with all the other players as well, but if my options are Plouffe at 3B and Sano in RF versus Sano at 3B and Plouffe in RF, I'm betting on Plouffe at 3B and Sano in right slightly edging out the alternative in terms of overall defense, with theoretically the same hitting.  It might not be pretty for Sano though.  That ignores Vargas, Mauer, Hunter, and Rosario as well.  I can see how people think one way or the other.  I can't understand how confident people are that they're right.

[TheLeviathan]

 

Yep, and yet he still gets to play OF in the major leagues.  That's kinda the point.

 

 

So does Delmon Young, that doesn't make it a good idea.

 

We don't have to move Sano.  We have a DH spot...so why the hell do we want to move him?

[GACbaseball]

I'd much rather see Sano play 3B and have Plouffe DH. Plouffe isn't a gold glover by any means so we might as well help Sano develop as a fielder while he's up here putting dents in the scoreboard

 

Also, for those saying he can improve by just taking grounders - that's like saying Vargas can just hit batting practice and he'll be a better hitter. Games are way different than practice, no matter how hard you try

[DaveW]

 

I'd much rather see Sano play 3B and have Plouffe DH. Plouffe isn't a gold glover by any means so we might as well help Sano develop as a fielder while he's up here putting dents in the scoreboard
 

 

Plouffe is actually pretty damn good at 3B. According to fangraphs he is the "7th" best defensive 3B since the start of 2014.

[Willihammer]

 

So does Delmon Young, that doesn't make it a good idea.

 

We don't have to move Sano.  We have a DH spot...so why the hell do we want to move him?

Not only that, but the DH spot is kinda the problem. If Vargas were hitting like we all wanted, we probably wouldn't be talking about calling up Sano to replace Rosario or Hunter (or Plouffe). Unless Vargas turns things around quickly, DH is where he'd likely be the biggest upgrade anyway.

[GACbaseball]

Plouffe is actually pretty damn good at 3B. According to fangraphs he is the "7th" best defensive 3B since the start of 2014.

Fangraphs also has him at -11 UZR for his career and 0.1 this year. Obviously one stat can't tell the whole story but I'm just saying that I'd rather have Sano play 3B at a worse level for the near future to further his development

[DaveW]

 

Yep, and yet he still gets to play OF in the major leagues.  That's kinda the point.

Only because he is a better option in LF then David Ortiz.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Hanley Ramirez who played shortstop, then 3B, is horrific out there in LF.  I mean, comically bad.

Eduardo Escobar is a pretty good shortstop.

 

In the outfield... Well, you know. Maybe not so much.

 

And Escobar isn't pushing three bills on the training scale.

[jimmer]

 

Fangraphs also has him at -11 UZR for his career and 0.1 this year. Obviously one stat can't tell the whole story but I'm just saying that I'd rather have Sano play 3B at a worse level for the near future to further his development

yeah, that -11 career UZR at 3B includes the years he was learning the brand new position for him.  He's at 9 runs saved since 2014 at the position.  He's greatly improved.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Fangraphs also has him at -11 UZR for his career and 0.1 this year. Obviously one stat can't tell the whole story but I'm just saying that I'd rather have Sano play 3B at a worse level for the near future to further his development

Trevor Plouffe at third base in 2011 is nothing like Trevor Plouffe at third base in 2015. He's a drastically different player.

 

Trevor Plouffe's DRS by year (2011-2015):

 

-14.7, -11.0, -6.6, 7.8, 1.0

 

Notice a trend?

[GACbaseball]

Plouffe is a solid 3B now, I would just prefer to have Sano get game reps there more than 1x/week

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Plouffe is a solid 3B now, I would just prefer to have Sano get game reps there more than 1x/week

It depends on how important 2015 is to you.

 

Miguel Sano at third and Trevor Plouffe at DH will result in more 2015 losses. That's pretty much a given.

 

Miguel Sano at third once or twice a week with Plouffe rotating over to first will result in less 2015 losses, which is why it's my preferred course of action. The more Plouffe is playing infield, the better the Twins will be defensively and it will result in more wins.

[DaveW]

 

It depends on how important 2015 is to you.

 

Miguel Sano at third and Trevor Plouffe at DH will result in more 2015 losses. That's pretty much a given.

 

Miguel Sano at third once or twice a week with Plouffe rotating over to first will result in less 2015 losses, which is why it's my preferred course of action. The more Plouffe is playing infield, the better the Twins will be defensively and it will result in more wins.

If you want to run Sano out at 3rd more than once a week you might as well go ahead and trade Hunter for anything you can get as well. Let Hicks/Arcia take his at bats in RF.

[Mike Sixel]

Even for 2106......isn't it better to have Plouffe at 3B? Sano's bat plays anywhere......why the rush to get him to 3B even next year?

 

I'd guess it would be easier to get a decent hitting, good fielding 3B, than find another DH that can hit enough to equal that guy......a good but not great 3B can accumulate WAR a lot of ways, a DH can only do so by hitting. The 15th best 3B in WAR last year accumulated as much WAR as the 5th best DH.......

 

But Sano could be a top 2-3 DH, accumulate 3-4 WAR, at DH. Anyone else they put there will be lucky to put up 2 WAR.

[Platoon]

It depends on how important 2015 is to you.

 

Miguel Sano at third and Trevor Plouffe at DH will result in more 2015 losses. That's pretty much a given.

 

Miguel Sano at third once or twice a week with Plouffe rotating over to first will result in less 2015 losses, which is why it's my preferred course of action. The more Plouffe is playing infield, the better the Twins will be defensively and it will result in more wins.

It's a logical option, until Plouffe and or Mauer is moved. But in the long view of things Sano's ultimate value is at third. Until or if he washes out there, he stays there. An introductory phase at DH is fine. But putting him in the OF would be a wash between runs produced and allowed. If you are lucky.

[Mike Sixel]

 

It's a logical option, until Plouffe and or Mauer is moved. But in the long view of things Sano's ultimate value is at third. Until or if he washes out there, he stays there. An introductory phase at DH is fine. But putting him in the OF would be a wash between runs produced and allowed. If you are lucky.

 

I don't agree that his ultimate value is dictated by being at 3B at all......his bat is good enough to be one of the best at his position, regardless of position. Sure, he has more value at 3B, but you have to look at your resource pool.......it is, imo, likely they are better if he is at DH or 1B, and a good defender, ok hitter or better, is at 3B.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

If you want to run Sano out at 3rd more than once a week you might as well go ahead and trade Hunter for anything you can get as well. Let Hicks/Arcia take his at bats in RF.

I'd run him out there maybe twice a week and see what happens. If it's a disaster, scale it back to once a week.

 

Then again, the Twins have a good idea of what to expect from Miguel Sano defensively. We're just kinda guessing.

[DaveW]

 

I'd run him out there maybe twice a week and see what happens. If it's a disaster, scale it back to once a week.

 

Then again, the Twins have a good idea of what to expect from Miguel Sano defensively. We're just kinda guessing.

I know errors are hardly a perfect stat, but the fact that he has 39 errors in his 175 games at 3B is...quite alarming. In 2015 his fielding percentage is .908% (Plouffes is .977%), I actually wouldn't be shocked if they brought him up and didn't play him at 3rd at all as it could be a disaster this year.

[HitInAPinch]

 

I think I have a solution to all of this.

 

Let Plouffe and Sano BOTH play the infield. Use five infielders and just let Buxton and Rosario (or Hicks when healthy) play a 2-man OF. Pretty sure they'd cover as much ground as the Twins' Opening Day outfield did and nobody has to play an unfamilar position.

 

Simple.

 

I really can't believe the Twins haven't hired me in to their front office yet.

Gods, why did I think of that?? Brilliant

[drjim]

You make it seem like putting Sano in RF for a game or two a week is going to displace Jason Heyward. It's not, it is to give Hunter a chance to DH a couple times of week. You know, the same Hunter that you jokers couldn't kill enough for his defense. I"m surprised you aren't welcoming this move.

 

The point of moving Sano around a little is to make sure his bat, and all the best bats on the team, get into the lineup virtually every day. Having him bounce around gives some of the veterans a chance to get some rest at DH. In addition, if one of the other young hitters actually starts to hit, it really gives the team some options and flexibility. All really good things.

 

He surely won't be flawless, but the benefits will outweigh a couple of missed plays.

[drjim]

 

Whenever I think about Sano being plugged in to the OF without ever playing so much as one MiLB game there, I get visions of a Delmon Young-ish outfielder running through my brain and I'm not sure I would want to subject Sano, the pitchers, or myself to that kind of reality.

 

I'd just DH him every day for the rest of the season before I'd screw around with trying to teach him a totally new position at the MLB level at mid-year. Then do what you have to do in the offseason to make sure he comes to ST prepared to at least have a fighting chance to avoid being a defensive liability.

 

Crazy talk. He is a young, hungry, relatively athletic and has a cannon arm. He'll make most of the plays and be just fine.

 

Many, many players have done this type of move and yet there is still only one Delmon Young.

[Steven Buhr]

 

I know errors are hardly a perfect stat, but the fact that he has 39 errors in his 175 games at 3B is...quite alarming. In 2015 his fielding percentage is .908% (Plouffes is .977%), I actually wouldn't be shocked if they brought him up and didn't play him at 3rd at all as it could be a disaster this year.

Yeah errors may not be a perfect stat for evaluating defensive prowess, but I've generally considered that to be the case because a high fielding % doesn't necessarily mean the defender is covering an adequate amount of ground and, conversely, a low fielding % could be contributed to by a defender who covers a lot of ground but occasionally muffs a number of those tough chances. I doubt either situation applies to the Sano/Plouffe comparison.

 

Some time during the offseason, this topic was brought up in another thread in the context of Plouffe eventually moving to the OF to make room for Sano. At that time, I opined that it might make more sense to tell Sano to start taking some balls in the outfield because Plouffe's 3B defense was likely going to be superior to Sano's. I still feel that way. What I don't know is whether anyone took my advice and started working with him on outfield play, even if he didn't go there in games.

 

However, if history is any indication, nobody with the Twins took my advice. They tend not to do that for some reason.

[DaveW]

Miguel Sano has played exactly 0 innings of OF in his minor league career, and I am guessing he didn't play a whole lot in the years leading up to the Twins signing him as well.

 

Yes, RF is an "easier" position then 3B, but playing RF in the majors (as well as any advanced stage of baseball) does in fact take some skill, learning how to track fly balls, hit the cut off man, shifts, jump on the ball etc isn't just going to come over night to someone. Trying to toss Sano in RF on the fly would possibly be the worst thing the Twins could do and could lead to a disaster (i.e. running into the wall, into the stands, another OF, or completely destroying his confidence in the field when he would inevitably misplay a few balls.

And yes, while I don't think Hunter is great in RF, I am very confident he is much much better than Sano in RF currently and for the rest of 2015.

[HitInAPinch]

 

 I LOVE this quote:

 

 

The first sentence is great. Yup, every day, he's getting closer... but then the reality... could be a couple of weeks... could be September. I tend to think it'll be closer to a couple of weeks. 

 

Beat me to it!  My thoughts are along the lines of...maybe a couple weeks...hoping for at least a few AB's at AAA...for sure Sept.

 

The 1st quote was: An abrupt call-up like Buxton’s? “Sure, it’s possible,”. 

 

And this:

 

“We talk to the people down there about his at-bats, what he’s doing well and what he’s not doing so well, what will get exposed up here and what won’t,” Molitor said. “It’s nice to see that he’s trending into playing better.”

 

Molly is trying to moderate expectations for Sano.  And after reading 5 pages of comments here, it ain't working on TD'ers   

[DaveW]

 

 

 

 

Many, many players have done this type of move and yet there is still only one Delmon Young.

Name one player who never played a single inning of OF in the minors who immediately made a jump and became an OF in the majors.

[Steven Buhr]

 

Crazy talk. He is a young, hungry, relatively athletic and has a cannon arm. He'll make most of the plays and be just fine.

 

Many, many players have done this type of move and yet there is still only one Delmon Young.

If there's only one Delmon Young, how come it seems like the Twins have had at least one, if not two, DYs in the outfield for most of the past several years?

 

I'm not disagreeing that Sano could and should play some OF. Might even turn out to be his best position. But unless he's been super-secretly working on it in Chattanooga, I'd rather simply DH him once he's promoted than put him in the OF without experience. Maybe once the Twins are no longer playing for anything in 2015, that changes. For now, I just want his bat.

[drjim]

 

Name one player who never played a single inning of OF in the minors who immediately made a jump and became an OF in the majors.

 

Pujols played 2 games and Miggy Cabrera 3, and not even sure if full games. So not 0, but darn near. And I'm just referencing similar comparables of good bat, lagging glove 3B prospects.

 

I'm sure Sano could get a game or two in the minors and even this all out.

[drjim]

 

If there's only one Delmon Young, how come it seems like the Twins have had at least one, if not two, DYs in the outfield for most of the past several years?

 

I'm not disagreeing that Sano could and should play some OF. Might even turn out to be his best position. But unless he's been super-secretly working on it in Chattanooga, I'd rather simply DH him once he's promoted than put him in the OF without experience. Maybe once the Twins are no longer playing for anything in 2015, that changes. For now, I just want his bat.

 

I want all the best bats in the lineup all the time. Doesn't happen if Sano is a full time DH.

[drjim]

 

Miguel Sano has played exactly 0 innings of OF in his minor league career, and I am guessing he didn't play a whole lot in the years leading up to the Twins signing him as well.

 

Yes, RF is an "easier" position then 3B, but playing RF in the majors (as well as any advanced stage of baseball) does in fact take some skill, learning how to track fly balls, hit the cut off man, shifts, jump on the ball etc isn't just going to come over night to someone. Trying to toss Sano in RF on the fly would possibly be the worst thing the Twins could do and could lead to a disaster (i.e. running into the wall, into the stands, another OF, or completely destroying his confidence in the field when he would inevitably misplay a few balls.

And yes, while I don't think Hunter is great in RF, I am very confident he is much much better than Sano in RF currently and for the rest of 2015.

 

He won't go anywhere near walls. And if he misplays a ball, he'll probably laugh it off and hit a bomb. If that destroys his confidence he has no chance when he has his first sombrero. 

 

This is a highly confident professional athlete, not a middle schooler.