Reusse: Sano has some growing up to do

[USAFChief]

Sorry Seth, but this is just so false it hurts.

 

The NY media and Boston media are tough no doubt, but they would never write this garbage about a guy coming off the rookie campaign Sano did.

 

Now you may bring up the big Panda articles that have come out, but it's important to note that Pablo, in his first year as a Red Sox had a .658 OPS, so they are bringing up work ethic/weight/etc on a guy who had an OPS that was basically Nick Punto's average OPS (of course Punto isn't owed 90+ million over the next 4 years)

 

If Sandoval had Sano's numbers last year there is no way that article gets written, those writers would have been laughed out of town.

 

Ditto with New York, notice how all the anti A-Rod articles have been non existent this year, I wonder if that has to do with the fact that he was a very effective player last year....hmm... It's almost like these two franchises actually take a players productivity and results into play before trying to throw him under the bus (along with their journalists)

It's almost like you're saying a player's on field performance should dictate whether or not they get a pass for everything else.

 

And/or writers and team officials should keep their mouths shut about potential developing problems until the full damage is done.

[HitInAPinch]

You give notice to an "employee #1" that they need to improve in a specific area and a couple months later, nothing has changed.  Then, at the same time as this criticism of that employee, it's announced, in the same publication, that "employee #2" was being specifically trained to take over for "employee #1" when he is no longer capable of completing his assigned task.

 

To be blunt:  Sano was given 2 tasks for the fall / winter leagues:  1.  get in better shape / lose weight and 2. start learning how to play OF.  Playing OF was the lessor of the 2.  Oh, like I've said before, Sano has the ability to out hit his defensive problems.  No question there, unless he doesn't take care of himself.  Danny Santana will have his back in late innings.  And that's not something I would have expected to hear about a guy being proclaimed and a future superstar.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

FWIW, Reusse has made the less delicate statement on his radio show that he believes Sano is basically broke because of his "family and friends" mooching off his bonus. So now he's doing things like switching agencies and attending autograph shows to make more money. Reusse suggested the Twins give him frequent weight clause bonuses instead.

That's important context but still doesn't really explain the Reusse article.

 

Also, do you think Sano being told (out of the blue and from a continent away) that he is now a right fielder, would that cause him to take the Twins more seriously?

[bird]

I love Reusse's stuff, and this superb piece is an example of why he's unique in this market. Granted, Patrick enjoys writing about subjects that are perched on a pedestal, but he's pretty good at pointing out why the pedestal has gotten a bit tipsy.

 

Reusse used real information to make his points. Sano came to camp heavier than he was even last spring.  Sano had an opportunity to put in more time, and he opted to spend a couple of those weeks elsewhere. Reusse has made a few observations about Sano's teammate Oswaldo Arcia, noting that he's in terrific shape and that people around the complex have been impressed with how focused he's been on improving. Sounds like Reusse might have heard comments around the complex to the effect Sano might have been expected to give up just a tad more of all that "family time".  Molitor's comments seem to make it pretty evident that Sano hasn't exactly exceeded expectations.

 

Nice job by Reusse once again. I suppose if one is craning one's neck to peer up at Sano on his pedestal, one might think of the piece as "garbage" despite its fairness and truthfulness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nicksaviking]

 

Reusse is a smart guy, who knows people and knows baseball.

We'll see how it plays out, but I wouldn't be quick to dismiss out of hand what he has to say.

 

I agree, but Reusse is also smart enough to know how to snag readers. There may be smoke here, but the only real quote is the one from Molitor which to me looks like it could have been framed in a positive, negative or neutral light depending on how the author chose to present it.

 

The eye-test would surely suggest that Sano should cut some weight, but I'm not sure that I can quite buy into the idea that the Twins are concerned based on these comments that Reusse is feeding us.

 

Away from the validity of the article; it seems to me, the commitment of young guys perceived to be out of shape almost never comes to a head until the young guy struggles. Oswaldo Arcia appears to have made a strong effort to improve, Delmon Young never did. I suspect we won't know about Sano's dedication to physical fitness and it's impact on his job until he has significant struggles.

[Seth Stohs]

 

A manager who struggled with personal demons in his youth trying to show guidance to one of his younger players isn't cheap, in my opinion. In fact, I find the implication that Molitor needs to keep his mouth shut about his players' behavior because of his own imperfect past rather silly, with all due respect.

 

As far as nobody calling out a young Molitor for his less-than-exemplary behavior, perhaps it would have done him a lot of good if somebody had. I'm sure he would say as much.

 

Agreed... a guy who came into the league at 21-22 with his own issues is probably the perfect guy to work with Sano on trying to become the best he can be and not taking things for granted. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Sano hasn't exactly exceeded expectations.

Really?

[mazeville]

The belief here is that Reusse is not just coming up with this view on his own.

 

He spends more time in Fort Myers than anybody else on here. He talks to a lot of people within the Twins organization. If he believes that Sano isn't working hard enough, he likely came to that conclusion not just by watching him, but by also talking with people within the Twins. He's clearly spoken with Molitor about this, and my guess is that he's spoken privately with several others.

 

So I'm guessing that the Twins are concerned that Sano isn't working hard enough on the transition to right field.

 

He makes a decent case -- Arcia, by contrast, spent much of the offseason in Florida to rave reviews, even if his offense hasn't improved much, at least judging from spring results.

 

At the same time, I think some of it is unfair. The kid does have a family to support and he likely wanted to see them in the DR before spending an entire summer up in the States. 

 

In addition, I think a lot of this would not be necessary if the Twins kept him at third or found a way to put him at first base. 

[DaveW]

 

  He added about 70 lbs and gone from a gone from a shortstop to 1B/DH player in 4 years at the age of 22.

He was 16 when he was a SS at no point did anyone actually think he had a shot to stick at SS. He actually went from a SS to a 3B in 5 years, and he still should be a third baseman, how is he a 1B/DH type again? The Twins seem ok running him out to the OF every game...

[DaveW]

 

 

FWIW, Reusse has made the less delicate statement on his radio show that he believes Sano is basically broke because of his "family and friends" mooching off his bonus.

Does he actually have any proof of this? Or is he just "guessing"? I would guess the latter.

[DaveW]

 

 

As an aside, I wish that when discussing retaliation people would remember there is a huge difference between plunking someone in the ass, for a perceived transgression, and head hunting. I can live with the former, the other is never ever acceptable.

I and many others would argue that neither is acceptable, plunking someone in the ass can often lead to them "accidentally" plunking them somewhere else on the body where you can actually do some damage to a player. Violence/assault frankly has no place in baseball.

[DaveW]

 

 

It's almost like you're saying a player's on field performance should dictate whether or not they get a pass for everything else.

 

It's almost like, I didn't imply that at all, but good work putting words into my mouth! If he was/is a bad teammate, gets in off the field trouble or was failing to show up for REQUIRED work/days, then by all means he should be held accountable. But switching agencies? Visiting friends and family in his home country during the off-season? Seems cheap.

 

 

[DaveW]

 

 

Agreed... a guy who came into the league at 21-22 with his own issues is probably the perfect guy to work with Sano on trying to become the best he can be and not taking things for granted. 

Fair enough, but Sano up until this point has done NOTHING wrong. Going home and visiting your family during the winter break is not wrong, switching agencies is not wrong, doing an autograph session during your own time is not wrong. Molitor is talking down on him when he hasn't done anything wrong.

 

The minute Sano gets in off the field trouble or doesn't get along with his teammates then by all means bring this up. The minute Sano stops hitting bombs at a 35+ HR pace as a 22 year old with a .900+ OPS then feel free to bring up his weight. Until that time, Molitor/Reusse need to stop with the jabs when there is frankly nothing there.

 

This just reeks of Sano not being the "Twins way", we finally get a player who shows a little attitude (while still loving the game), is knowledgeable enough to capitalize on his own brand (by signing with Roc Nation) and we start seeing these comments and articles.

 

Let's go down a list of the other guys who weren't the "Twins way" and we saw these type of articles come out:

 

David Ortiz

Matt Garza

Francisco Lirinao

 

 

hmmm....

[gocgo]

Calm down everybody.  It's the media.  What do they need to do?  Sell stories.  "All is well in Twinsland" doesn't sell.  "Everyone's happy"  doesn't sell.  "Sano's work ethic stinks" sells.  Whether it's true or not isn't relevant.  Does it sell?  That's what matters to the media.

[adorduan]

 

I agree, but Reusse is also smart enough to know how to snag readers. There may be smoke here, but the only real quote is the one from Molitor which to me looks like it could have been framed in a positive, negative or neutral light depending on how the author chose to present it.

 

The eye-test would surely suggest that Sano should cut some weight, but I'm not sure that I can quite buy into the idea that the Twins are concerned based on these comments that Reusse is feeding us.

 

Away from the validity of the article; it seems to me, the commitment of young guys perceived to be out of shape almost never comes to a head until the young guy struggles. Oswaldo Arcia appears to have made a strong effort to improve, Delmon Young never did. I suspect we won't know about Sano's dedication to physical fitness and it's impact on his job until he has significant struggles.

This will happen soon enough.  Pitchers will adjust and then we will see how quickly Sano can make counter adjustments.

[DaveW]

 

This will happen soon enough.  Pitchers will adjust and then we will see how quickly Sano can make counter adjustments.

Pitchers already adjusted to him in 2015, he made the adjustments needed then and did just fine, I trust 2016 will see more of the same.

[DocBauer]

Just an opinion, but Reusse knows what's going on. As shown in the article, he has comments from Molitor. There is no doubt that many with and around the Twins are saying the same thing, wondering aloud. As Reusse wrote, it has nothing to do with the work he does on the field in practices. But there are plenty of questions out there. 

 

If this was New York or Boston, this story would have been written weeks ago. Normally on these forums, we hear people complain about the media not being willing to call people out. Now when there is such an article, it's a bad thing by the writer. If the same article was written, questioning Joe Mauer's work ethic, I guarantee people would be responding different to this article.

 

I think that Sano will be fine. I think it was the right move to send him to right field, but there were a lot of times that the Twins didn't know where Sano was when he told them he would be places. Not a huge deal, but certainly not untouchable for local media. 

 

The fact that it was Reusse who wrote the article should have no bearing on that.

I don't think the fact that Russe wrote the article has any bearing. While you are correct it would have been reported earlier, and probably blown up larger, in a NY or Boston market, EVERYTHING gets blown up big in those markets, from what a player ate to who they are dating.

 

While Sano could have, and should have, done more this off season, and it bears monitoring in the future, he did not; beat anyone, choke anyone, get busted for drugs or steroids, call out a teammate or the FO, didn't crash his car, get caught in a sordid affair, get caught speeding 100 MPH while drunk at 2AM, sit around eating junk food and pastries until ballooning up to a 300Lb Panda, err, Kodiak looking bear, or even fight his position switch.

 

Just saying, while this merits monitoring, I just don't think there's a major story here.

[markominne]

Some of us on this board are interesting. We're more than happy to bash Joe Mauer for what are almost indisputably the results of a traumatic brain injury, but we want to give Miguel Sano a pass for not making apparent effort to lose weight, or to put in needed work in learning to play the outfield. Yes, he was successful last season, but it's still a small sample size (case in point: Danny Santana 2014 vs 2015). The fact is, he's not the second coming of Killebrew or any other hall of famer until he's performed for years, and adding 10 lbs per year at the age of 22 is not indicative of the work effort needed to succeed in the long term; neither does it show respect for how rare his talent is, and how much work is required to develop and maintain that talent in order to succeed at the major league level. Let's give Reusse his props here: he spends a lot of time in Ft. Myers at the ball park, and it appears he spoke to a number of the right people in connection with this article. Just because his conclusions aren't what any of us would like to hear doesn't make them wrong.

[Seth Stohs]

 

I don't think the fact that Russe wrote the article has any bearing. While you are correct it would have been reported earlier, and probably blown up larger, in a NY or Boston market, EVERYTHING gets blown up big in those markets, from what a player ate to who they are dating.

While Sano could have, and should have, done more this off season, and it bears monitoring in the future, he did not; beat anyone, choke anyone, get busted for drugs or steroids, call out a teammate or the FO, didn't crash his car, get caught in a sordid affair, get caught speeding 100 MPH while drunk at 2AM, sit around eating junk food and pastries until ballooning up to a 300Lb Panda, err, Kodiak looking bear, or even fight his position switch.

Just saying, while this merits monitoring, I just don't think there's a major story here.

 

Yeah, I don't think anyone's putting it into the categories of those other things... 

 

Doesn't make it a bad article though.

[bird]

 

Really?

 

I was referring to Molitor's comments, which alluded to what might have been expected of him over the winter and during spring training, so yes, really.

[Mike Sixel]

Just out of curiosity......why does he need to change anything if it isn't hurting his ability to produce on the field? 

[DaveW]

 

Just out of curiosity......why does he need to change anything if it isn't hurting his ability to produce on the field? 

TTW of course!!!

 

 

(The Twins Way)

[dgwills]

This article reminds me of a quote about Kent Hrbek. It was along the lines of "If he got in shape we would not be able to afford him".

Not that Sano is in that territory yet. Realistically I would have to agree with Dave that we can't complain about Sano because his play on the field has been excellent. He's done his job and earned his paycheck. It's not Sano's fault that the Twins decided he should be an outfielder in the offseason. It's his life and if he doesn't want to do an extreme work out and diet program to become an outfielder, then that's his decision. If he signed a huge contract to play the outfield I would feel differently.

[DaveW]

 

This article reminds me of a quote about Kent Hrbek. It was along the lines of "If he got in shape we would not be able to afford him".

Not that Sano is in that territory yet. Realistically I would have to agree with Dave that we can't complain about Sano because his play on the field has been excellent. He's done his job and earned his paycheck. It's not Sano's fault that the Twins decided he should be an outfielder in the offseason. It's his life and if he doesn't want to do an extreme work out and diet program to become an outfielder, then that's his decision. If he signed a huge contract to play the outfield I would feel differently.

Well said.

 

Could you imagine if the Red Sox tried to move Ortiz (back in the day) to the OF? The fans would have torn the front office to shreds, but for whatever reason in Minnesota the fans and especially the media seem to constantly give ownership, front office etc the benefit of the doubt, and continue to blame the players (i.e. Parise, Mauer, Sano, Garza, Ortiz, Liriano) hit pieces.

[nicksaviking]

 

This will happen soon enough.  Pitchers will adjust and then we will see how quickly Sano can make counter adjustments.

 

Not every young guy struggles and pitch recognition is probably an area affected less by physical fitness. I would suspect we'll find out what he's made of if his conditioning greatly affects his defense or if he wears down as the season progresses. If that happens, then we are more likely to see if he takes the Arcia approach or the Young approach. Or perhaps he won't struggle at all. Getting a young guy to change his stripes when he is currently succeeding sounds like a pretty daunting expectation.

 

It seems pretty hard to convince young athletes of long term consequences until they actually begin to be afflicted by them.

[Mike Sixel]

 

 

 

It seems pretty hard to convince young PEOPLE of long term consequences until they actually begin to be afflicted by them.

 

Really, that's the thrust, right? Hell, remove the word "young" and you are still correct. People don't think about the long term much at all, in terms of changing their actual behaviors. They might worry about stuff, but they don't actually change stuff.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I was referring to Molitor's comments, which alluded to what might have been expected of him over the winter and during spring training, so yes, really.

Got it.

[Willihammer]

I am always vexed by athletes who do not stay in good- nay, extremely good shape. I'm talking Dozier, Buxton, Berrios good shape. But at the end of the day it is their job to lose. Sano knows as well as anyone how hungry every minor league player is to get to the Show, he knows those kids are hitting the stationary bike and the weights to gain an advantage and one day he could be the guy who gets replaced. If that doesn't motivate him, nothing will.

 

Besides that though, Reusse assumes a trim 255 pound Sano would be better in the outfield. It wouldn't hurt, but he still would be among the biggest in the game and it wouldn't do anything to address the complete lack of experience he has.

 

IMHO Sano, if he is the once in a generation slugger I believe he is, he is eventually going to force the Twins to re-think their use of the DH. They will have to accept that they can't have 13 athletes who can all play the field while rotating guys through DH for various reasons like they do now. They will need to carry play a more traditional AL style game where they have 12 athletes and one slow bruising slugger- Sano, who is going to hog the DH spot.

[ken]

 

This article reminds me of a quote about Kent Hrbek. It was along the lines of "If he got in shape we would not be able to afford him".

.

This quote sadden me, Hrbek decided not to give his best, because if he did, he would feel underpaid or have to go to a bigger market.  I'd rather have Sano become a HOF player and leave, then play down to lower expectations and stay.

[TheLeviathan]

We'll have to wait and see....but I don't recall Kirby or Hrbek being the pictures of physical fitness either.

 

I care about what he does on the field, this seems a little to hit-piece to me.  It bears watching and behind closed doors he should be getting advice and guidance....but that's about it.