Miguel Sano 1st base or DH?

[darin617]

I am pretty sure the days of ever seeing Miguel Sano in the outfield are done. The question sadly falls on to how much of a future does he have playing 3rd base? Clearly with Joe Mauer here through the 2018 season where is the best place for Sano to play. I would hate to see him turned into a DH at such a young age but if the club would become competitive you could not have a liability playing a key position in the infield. So what happens until the Twins get Mauer off the books with Sano?

[Primetime82]

Sano should be our starting 1B now! It's really that easy.

[jimmer]

If 1B defense isn't important, then Sano should replace one of the best defensive 1Bs in the game, Mauer, at 1B.

[darin617]

 

Sano should be our starting 1B now! It's really that easy.

Sure, if only it was that easy. What do the Twins do with Joe Mauer? Ask him to play 3rd base and what happens when Trevor Plouffe when he comes off the DL?

[Kwak]

This Sano at 3B experiment has exposed the myth of Sano. He doesn't belong in the field. Apparently Sano truly believes defense is optional if you hit enough or "athleticism" is vastly overrated.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Nothing says you can't bench Mayer.

[huhguy]

Alternate Mauer and Sano at first

[goulik]

I remember a young man named Trevor Plouffe being questioned about his ability to play first Short and then questioned at third. One can hope Sano also figures it out defensively at this level. That was a pretty brutal play today though, cost us a game.

[Old Twins Cap]

IN any universe, on any team, a guy who mashes and stands 6' 5" and weighs 270 is called a first basemen.  That's what they look like and how teams play them in the field.

 

To his credit, Sano is young, athletic and has a hell of an arm.  Right now, he is making errors, by the bushel.  But, c'mon, how many games has he played there in the last two years?

 

Give him a chance at 3B.  But, realize, at the end of the day, on any other team, in any other universe, he is a capable first basement.

 

Don't know how, don't understand why, but on the Twins, he is a RF, a 3B, a DH, and in a couple of years of screwing up the whole defensive set, eventually, a 1B.

 

God.  What a nightmare to live through this idiocy.

[Major League Ready]

 

IN any universe, on any team, a guy who mashes and stands 6' 5" and weighs 270 is called a first basemen.  That's what they look like and how teams play them in the field.

 

To his credit, Sano is young, athletic and has a hell of an arm.  Right now, he is making errors, by the bushel.  But, c'mon, how many games has he played there in the last two years?

 

Give him a chance at 3B.  But, realize, at the end of the day, on any other team, in any other universe, he is a capable first basement.

 

Don't know how, don't understand why, but on the Twins, he is a RF, a 3B, a DH, and in a couple of years of screwing up the whole defensive set, eventually, a 1B.

 

God.  What a nightmare to live through this idiocy.

God lord, a few games and a little hardship and we should give up on the guy.  I realize Plouffe was great there right away.  Oh wait, he was pretty bad too.  Sano is a considerably better athlete than plouffe and if there is a better arm at 3B in MLB, I have not seen it.  What's the hurry?  At a minimum, give him the rest of year.  You could not ask for a more ideal situation than we have right now to give the guy a chance.  

 

What would you do with 3B?  Keep Plouffe?  That's the kind of thinking that made for a deeper hole.   

[TheLeviathan]

I guess I'd prefer to judge the guy after he actually got to play the position for awhile.  Let's revisit at the end of the season, right now it's not really fair to him.

[Mr. Brooks]

God lord, a few games and a little hardship and we should give up on the guy. I realize Plouffe was great there right away. Oh wait, he was pretty bad too. Sano is a considerably better athlete than plouffe and if there is a better arm at 3B in MLB, I have not seen it. What's the hurry? At a minimum, give him the rest of year. You could not ask for a more ideal situation than we have right now to give the guy a chance.

 

What would you do with 3B? Keep Plouffe? That's the kind of thinking that made for a deeper hole.

I'd double down on that and keep him there all of next year too, no matter what.

This team isn't contending next year either, so what's the harm?

[Everyday Eddy]

We have the "luxury" right now to let him keep working through his fielding issues.    I'm fairly optimistic that he'll be able to turn himself into an adequate 3rd baseman by next year.    No reason to panic yet

[DaveW]

Sano will be fine at 3rd base. Remember this is basically his spring training at the position at this point this year.

[Reider]

I like Sano at 3rd base right now. He's mobile for his size and has a strong arm. In the future he can move to 1B/DH.

[Rosterman]

Keep him at third.

 

Or pay Plouffe $10+ million to return next year and move Sano to DH.

 

Then where do you put Park (1st Base). Sounding like Abbott and Costello here.

 

But if Plouffe is gone, who plays third.

 

And what to do with Mauer.

 

We also have Vargas looking for playing time. Of course, we deep-sixed Arcia, which wasn't a problem because we have Santana/Grossman/Ropsario/Kepler, not to mention Buxton, and maybe Palka/Walekr in the wings.

 

Sano has a helluva an arm. Seems a shame to make him a catcher of throws only at first base. And though he would probably be the perfect DH, we don't need him getting out-of-shape yet.

 

Wait, we also have Nunez in the mix.

 

Sano at third until someone else comes up...in 2-3 years. By then, we will know we can live without Joe being Mr. Twin forever and ever.

[Shane Wahl]

The guy was fine last year when he had a continuity between his minor league experience and his mlb experience. They decided to try to ruin that this year in a comic-tragic way, which was bemoaned by many of us. I think it is silly to believe in good things about his defense at third after he, somehow, had no practice at the position all freaking year 

 

Obviously sense should have won the day about three years ago with regard to Mauer and third base, but there was the rising star, haha, that is Trevor Plouffe. The addiction with that guy, coupled with the Park signing, has proved disastrous. 

 

I would still play Sano at third and deal with it right now, though. Plouffe needs to be gone and Mauer should be moved to third in the offseason. That is how one deals with this. Mauer at third, Sano at first, Vargas DHing. Park traded after he keeps smacking the ball in AAA. Easy.

 

[Primetime82]

 

Nothing says you can't bench Mayer.

Winner!!

[ScrapTheNickname]

 

The guy was fine last year when he had a continuity between his minor league experience and his mlb experience. They decided to try to ruin that this year in a comic-tragic way, which was bemoaned by many of us. I think it is silly to believe in good things about his defense at third after he, somehow, had no practice at the position all freaking year 

 

Obviously sense should have won the day about three years ago with regard to Mauer and third base, but there was the rising star, haha, that is Trevor Plouffe. The addiction with that guy, coupled with the Park signing, has proved disastrous. 

 

I would still play Sano at third and deal with it right now, though. Plouffe needs to be gone and Mauer should be moved to third in the offseason. That is how one deals with this. Mauer at third, Sano at first, Vargas DHing. Park traded after he keeps smacking the ball in AAA. Easy.

And why do you think Mauer would be an upgrade to Sano at third base? He has never played there, ever. Not even in T-League. It's called the hot corner for a reason. It's an elite position that takes talent and years of repetition and guts to master. Mauer would be a neophyte over there, one can only assume.

[Danchat]

If they're going to try him out at 1B in the future, I hope he can get plenty of time to practice in, unlike his move to RF. I'd keep trying him at 3B, and if things don't improve, have him learn how to play 1B over the winter. Then in 2017 rotate him between 1B/DH.

[Brandon]

Lets just make Sano the catcher.  its not like we have good options there anyway.  if not him then Park or Palka......

 

If Sano cant play 3B then we need to either keep Plouffe or find another 3B option.  and we will also have a logjam at 1B/ DH and at this point i am fine with putting Mauer on the bench part of the time to find out who the future is.  We will also have additional trade capital too.

[stringer bell]

Sano has looked comically bad at times at third base. He's also made his share of nice plays and displayed a plus-plus arm. The Twins have the luxury of letting him play out the season at third with little regard for the results. Sano played third exclusively in the minors so even though he didn't play much third at all the second half of last year and only a few games in the first half of this year, he shouldn't have the "rusty" excuse for too long.

 

I am of the opinion that he won't ever be an adequate third baseman, but I'm willing to give him the balance of this season to prove me wrong.

[EddieMatthews]

I doubt that the other infielders would want to be throwing to the guy who is least likely to catch the ball.  Same goes for pitchers who try to hold a runner.  Imagine the best pick-off throw, low to the bag and it hops into right field because of a mental lapse by the big guy.  

 

First base is not where you hide a defensive liability.  That position is right field.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I guess I'd prefer to judge the guy after he actually got to play the position for awhile. Let's revisit at the end of the season, right now it's not really fair to him.

Yeah. While I doubt he'll ever be average and this experiment is likely to fail, Sano hasn't played the field much in the past few years. There was the TJS, then less than half a season in the minors, then DH for the Twins last year.

 

Throw him out there and reevaluate in November.

[Thrylos]

Sano right now, even though rusty, is a better third baseman than Plouffe and Koskie were at their first full year with the Twins.

 

Give him time.

[Boom Boom]

I doubt that the other infielders would want to be throwing to the guy who is least likely to catch the ball. Same goes for pitchers who try to hold a runner. Imagine the best pick-off throw, low to the bag and it hops into right field because of a mental lapse by the big guy.

 

First base is not where you hide a defensive liability. That position is right field.

There's no need to hide a liability in right field if you're an American League team.

[Reider]

 

I would still play Sano at third and deal with it right now, though. Plouffe needs to be gone and Mauer should be moved to third in the offseason. That is how one deals with this. Mauer at third, Sano at first, Vargas DHing. Park traded after he keeps smacking the ball in AAA. Easy.

Why?

 

Mauer is just fine at 1B and Sano is just fine at 3B with his canon of an arm. I would just leave well enough alone. Sano is young and can move over to 1B at some time down the road.

 

 

[jimmer]

 

Why?

 

Mauer is just fine at 1B and Sano is just fine at 3B with his canon of an arm. I would just leave well enough alone. Sano is young and can move over to 1B at some time down the road.

Sano is 'just fine at 3B' 

 

Uh, WHAT?

[Reider]

 

Sano has looked comically bad at times at third base. He's also made his share of nice plays and displayed a plus-plus arm. The Twins have the luxury of letting him play out the season at third with little regard for the results. Sano played third exclusively in the minors so even though he didn't play much third at all the second half of last year and only a few games in the first half of this year, he shouldn't have the "rusty" excuse for too long.

 

I am of the opinion that he won't ever be an adequate third baseman, but I'm willing to give him the balance of this season to prove me wrong.

Where do you suggest Sano plays if it is not 3B?

[stringer bell]

 

Where do you suggest Sano plays if it is not 3B?

DH.