The State of Miguel Sano: Looking Good!

[drjim]

 

There is no way you can know what level of effort he put in. That is the biggest problem I have with this "issue." At this point the weight has become a means for people to attempt to justify assertions regarding effort and character that are impossible to prove. Following that sort of logic the Twins must have a ton of lazy/low character players.... 

 

I don't have anything against Sano, I have high hopes for him. I think what happened to him can happen to young athletes who have success. And I think his response this offseason speaks quite well to his character and effort.

 

My position comes from comparing his weight at the end of 2015 compared to the start of 2016 combined with various reports that were released throughout the offseason.

[TheLeviathan]

 

In a perfect world... I'd love to have Defensive talent 1 through 9 but we got Sano and you gotta keep his bat in the lineup. The easy answer is DH but now what do you do in NL Cities.

 

Sure, but I don't think the solution to this is to just shuffle guys around to a variety of positions that they can't play.  Find the position the guy is best at and play him there.  If you're backlogged....fix the back log.

 

The defensive issues will cause a problem.  Your own example shows that,  

[Jham]

 

Sure, but I don't think the solution to this is to just shuffle guys around to a variety of positions that they can't play.  Find the position the guy is best at and play him there.  If you're backlogged....fix the back log.

 

The defensive issues will cause a problem.  Your own example shows that,

That's a little simplistic isn't it?  Choice A - Shuffle, may, at least occasionally be better than Choice B- fix backlog.  How bad is the backlog?  How incompetent are the shufflers?  There's a lot of variation in there.  I mean, Plouffe could play 3rd.  If Sano can't play third, did we have anyone to plug in who could play right as well as Plouffe played right and hit as well also?  I mean, if we shuffled Sano to first and Mauer to DH in hopes of keeping Mauer fresher, would that be so terrible?  Are Vargas and Park so good that it warrants having poor defense at third or rf?  Not likely, in my mind...
 

[TheLeviathan]

 

That's a little simplistic isn't it?  Choice A - Shuffle, may, at least occasionally be better than Choice B- fix backlog.  How bad is the backlog?  How incompetent are the shufflers?  There's a lot of variation in there.  I mean, Plouffe could play 3rd.  If Sano can't play third, did we have anyone to plug in who could play right as well as Plouffe played right and hit as well also?  I mean, if we shuffled Sano to first and Mauer to DH in hopes of keeping Mauer fresher, would that be so terrible?  Are Vargas and Park so good that it warrants having poor defense at third or rf?  Not likely, in my mind...
 

 

Right, but that wasn't RB's point.  He was talking about deliberately putting bad defenders at various places on the field in the name of keeping their bats in the lineup and then shuffling them around depending on matchups.

 

It's my opinion that having 3-4 guys that can play 3-4 positions is great, if they can actually play them.  I'm all for that.  Hell, I agree with RB that we could train kids in the minors to be better at this.  And if Sano could actually play OF and 3B - great!  We could put him out there in LF against righties and put in Escobar in place of Rosario.  But if he can't play OF, what did you really gain?

 

I know it's tempting to think that Escobar's offense offsets Sano's defense, but we have a lot of evidence to suggest otherwise.

[KirbyDome89]

 

I don't have anything against Sano, I have high hopes for him. I think what happened to him can happen to young athletes who have success. And I think his response this offseason speaks quite well to his character and effort.

 

My position comes from comparing his weight at the end of 2015 compared to the start of 2016 combined with various reports that were released throughout the offseason.

Meh...I'm not a fan of taking a 15 lb weight difference one season vs the next and using that as a metric to make assessments about character and work ethic. 

[h2oface]

265, eh? I thought that what it was said he came into camp at last year. A loss of 15 lbs would be 250 with my alternative math. I think the pic is photoshopped for promotion and propaganda. Amazingly how much some can surmise with him sitting down. Time will tell.

[Seth Stohs]

 

Sano is still too heavy at 255.  Playing at 3B, he will make a lot of quick steps, putting him at increased risk of muscle pulls and other nagging injuries.  The fact that he lost 15 pounds and muscled up says a lot.  Now if he can squeeze that tarantula under his Twins cap, he should be good to go.

 

Short term, I don't think it's an issue, but in 4-5 years it could be. He's a big guy, but a very good athlete. He can play 3B at that size. He's not going to be a gold glover, but that would be true for him at 220 also. 

 

I saw a lot of Miguel this weekend in the clubhouse. He looked great. He's still huge. He looks great.

 

And, I like the hair.

[jimmer]

 

Short term, I don't think it's an issue, but in 4-5 years it could be. He's a big guy, but a very good athlete. He can play 3B at that size. He's not going to be a gold glover, but that would be true for him at 220 also. 

 

I saw a lot of Miguel this weekend in the clubhouse. He looked great. He's still huge. He looks great.

 

And, I like the hair.

Being a very good athlete was why he wasn't going to have any problem last year in RF too though, wasn't it?

 

Going to be very lucky if we go 4-5 years without him moving to 1B or DH.

[Mike Sixel]

 

This is me the regular poster and not the moderator, in case anyone is unsure as to the intent of this post. But can we move forward and focus on who Sano could hopefully be this season? I mean come on ... was him in RF a mistake, yes. HUGE mistake? Debatable to some? Sure. That season is over. The man who ultimately made that decision is gone. The person who, um, 'necessitated' that decision is gone. It's a brand new day and new season in Sano world. Let's look forward and be hopeful.

 

Nice try!

[Squirrel]

Nice try!

It's how I really feel, as a fan. It was done, for various reasons agree or disagree, it didn't work out (mildly put), neither Ryan nor Plouffe are with us any longer, I don't think it was a huge set back for Sano as I think there were greater reasons for his performance last year (and yes, I'm not saying this wasn't a contributing factor, just not the major factor, in my opinion as a fan), so why the need to continue belaboring it. It's not the future, I don't think it was hugely impactful of the future, so let's move on, as it seems Sano has, in a good way. That's my opinion as a fan. As a fan reading these threads, some of the belaboring of past decisions gets really tiring, but whatever.

 

As a moderator, however, there is a point where continually bringing up certain points over and over again, thread after thread after thread, well, read the policy on that. That post you quoted wasn't a moderator warning. This last little bit of this one is.

[nicksaviking]

 

Meh...I'm not a fan of taking a 15 lb weight difference one season vs the next and using that as a metric to make assessments about character and work ethic. 

 

I agree, I also don't like using an assessment about character and work ethic of a 22-year-old and predict that it will continue. Who among us are the same person we were at that age?

 

Shoot, ****Spoiler Warning**** for our younger members. The plot twist is that life is like that one David Lynch movie where the guy wakes up one day and is a completely different person for no explainable reason.

[nicksaviking]

 

Being a very good athlete was why he wasn't going to have any problem last year in RF too though, wasn't it?

 

Going to be very lucky if we go 4-5 years without him moving to 1B or DH.

 

Kirby Puckett was built like a catcher, Calvin Johnson was built like a defensive end and Bartolo Colon was built like a bowler.

 

I don't think these things are always as predictable by body-type as we would like to think. So what if we have to be lucky, and so what if we have to consider other options 4 years from now? This team has more immediate issues to address and this front has offered the rare positive news this offseason.

[Vanimal46]

 

Kirby Puckett was built like a catcher, Calvin Johnson was built like a defensive end and Bartolo Colon was built like a bowler.

 

I don't think these things are always as predictable by body-type as we would like to think. So what if we have to be lucky, and so what if we have to consider other options 4 years from now? This team has more immediate issues to address and this front has offered the rare positive news this offseason.

You take that back about Bartolo... He's a national treasure and should be treated as such. 

He's built like a slow-pitch beer league softball 1B. 

[USAFChief]

 

Kirby Puckett was built like a catcher, Calvin Johnson was built like a defensive end and Bartolo Colon was built like a bowler.

 

I don't think these things are always as predictable by body-type as we would like to think. So what if we have to be lucky, and so what if we have to consider other options 4 years from now? This team has more immediate issues to address and this front has offered the rare positive news this offseason.

Any particular one?  

[ashbury]

Any particular one?  

Take your pick.

[ashbury]

Bartolo Colon was built like a bowler.

http://reactionimage.org/img/gallery/9325080020.jpg

[EddieMatthews]

 

Take your pick.

I would pick #45.

[spinowner]

 

Kirby Puckett was built like a catcher, Calvin Johnson was built like a defensive end and Bartolo Colon was built like a bowler.

 

I don't think these things are always as predictable by body-type as we would like to think. So what if we have to be lucky, and so what if we have to consider other options 4 years from now? This team has more immediate issues to address and this front has offered the rare positive news this offseason.

 

 

You take that back about Bartolo... He's a national treasure and should be treated as such. 

He's built like a slow-pitch beer league softball 1B. 

Reminds me of one of the best things Jim Souhan ever wrote. He said Matthew LeCroy was a baseball player trapped in the body of a softball player.

[laloesch]

I would pick #45.

I'd pick Jerome Bettis. Guy is a good bowler but a great running back.

 

I love bowling.