Miguel Sanó Finding Second Life in Los Angeles

[Cody Christie]

Miguel Sanó went from heralded top prospect to veteran castoff during his Twins tenure. Now, in a new organization, he seems to have found a second life in the California sun.

Miguel Sanó was a polarizing player from his time as an amateur through his final days in a Twins uniform. His signing as a teenager was documented in the 2011 movie Ballplayer: Pelotero. MLB completed an investigation into his actual age, and some organizations used it to gain leverage over him in negotiations. Corruption has been part of Latin America's baseball evaluation and recruitment process, which MLB has attempted to clean up in recent years. Eventually, Sanó agreed to terms with the Twins and immediately became one of baseball’s top prospects. 

From 2012-2015, Sanó ranked as one of baseball’s top 25 prospects by all three national outlets. His peak was entering the 2014 season when Baseball America (#6) and MLB.com (4th) had him near the top of their list. In 2013, Sanó reached Double-A and hit .280/.382/.611 (.992) with 30 doubles and 35 home runs in 123 games. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, he missed the entire 2014 season, which pushed back his big-league debut to the 2015 season. 

Sanó returned in 2015, and the Twins sent him to Double-A to get his feet back under him after he had missed significant time. He performed well enough that Minnesota called him up in July, and he performed well enough to finish third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting. His Twins career was a roller coaster ride with highs (2017 All-Star, 25+ home runs in four seasons) and lows (fastest in MLB history to 1,000 career strikeouts, sexual assault, and kidnapping accusations). As a power hitter, Sanó’s propensity for swing and miss was off-putting to many fans, but he combined for a 116 OPS+ over eight years in Minnesota. 

The Twins declined Sanó’s contract option following the 2022 season in which he slashed .083/.211/.133 (.344) in 71 plate appearances. His 2022 season ended due to a knee injury, and he was never fully healthy during the 2023 season so that a team could give him an opportunity. Sanó held a workout for interested teams last spring, but no teams wanted to sign him, even to a minor league deal. This past offseason, he played winter ball in the Dominican Republic and performed well enough for the Angels to sign him to a minor league deal before spring training.   

Sanó arrived at spring training slimmed down in what pundits might call “the best shape of his life.” He went 11-for-54 (.204 BA) with four home runs, but the Angels are a terrible team, and it was enough to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster. There were questions about how his bat would handle returning to the big-league level after a long hiatus. He’s responded by going 16-for-59 (.271 BA) with three doubles and a home run in his first 20 games. Los Angeles has also been using him regularly at third base, a position the Twins avoided with him in recent years. There will continue to be streakiness to Sanó’s offensive profile, but his OPS+ is higher than any season since 2019, which is a good sign for Angels fans who are looking for anything to cheer for this season. 

He may not have lived up to his high prospect ranking, but Sanó has been an above-average regular for most of his career. Los Angeles won’t contend this season, so giving at-bats to a player with a chip on his shoulder is more manageable. The Twins will get a close-up look at Sanó this weekend when the club faces off against LA. 

What will you remember most about Sanó’s Twins tenure? Can he sustain his performance in LA? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

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[chpettit19]

Good for Miguel. I hope he continues to see success. His time was over here, but it's great to see him get healthy and get into what appears to be great shape and have some early success. Hope he continues to thrive in Cali.

[D.C Twins]

(slow.... exaggerated... golf....clapping) 

[Doctor Gast]

I marvel at Sano's power & quickness but Twins' "all or nothing" approach & his laziness has been his kryptonite. I hope Sano has matured because, under Wash's eye, he can still develop into an above-average player & LAA could use his talents. His SO rate is better (but still needs improvement), it seems like they are focusing on him making contact & getting on base. When he gets that right the HRs will naturally come. Wish Sano & Wash success but not against the Twins,

It'd be nice to see the Twins & Sano play tonight but I'd be in bed when they start the game.

[mnfireman]

He also pitches, and I'm pretty sure the team and the fans didn't mind him leaving the bases loaded...

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Lets see...
Skilled player relies on natural ability early in career, has some success, but generally does not care about improving himself or his team.
Skilled player eventually gets released and is looked upon so poorly no other team is willing to sign him.
Skilled player gets older, matures, finally realizes he failed to live up to his god given talent.
Skilled player looses extensive weight, gets back into shape, and is able to finagle a second chance.
Skilled player sees success...

The thing that irritates me about this narrative is the amount of time and money the Twins poured into this guy.  Shameful...

[Vanimal46]

59 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Good for Miguel. I hope he continues to see success. His time was over here, but it's great to see him get healthy and get into what appears to be great shape and have some early success. Hope he continues to thrive in Cali.

Agreed. No hard feelings here. He wasn’t going to figure it out continuing to play for the Twins. He needed the wake up call sitting out all of 2023. 

[TwinsDr2021]

3 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

The thing that irritates me about this narrative is the amount of time and money the Twins poured into this guy.  Shameful...

Sad way to look at his time here. Only once did he has an OPS+ of under 105 and while in MN he had an .808 OPS. He didn't live up to my expectations for sure, struck out too much, overweight and never was healthy but the Twins didn't help with putting him all over the diamond. And for as bad as he was in 22 we have and are seeing worse.  But he is 12th all time in Twins homers and 18th in OPS and there are quite a few Twins prospects that we are all in love with that will never end up with a Twins career as good as his.

I wish he nothing but the best

[stringer bell]

I think it’s a bum rap to call Sanó lazy or to accuse him of being out of shape. Sanó worked hard, but the holes are there—he misses way too many pitches in the zone and despite a big arm, he’s never going to be a plus fielder. He’s 31 now or soon and playing lighter makes sense from an injury avoidance point of view and probably adds a bit to his defensive range. 
 

The “new” Miguel Sanó is worth keeping around, but I don’t see another Big Papi situation. Good luck to him starting on Monday. I’m sure he’ll be laser focused this weekend.  

[Riverbrian]

I've never met Sano

I mention that to point out that I'm not qualified to pass judgement on his work ethic so I won't. 

I will say this: Sano was given enough chances with the Twins to see his arbitration price rise to 14 million dollars.

The choice for the Twins was do they pick up his option for 14 million or not. 

Anybody paying 14 million? 

I'm not!!! 

Think about it... If we did... we wouldn't be able to afford Joey Gallo!!! 

 

 

 

[Shaitan]

Good for him for getting in shape, but 25K in 59 AB looks like the same old Sano to me.

 

[mikelink45]

He needed a reset and the Twins were obviously not able to provide that.  Good luck to him, keep the strikeouts down and the contact up. 

[TwinsDr2021]

39 minutes ago, Shaitan said:

Good for him for getting in shape, but 25K in 59 AB looks like the same old Sano to me.

 

His OBP is .362, for guys that aren't hurt or have more than 25 at bats, that would put him second on the twins behind Jeffers .363.

Not saying he should be on the Twins, but that isn't too shabby

 

[laloesch]

1 hour ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Lets see...
Skilled player relies on natural ability early in career, has some success, but generally does not care about improving himself or his team.
Skilled player eventually gets released and is looked upon so poorly no other team is willing to sign him.
Skilled player gets older, matures, finally realizes he failed to live up to his god given talent.
Skilled player looses extensive weight, gets back into shape, and is able to finagle a second chance.
Skilled player sees success...

The thing that irritates me about this narrative is the amount of time and money the Twins poured into this guy.  Shameful...

The thing that irritates me besides what you mentioned is that apologists still are blaming the Twins for his downfall when he was still with this franchise.  THAT'S super irritating.  Sano did it to himself, mainly with a fork.  Hope he succeeds with the Angels, but he squandered a lot of time with this team. 

[laloesch]

44 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

He needed a reset and the Twins were obviously not able to provide that.  Good luck to him, keep the strikeouts down and the contact up. 

Oh they provided him plenty of time, he just didn't use it.

[EGFTShaw]

1 hour ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Sad way to look at his time here. Only once did he has an OPS+ of under 105 and while in MN he had an .808 OPS. He didn't live up to my expectations for sure, struck out too much, overweight and never was healthy but the Twins didn't help with putting him all over the diamond. And for as bad as he was in 22 we have and are seeing worse.  But he is 12th all time in Twins homers and 18th in OPS and there are quite a few Twins prospects that we are all in love with that will never end up with a Twins career as good as his.

I wish he nothing but the best

I had hoped that Nelson Cruz would have taken him under his wings and taught him more about being a professional.  The weight issue, (I deal with it), often can be discipline issue.

but when he connected on a FB at Target Field it often ended up at Mall of America. 😉

[Dave The Dastardly]

The man drove me nuts as a Twin but I wish him all the best. Most everyone deserves a second chance.

[Danchat]

I'm not going to blame the Twins for not bringing him back, parting from the team was the right decision for both sides. It's nice to see him get his career back on track. I didn't think I'd ever see him play 3B again!

[KirbyDome89]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

Sad way to look at his time here. Only once did he has an OPS+ of under 105 and while in MN he had an .808 OPS. He didn't live up to my expectations for sure, struck out too much, overweight and never was healthy but the Twins didn't help with putting him all over the diamond. And for as bad as he was in 22 we have and are seeing worse.  But he is 12th all time in Twins homers and 18th in OPS and there are quite a few Twins prospects that we are all in love with that will never end up with a Twins career as good as his.

I wish he nothing but the best

This.

The double standard is laughable at times. The end was bad (it's rarely, if ever, good) and Sano didn't meet expectations for most of the fan base, but he was a top 10 prospect in baseball at a time when the Twins were losing 90+ games annually, so good luck delivering on that level of hope. 

[Woof Bronzer]

3 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Lets see...
Skilled player relies on natural ability early in career, has some success, but generally does not care about improving himself or his team.
Skilled player eventually gets released and is looked upon so poorly no other team is willing to sign him.
Skilled player gets older, matures, finally realizes he failed to live up to his god given talent.
Skilled player looses extensive weight, gets back into shape, and is able to finagle a second chance.
Skilled player sees success...

The thing that irritates me about this narrative is the amount of time and money the Twins poured into this guy.  Shameful...

Humans are flawed.  Plenty of young athletes need to grow up at some point.  Sano isn't the first athlete to take this path and won't be the last.  It didn't work here.  I'm sure he wishes it had.  But that's not "shameful", that's life.   

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

3 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I marvel at Sano's power & quickness but Twins' "all or nothing" approach & his laziness has been his kryptonite. I hope Sano has matured because, under Wash's eye, he can still develop into an above-average player & LAA could use his talents. His SO rate is better (but still needs improvement), it seems like they are focusing on him making contact & getting on base. When he gets that right the HRs will naturally come. Wish Sano & Wash success but not against the Twins,

It'd be nice to see the Twins & Sano play tonight but I'd be in bed when they start the game.

It's April. Acting like Ron Washington has somehow turned him around in a month and his .441 BABIP is all of the sudden something sustainable for him is just silliness.

And his strikeout rate is 36.2% this year, 5 of his 7 seasons as a Twin were at or below that number. 

[Fatbat]

Congrats to everyone involved.🤷‍♂️

[kroll]

He didn't live up to his end of the bargain here.

Stay in some kind of shape. Be serious, committed, and grateful for the opportunity and financial commitment you received. 

Don't wish him any success and/or failure. Don't care either way.

[mikelink45]

This is not about the Twins.  It is about a person who matured late and needed the rejection (tough love) of being cut to get his attention and I hope focus.  I would still like to see him reach his potential.

[awmonahan]

I hope he gets it right and plays several more years. His god given talent is unreal. It'd be a shame to not get more out of it.

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

It's April. Acting like Ron Washington has somehow turned him around in a month and his .441 BABIP is all of the sudden something sustainable for him is just silliness.

And his strikeout rate is 36.2% this year, 5 of his 7 seasons as a Twin were at or below that number. 

Many Braves have credited Ron Washington for turning them around. He knows how to do it & he brought his coaches that are on the same page as he is. 

Quote

Fourteen strikeouts in 33 at-bats gives Sano a 42.4% strikeout rate. That's really, really high and is pretty much on track with his 41.6% strikeout rate in 2022 with the Twins.Apr 16, 2024

Sano's SO rate has always been high & had been trending higher in his the last few years of his career as a Twin. Even starting out as an Angel it peaked out at 42.4 but has been trending in the right direction. It's a small sample size but with Washington record & hopefully change of Sano's attitude it will only get better.

[LambchoP]

Remember when he was going to be the Twin's 300 pound right fielder that one year lol?!

[Guest]

Here is what I wish and hope: Sanó continues to improve and the Angels trade him to an American League contender. He then gets at bats against the Twins in a playoff series.

[Joe A. Preusser]

6 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

The thing that irritates me about this narrative is the amount of time and money the Twins poured into this guy.  Shameful...

Come on man, we're all flawed humans.  Just what are you expecting from him or or anyone?  Cause if it's perfection or even excellence you're just setting yourself up for a whole bunch of disappointment.  

My life had been littered with unrealized potential, along with some realized.  The misses won't define me, and shouldn't for Sano just because he happens to be à public figure with heightened expectations.  He doesn't owe you or the Twins anything.  

These are real people, not commodities. 

[Joe A. Preusser]

1 hour ago, Verified Member said:

Here is what I wish and hope: Sanó continues to improve and the Angels trade him to an American League contender. He then gets at bats FOR the Twins in a playoff series.

FTFY.