Responding to number 1: In the outfield, I do think the defense will be worse, at least as long as Buxton is in AAA. Imagine last years outfield without a Buxton or Hicks. I do think Sano will be a worse fielder than Hunter turned out to be. Hunter began horribly but started playing better out there as the season went on. We can expect Sano to be somewhere on the spectrum of guys we ran out there in 2014--hopefully you don't remember back that far. Somewhere between Colabello, Kubel, Escobar, and Santana. I can already see Sano jogging in to field a soft line drive for the third out, nonchalant, shades on the bill of his cap, and then braking hard and turning tail as the ball flies over his head and two important runs score. Or having poor technique on a sacrifice fly situation, and tweaking his shoulder making a 380-foot throw he's never attempted before. Sano will probably be fine, but people have a right to be concerned about little stuff like that. There are just too many ifs. If Perkins can ever pitch a whole season again. If Mauer bounces back. If the catching situation improves. We each have our own ifs, so the effect of all these threads amplifies, and in my opinion it's not as negative as it seems.