Should Sano Get Demoted?

[MileHighTwinsFan]

Let's be clear, Sano has been an unmitigated disaster at 3B and it is very possible that his struggles are starting to affect his hitting.   With the team sitting him more often because of both his glove and bat, he is clearly not one of the best nine Molitor would put out there everyday.  

 

If he is the third baseman of the future, wouldn't it make sense to send him down to Rochester for a month, put him in the lineup everyday at 3B to get his game back together?  Bring him back in September and hopefully have him end the season on a high note.  

 

The fact that Molitor can't put his name in ink on the lineup card everyday suggests that this should be considered. 

 

[gunnarthor]

I'd rather we got rid of Molitor.

[Mr. Brooks]

If Molitor thinks that Sano isnt one of our 9 best players than perhaps it's Mollie who should be sent to Rochester.

[Winston Smith]

Just say no!

[SwainZag]

I have no problem with Molitor sitting Sano once in awhile, especially when he has been struggling like he has.  He has struggled in the field, with the bat and even blew threw that stop sign last week.  A game here or there to clear your head or let a hot bat have some playing time doesn't bother me.

[akmanak]

I am no expert when it comes to baseball, but is it normal for a team to constantly be sending players back to the minors only to call them back after a month or so and then do it again? Is it because management is failing to understand when a player is ready to be called up? I would say simply DH Sano for the rest of the year so he just has to worry about smashing the ball.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Offensively, he's above average to date.  yeah, defense has been bad, but he's been shuffled around all year too, and that really isn't fair to Sano.  I'm not sure what demoting him would accomplish...  and while I have no problems with Molitor giving him the occasional day off, if he gets the Polanco treatment, I have a huge problem... not exactly setting him up to succeed.

[Rosterman]

Well, he needs to get comfortable if we expect him to play there. He can't DH because Mauer is at first and Vargas needs to play, as well as Park. There's only 30 days or so left in the minor league season.

 

But I also don't like Escobar or Polanco playing third, either.

 

If anyone goes down, it is Buxton...told to bunt. Told to learn to use his speed. Soemthing isn't right when Nunez leads THIS team in stolen bases.

 

Of course, I would be happy with Sano at DH...but then we don't need at least one of Vargas/Mauer/Park/ But then it might mean we need to keep Plouffe, and I can't see paying him $10 million in arbitration or $30 million over 3 years or so...it ain't going to happen and Plouffe doesn't need to take anything less from the Twins this year...because of the process.

 

Heck, would rather see Dozier at DH, Sano at 3rd, Polanco at 2B if push came to shove...with Vargas/Park at first. 

 

We could call Mauer off the bench anytime we need a bases loaded walk.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

I think Sano's so called disastrousness has been mitigated by his above average range, and his rocket arm. He definitely needs work but it's possible he can hold the position well enough in time. Given that Plouffe is on the wrong side of the third baseman age curve and Polanco is completely untested there, Sano still has to be part of the conversation.

[h2oface]

Sano was being benched for disregarding signals I bet. But to answer your OP questions, ABSOLUTELY NOT!

[S.]

[BD57]

Sano isn't going to learn to hit major league pitching in Rochester.  He needs to stay in Minnesota & play.

 

As far as his defense is concerned, that's a work in progress which will require a lot of ground balls before & between games, even if he has the best work ethic you could hope for - put another way, it's going to take time, but if he's willing to work, he should be at least "serviceable."

[ashbury]

 

So, we should check in with you again on this tomorrow, to see if you've finally made up your mind?

[S.]

 

So, we should check in with you again on this tomorrow, to see if you've finally made up your mind?

[mnfireman]

This is called re-building, i.e...let the kids play. Missed signs, not executing bunts, cold streaks with flashes of brilliance, etc..., the things Ryan wouldn't do. The kids are here for good (hopefully), be ready for more "unmitigated" disasters. Should be fun!!

[King]

No he shouldn't. He's an established major league player now going through a slump. Let him work his way through it.

[DocBauer]

Once more with feeling, just looking at the history of the Twins and nobody else, the two finest all around 3B in tEames history were probably Gary Gaetti and Corey Koskie. (Not including the Killer due to his OF and 1B time) Gaetti came up with hands of stone and Koskie was too stiff. Both turned out to be fine defensive 3B defensively, even elite. In recent history, Plouffe turned in to fine 3B in his own right after taking time to work through some issues.

 

Sano may never be great, but he has all the ability in the world to be at least solid with a huge bat. He's still quite young and quality 3B who can hit don't usually turn in to gold glove candidates overnight. Further, he'said been bounced around from the OF back to the infield in what is only his first full season. Time, work, maybe a couple ,essential pounds, and he should be at least average with the glove eventually.

[alarp33]

Let's be clear, Sano has been an unmitigated disaster at 3B and it is very possible that his struggles are starting to affect his hitting. With the team sitting him more often because of both his glove and bat, he is clearly not one of the best nine Molitor would put out there everyday.

 

If he is the third baseman of the future, wouldn't it make sense to send him down to Rochester for a month, put him in the lineup everyday at 3B to get his game back together? Bring him back in September and hopefully have him end the season on a high note.

 

The fact that Molitor can't put his name in ink on the lineup card everyday suggests that this should be considered.

 

Are you worried about his 3rd base defense affecting the pennant run right now or something?

 

Really basing it on Molitor, the one who buried Kepler and Polanco while the team tanked for 2 months? The one that writes Danny Santana's name in the lineup nearly every day?

[mikelink45]

Remember another 3B who could rake and struggled to field?  Well Killebrew turned out fine and Sano will too - stop obsessing and let him mature.

[Old Twins Cap]

Who was at the game on Sunday?  Did anyone see how lazy Sano played 3B?

 

Even between innings he just sat back and lobbed throws across the diamond.  He kept throwing off the run, even on routine plays where he could have stopped, planted and thrown a rocket for an out. 

 

He looks unprepared to play baseball.  Who knows what is going on in his life or his  ^head.

 

^{Hey, how did the script change?}

 

^{Anyway, he needs to sit out and get his head together.  Maybe the MiLB is not a bad answer.  But, this is serious.}

 

^{Sano is borderline head case at this point, and Polanco is looking good.}

[wickedslider]

 

Let's be clear, Sano has been an unmitigated disaster at 3B and it is very possible that his struggles are starting to affect his hitting.   With the team sitting him more often because of both his glove and bat, he is clearly not one of the best nine Molitor would put out there everyday.  

 

If he is the third baseman of the future, wouldn't it make sense to send him down to Rochester for a month, put him in the lineup everyday at 3B to get his game back together?  Bring him back in September and hopefully have him end the season on a high note.  

 

The fact that Molitor can't put his name in ink on the lineup card everyday suggests that this should be considered. 

Normally, I'd say let him stay up here and learn as we are going with a youth movement and are going to have to get used to them learning on the job. But I think Sano could use a dose of seeing where he came from, to ensure that his focus on improvement is razor sharp.

I was disappointed to read reports that he reported to camp much heavier than the Twins wanted, and that he'd had little to no practice at RF in the offseason.

He's already bigger than Hrbek  (who's as big as a house now) was when he retired, and Herbie's lack of attention to his physical conditioning probably cost him a couple of lost years in his career. Herbie was on the DL quite a few times in his career and Sano has already been on the Dl twice in his young career with hammy problems.

[Eris]

From the 2012 scouting report:

 

I'll talk about the glove first. Sano played 125 games at third base, making 42 errors for a .884 fielding percentage, no doubt a quite poor error rate. However, he showed off a strong throwing arm, and when I saw him in person he looked better than the numbers would have you believe, showing good range and mobility for a player his size (he's listed 6-3, 190 but looks more like 6-5, 240)

 

Source:  http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/10/1/3433912/minor-league-prospect-report-miguel-sano-3b-minnesota-twins

 

Sano's minor league fielding % at 3B is 0.902.  So really, not much has changed.  His fielding % this year at 3B is 0.875.  Below his minor league average.  He is heavier this year which does not help.  The 15th ranked 3B this year, per fan graphs is Kyle Seager (Seattle with FP = 0.957).

 

I did a fangraphs search from 2005 to present on all MLB 3B with at least 900 innings.  Only 1, Ryan Braun had a fielding % below 0.900.  The eyeball test of the data suggests that a FP of 0.940 to 0.950 is where the drop off in playing time occurs.  Michael Cuddyer had 0.945.  Corey Koskie who was noted to be a poor minor league defensive 3B had FP = 0.924 in the minors but improved to a respectable 0.966 in the majors.

 

Is there hope for Sano at 3B?  Probably not.  If he has a Koskie type improvement, his FP would be about 0.940 -0.945.  In 2015, per fangraphs only Brett Lawrie of the A's had a lower field percentage (0.936) amoung qualified players.  In the best case scenario, Sano will be one of the worst defensive 3B in MLB.  Therefore, he will not stay there.  I looked through the Twins minor league roster and unfortunately there does not seem to be a viable near term MLB ready 3B in the Twins organization.  That leaves Plouffe.  Or perhaps convert another middle infielder.

 

[alarp33]

Using Fielding % as your default method to judge defense probably isn't the best.

 

We know Sano isn't a great defensive 3B, still want to see him there through the end of the year since he's been playing it for all of a month or so this year,

[Eris]

 

Using Fielding % as your default method to judge defense probably isn't the best.
 

Yes.  I agree with you.  I wanted to bring the minor league stats into the discussion because there is more data.  Unfortunately I only found RF and Fielding percentage.  I think the eye-ball test suggests that Sano would be OK at 3B if he made the plays on the balls he got to.  But it is those stupid errors.  

 

Considering that the season is lost.  Playing Sano at 3B to see how much he could improve is a good idea.  However, I am not optimistic about the outcome.

[Halsey Hall]

NO, and that's all I've seen thus far in the thread.

[Dantes929]

 

Well, he needs to get comfortable if we expect him to play there. He can't DH because Mauer is at first and Vargas needs to play, as well as Park. There's only 30 days or so left in the minor league season.

 

But I also don't like Escobar or Polanco playing third, either.

 

If anyone goes down, it is Buxton...told to bunt. Told to learn to use his speed. Soemthing isn't right when Nunez leads THIS team in stolen bases.

 

 

Well, to be fair Nunez has more stolen bases than anyone in the entire American League so I am not sure what isn't right about leading the Twins in that category.

[Woody Wants Wins]

By sending him down now, he might not break 2 Twins records:  most strikeouts in a season and most errors.  Of course when Plouffe comes back he can go back to RF and send Kepler down.  But seriously he needs to have a more serious approach to playing D.  

[Woody Wants Wins]

Speaking of Buxton's futility, he has 190 AB's with an OPS of 578 which would be a concern, but if the Yankees keep playing Hicks who now has 215 AB's and an OPS of 535 then Buxton will not be the worst OF in the American League.

[Dantes929]

Since June 18 Twins are playing at a .580 clip.    Sano has made contributions.    I probably wouldn't change much.    I would have no problem making Sano our DH and dealing either Park or Vargas down the road but no reason not to play him at 3rd for now..   Right now rotate Escobar, Polanco and Sano and a little bit of Dozier.     Until Plouffe and Park rejoin there is enough playing time to go around.   

[theBOMisthebomb]

Pass the Dutchie on the left hand side.