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Back in November, Zack wrote a piece about El Boqueton’s tenure in Minnesota, claiming the Twins were exiting the Miguel Sano rollercoaster. I, however, have hammered some hot dogs, rolled a few rounds of Skee-Ball, and jumped back in line. I’m ready to continue the adventure!
Below, is a deep dive into the archives. Then, a perusal of why he belongs on the roster.
*full disclosure: as I write this, I can’t decide if this is satire or if I truly believe Sano can make an impact for the 2023 Twins*
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Miguel Sano, a history:
2009: Minnesota Twins to Sign Miguel Angel Sano
- Second highest bonus ever for a Dominican
- Highest international bonus ever by the Twins
- Sano was the primary subject of the documentary Ballplayer: Pelotero
- SIgned the same year as Kepler and Polanco
2011-2015: Top-100 prospect
- Peaked at #3 (MLB)
- Battled Buxton for #1 honors multiple years
2014: Miguel Sano gets a new elbow
2015: 18 Home Runs in 279 At Bats (.269, .385, .530) with 119 Strikeouts
- Twins call up Miguel Sano
- First month: earned “Rookie of the Month” honors
- Rookie of the Year candidate (ended up 3rd, losing to Correa)
2016: 25 Home Runs in 437 At Bats (.236, .319, .462) with 178 Strikeouts
2017: 28 Home Runs in 424 At Bats (.264, .352, .507) with 173 Strikeouts
- Miguel Sano to represent the Twins at the All-Star Game
- Miguel Sano signs up to smash dingers in the Home Run Derby (finishing 2nd, behind Aaron Judge)
2018: 13 Home Runs in 266 At Bats (.199, .281, .398) with 115 Strikeouts
2019: 34 Home Runs in 380 At Bats (.247, .346, .576) with 159 Strikeouts
2020: 13 Home Runs in 186 At Bats (.204, .278, .478) with 90 Strikeouts
- Led the Majors in strikeouts
2021: 30 Home Runs in 470 At Bats (.223, .312, .466) with 183 Strikeouts (60th highest all time)
2022: 1 Home Runs in 60 At Bats (.083, .211, .133) with 25 Strikeouts
Overall: 162 Home Runs in 2,502 Plate Appearances (6.47%) with 1,042 Strikeouts (36.4%)
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Sign the man! Why?
- Positional flexibility
- The Twins top offseason priorities included a shortstop, catcher, and a right-handed hitting corner outfielder.
- Vazquez blah blah Correa blah blah blah right-handed hitting corner outfielder
- Sano was originally signed as a shortstop. Boom: backup.
- Sano has proven he’s willing to try something new. He’s got a big arm and with robo-umps on the way, why not try catcher? Besides, the Twins have a propensity for big and tall catchers (his 272 lbs are nearly matched by A.J. Pierzynski’s 250 lbs and his 6’4” frame dwarfs Joe Mauer’s 6’5” product-of-milk).
- Unless he’s making some life changes, Sano is the right-handed bat you are looking for.
- Corner outfielder: check. No further discussion needed.
- Plus Sano plays 1B and 3B. This man may be the best utility man. Ever.
2. T-shirts
- 2019 brought us Let it Sanó
- 2020 graced us with Rain and Sano
- 2023 could bring us a whole slew of garments
3. Home Runs
- If he had enough games played, Sano would rank 24th in Home Run Percentage. He needs 306 more games to qualify.
- He is ranked 509th overall with 162 Career Home Runs, only three away from Twin favorite, Jacque Jones. How high could he climb?
4. Strikeouts
- Sano ranks 318th in Career Strikeouts and was the youngest man in MLB history to reach 1,000. With a couple more elite seasons, he could enter the top 100. And might as well go for the elusive 2,000 strikeout club.
- More strikeout records he could conceivably best:
- Most consecutive plate appearances with a strikeout (record held by Sandy Koufax with 12 in 1955)
- Most consecutive at bats with a strikeout (record held by Eric Davis with 9 in 1987)
- Most consecutive games with a strikeout (record held by Aaron Judge with 37 in 2017)
5. Cost
- He’s likely looking at a Minor League deal. Throw all the incentives at him.
6. Odd Years
- Odd years have, historically, been better for Sano. 2023: Let it Sano!
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