The Miguel Sanó era came to an end this week when the Minnesota Twins declined his club option for the 2023 season.
With the Twins unlikely to bring him back on a cheaper deal, Sanó goes down as one of the biggest disappointments of the past 30 years, but where does he stack up?
Here’s a look at some of the biggest disappointments since the Twins’ last World Series title in 1991.
10. Tyler Jay
Jay was the sixth overall pick in the 2015 MLB Draft after a stellar career at Illinois. After posting a 1.08 ERA during his junior season with the Fighting Illini, the Twins believed that they could eventually groom him into a starter.
The problem? Jay’s career-high in innings at Illinois was 66.2 and he served as the Illini’s closer.
Jay went on to go 13-13 with a 3.78 ERA in five minor league seasons and was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for cash considerations. After a couple of years away from the game, Jay signed with the Joliet Slammers last summer and posted a 1.64 ERA in 22 innings.
9. Byung-Ho Park
Park was a superstar in the Korean Baseball Organization and provided the type of offense the Twins were seeking prior to the 2016 season. In five seasons with the Nexen Heroes, Park led the KBO in home runs five times, RBIs four times, slugging percentage twice, won two MVP awards and was a five-time Gold Glove winner.
That resume convinced the Twins to pay a $12.85 million posting fee just to negotiate with Park on a four-year, $12 million contract. Park never lived up to the hype.
He played in 62 games for the Twins, hitting .191/.275/.409 with 12 homers before he was sent to Triple-A Rochester and never found his way back to the majors. After spending a full season with the Red Wings, Park asked to be released and returned to the Heroes for the 2017 season.
8. B.J. Garbe
By the time the late 90s hit, the Twins’ two World Series titles were a distant memory. They needed to rebuild and had a chance to add a cornerstone in the 1999 MLB Draft.
After Josh Hamilton and Josh Beckett were selected with the first two picks, the Twins selected Garbe fifth overall ahead of future All-Stars Barry Zito (ninth overall), Ben Sheets (10th overall) and Alex Rios (19th overall).
Garbe was the 1999 Gatorade High School Player of the Year – an award that was previously won by Gary Sheffield (1986) and Alex Rodriguez (1993) – but he never lived up to the hype, hitting .235/.313/.325 with 37 homers over eight minor league seasons.
The Twins traded Garbe to Seattle during the 2023 season and he never got above the Double-A level.
7. Kohl Stewart
The Twins haven’t had an ace since Johan Santana was traded and Stewart was one player expected to fill the void. The fourth overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, Stewart was selected over Austin Meadows (9th overall), J.P Crawford (16th overall), Tim Anderson (17th overall) and Aaron Judge (32nd overall).
It was worth it to the Twins as Stewart had a fastball that topped out in the upper 90s, but his velocity vanished as soon as he came into the organization. Although he reached Double-A in 2016, Stewart didn’t reach the majors until 2018 and was tagged for a 6.39 ERA in 25.1 innings in 2019.
Stewart opted out of the 2020 season and last pitched with the Chicago Cubs in 2021.
6. Adam Johnson
Much like Garbe, Johnson was counted on to fill a big role for the Twins after being selected second overall in the 2000 MLB Draft. Coming off a stellar career at Cal State Fullerton, Johnson was fast-tracked to the majors, and made his major league debut in 2001.
Unfortunately, things unraveled quickly as he posted an 8.28 ERA in 25 innings. After failing to make the team in 2002, Johnson spent the entire season at Triple-A Edmonton, posting a 13-8 record and a 5.47 ERA.
Johnson resurfaced for two relief appearances for the Twins late in the 2003 season but allowed eight runs in 1.1 innings. Johnson was never seen in the majors again, pitching in the Oakland Athletics organization until his retirement in 2008.
5. Aaron Hicks
Hicks is one player on this list that went on to have a decent career, but it just didn’t happen with the Twins.
Selected with the 14th overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft, Hicks was expected to be the Twins’ next great center fielder, following in the footsteps of Torii Hunter and Kirby Puckett.
After a five-year stint in the minors, Hicks was the Opening Day center fielder in 2013 and went 2-for-48 with 20 strikeouts in his first 56 plate appearances. Hicks went on to hit .225/.306/.349 with 20 homers and 26 stolen bases over three seasons before being traded to the New York Yankees for John Ryan Murphy.
The deal was one of the worst in Twins history as Hicks went on to hit .233/.340/.403 with 80 homers in seven seasons and even received MVP votes in 2018.
4. Josh Donaldson
The Twins were coming off another sweep at the hands of the Yankees in 2019 and needed to find pitching. After reportedly being in on several arms, the Twins reversed course and added more offense by signing Josh Donaldson.
Donaldson’s four-year, $92 million deal was the largest free-agent contract in Twins history at the time and was supposed to bring an edge to end their playoff drought. Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Donaldson was limited to just 28 games in the shortened 2020 season.
Donaldson played one full season with the Twins, hitting .247/.352/.475 with 26 homers and 72 RBI in 2021 but wore out his welcome before being traded to the Yankees last spring. Ironically, it paved the way for Carlos Correa to sign the current largest free-agent contract in Twins history.
3. Ricky Nolasco
Before there was Donaldson, there was Nolasco. The right-hander signed a four-year, $49 million contract which was also the largest free-agent contract in Twins history at the time.
While his fellow free-agent signing, Ervin Santana panned out, Nolasco was a disaster. He went 6-12 with a 5.38 ERA in 27 starts in the 2014 season and 5-2 with a 6.75 ERA over nine games (eight starts) in 2015.
Nolasco was traded to the Los Angeles Angels along with Alex Meyer for Hector Santiago midway through the 2016 season and pitched one more season before retiring after 2017.
2. Tsuyoshi Nishioka
Like Park, Nishioka came to America after a successful career overseas. In 2010, he hit .346/.423/.482 with 11 homers and 22 stolen bases with Chiba Lotte and was supposed to fill the Twins’ void at second base.
One Nick Swisher slide into second base derailed that thought as Nishioka never found his footing with the Twins. He played 71 games in Minnesota, hitting .215/.267/.236 with no home runs before asking for his release and forfeiting the $3.25 million remaining on his three-year, $9.25 million contract to return to Japan.
The Twins also paid a $5.3 million posting fee for the rights to negotiate with Nishioka.
1. Miguel Sanó
There are few words to describe how big of a gut punch the Miguel Sanó experience was for Twins fans. After signing with the Twins in 2010, Sanó’s legend continued to grow as he tore up the minor leagues alongside Byron Buxton.
Anointed as the next Miguel Cabrera, Sanó was called up midway through the 2015 season and hit .269/.385/.530 with 18 homers in 80 games and finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year Award voting. Two years later, Sanó made his first All-Star team and it looked like the Twins had a superstar on their hands.
Instead, Sanó’s career went into a tailspin when he suffered a stress fracture in his shin. He was sent all the way down to Low-A Fort Myers midway through the 2018 season and routinely showed up to spring training in the best shape of his career only to regress as the season went along.
This past season was the end of the road as Sanó hit .083/.211/.133 in 60 at bats and spent a majority of the season recovering from a torn meniscus.
