The Minnesota Twins have surged to the top of the American League Central this season, but one player lost in the shuffle is Miguel Sanó.
It’s astounding to think that a player that Sports Illustrated’s Albert Chen compared to Miguel Cabrera in 2013 wouldn’t have a role in the Twins’ success, but after completing a rehab stint in the minors, the Twins either need to find room for the 29-year-old or move on.
Sanó’s career wasn’t supposed to be this way. He was one of the top international free agents when he was 16. According to a 2015 article from The Guardian’s David Lengel, the Pittsburgh Pirates scouting staff had nicknamed him “Hanley Pujols” as a cross between All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols.
Chen took it even further in his article, telling a story where Sanó hit eight straight home runs during a workout for scouts in the Dominican Republic. The performance led a frenzied negotiation period that was featured in the 2012 documentary Ballplayer: Peleroto and led Chen to compare his power to a young Bryce Harper.
“The last teenager with this kind of raw power was a certain faux-hawked bro from Las Vegas; when you see Sano’s swing and power in person, the Harper comps make sense,” Chen wrote.
Sanó immediately became one of the Twins’ top prospects and raced through the organization along with Byron Buxton. He smashed 105 homers from 2010 until 2015 and ranked as high as sixth on Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list. All of this happened while missing the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
The Twins called up Sanó in the middle of the 2015 season and he lived up to the hype. He hit 18 home runs in 80 games during the second half of the year and displayed a veteran eye at the plate, drawing 53 walks in 335 plate appearances (15.8% walk rate).
Sanó’s numbers slipped the following season, but he rebounded to make his first All-Star appearance and finished runner-up to Aaron Judge in the Home Run Derby. Everything appeared to be in place for Sanó to take off until he suffered a stress fracture in his left shin.
Since then, Sanó has been a different player. He was sent down in the middle of the 2018 season to get back in shape but he never regained the form that made him look like a future cornerstone.
Since then, there have been highs and lows. Sanó hit .199/.281/.398 during the 2018 season but hit 34 homers in 2019. He slugged 33 homers between the 2020 and 2021 seasons but also logged a 37% strikeout rate. He dropped 25 pounds last offseason and hit .093/.231/.148 in the first 17 games this season before tearing his meniscus.
The latest chapter has come during his rehab assignment where he hit .348/.423/.826 with three homers during a rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints. The saga has been confusing but even more worrisome for the Twins’ front office, who need to figure out if Sanó has a spot on the roster.
A platoon of Luis Arraez, Alex Kirilloff and Jose Miranda has supplanted Sanó at first base and the designated hitter position has been reserved to either give players a day off in the field or help Buxton with his balky knee.
The Twins could send down Gilberto Celestino or Kyle Garlick to make room for Sanó but both have strong roles on the team and Nick Gordon is currently out of options, which requires him to pass waivers before being sent to St. Paul.
After Saturday’s win over the Detroit Tigers, Twins manager Rocco Baldelli remained quiet on which direction the Twins were leaning.
“He kind of has to come out now and kind of re-figure out and re-get his timing back,” Baldelli said. “That’s why this rehab assignment was so important. And it kind of leaves us where we’re at right now. We’ve used every possible at-bat that we could get him because we know that that’s going to be important for him to be a good player.”
No matter which way the Twins decide, it appears that Sanó’s days in Minnesota are numbered. Where some fans will point to Eddie Rosario’s magical October to keep him around, others believe it’s time to move on, making Sanó the Twins’ ultimate enigma.
