Minnesota Sports Forum

Hey. Would ya look at that. It only took until the second game for Sano to make a mistake in the outfield costing us a run because he's not an outfielder.

Edit: Also, he cut his face on the ground after the flop/dive. Can't make this up.

khans2k5 wrote:Hey. Would ya look at that. It only took until the second game for Sano to make a mistake in the outfield costing us a run because he's not an outfielder.

Edit: Also, he cut his face on the ground after the flop/dive. Can't make this up.

Yeah, he did misplay that one...and even though he wasn't charged with an error, he likely cost us a run by diving for an uncatchable ball. We don't know how the other RF options that have been thrown out here (Plouffe and Mauer) would have done on that play, but being slower and more mature than Sano, I'm guessing they both would have played the ball on the bounce.

In all fairness though, Sano has also made two nice running catches tonight...getting a great jump on both of them. Again, we don't know how Mauer or Plouffe would have done, but I don't think they make either catch.

Mollie made some positive comments about Sano in RF today, saying he is progressing well and has exceeded his expectations, I'm looking forward to seeing him continue to learn his position.

khans2k5 wrote:Hey. Would ya look at that. It only took until the second game for Sano to make a mistake in the outfield costing us a run because he's not an outfielder.

Edit: Also, he cut his face on the ground after the flop/dive. Can't make this up.

I knew you were going to bring this up because he misplayed a ball. It's part of learning the position he also saved a run too in that inning with his cannon in right field and then Gibson struck out Machado. The twins problem is there not getting any clutch hits, I hated dozier bunting over Buxton in the third yesterday. Gallardo was struggling with his command we should've gone for a big inning yet we settled for trying to tie the game early on. Also nice two see Buxton have 4 good abs yesterday.

Is there a twins rule if you get a lead or tie a game you need to immediately give up a run the next inning?

jester1534 wrote:

khans2k5 wrote:Hey. Would ya look at that. It only took until the second game for Sano to make a mistake in the outfield costing us a run because he's not an outfielder.

Edit: Also, he cut his face on the ground after the flop/dive. Can't make this up.

I knew you were going to bring this up because he misplayed a ball. It's part of learning the position he also saved a run too in that inning with his cannon in right field and then Gibson struck out Machado. The twins problem is there not getting any clutch hits, I hated dozier bunting over Buxton in the third yesterday. Gallardo was struggling with his command we should've gone for a big inning yet we settled for trying to tie the game early on. Also nice two see Buxton have 4 good abs yesterday.

Is there a twins rule if you get a lead or tie a game you need to immediately give up a run the next inning?

I just want to say that I have nothing against Sano himself. If it works out great for him, but I'm gonna roast Molitor and Ryan every time he makes a play like that because it just shows that he's not ready to be a major league outfielder and they're ass holes for putting him in a position to fail because he can't be valuable enough in their eyes as just a DH. If they weren't gonna play him at 3rd then he should have just been slotted in as the DH for the next 15 years and you go sign a right fielder instead of Park.

"Is there a twins rule if you get a lead or tie a game you need to immediately give up a run the next inning?"

Man Baseball has some weird rules... Lol

It did feel like there were some rules like the one above that applied to the Twins the past few years but it felt like last year the team broke some of those. It was a nice thing to see. :)

monsterpile wrote:"Is there a twins rule if you get a lead or tie a game you need to immediately give up a run the next inning?"

Man Baseball has some weird rules... Lol

It did feel like there were some rules like the one above that applied to the Twins the past few years but it felt like last year the team broke some of those. It was a nice thing to see. :)

I'm just going to call it the jester rule, freakin Jepsen ugh!!!!

I agree with Kahns on this. Sano's been an infielder his entire life, switching from SS to 3B as he literally outgrew the SS position. It's hard to make the switch as a 20+ year old major leaguer and be good at the new position. The Twins don't score enough or pitch well enough to settle for less than really good defense at every position. Moreover, Sano's legs will take a pounding running around the outfield at his size. He should be DH or 3B.

As for the outfield, I would have kept Hicks and put him in right. With Hicks gone I'd go with Danny Santana. Even though he came up through the minors as an infielder, he seems like a natural outfielder and has logged a lot of major league Innings in the outfield.

The Sano situation is a great talker that will be revisited often this year. I continue to be in the camp that supports his moving to the OF. We know we need his bat in the lineup, and 3b and DH were other options for him. While DH is probably his position in 5-6 years (when he may be tipping the scales at 300 pounds), it would be unusual (and perhaps unprecedented) to give up on an athletic 22-year-old defensively by moving him to DH...DH is a position that needs to be reserved for players who have demonstrated they really can't handle a defensive position on a regular basis. And Sano has been close to a disaster at third in the minors (check out his stats, especially the 42 errors in 2012!). the only logical choice was to see if they can coach him to be an outfielder, and only time will tell. Through the first three games his results have been inconclusive. He hasn't been charged with any errors, but he did let a ball get by him when he made an inadvised dive (in all fairness, Mollie called out Rosario for making a similar poor choice last night, resulting in the winning run). But he also has made 3 nice running catches in the first 4 games, displaying both unexpected tracking and speed. Lip's point about his bulk eventually wearing him down is a valid concern...I know the Twins brass is concerned about his reporting at 280. But frankly running the bases at that size will likely wear him down more than playing the outfield. The real answer is he needs to be more committed to dropping some weight.

Santana in the OF is an intriguing thought because he has proven to be reliable out there, and I think he will get some innings out there. The problem is he doesn't hit well enough to deserve a corner OF spot. He's coming off a very bat year at the plate, and despite a good pre-season, he still lacks plate discipline and is only hitting .222.

Through 4 games, all losses, the starting pitching and defense have been fine, but the offense has been anemic. I think they need to continue to keep Sano, Mauer, Plouffe and Park in the lineup as often as possible until they start hitting like they should. If they don't start hitting soon, it's going to be a long season.

I'll keep my opinion short and simple. I think moving Sano to the outfield was a good move this off-season, though I would have put him in left, but that's not worth debating at the moment. My main reasons are because his only other defensive options would have been at third or first. At the moment, two of our plus-defenders are at those positions in Plouffe and Mauer, respectively. To me, it makes absolutely no sense to mess with what works there already. Team defense should not and will not be sacrificed in order to make a situation easier for a second-year player who really does not actually have a position, especially if that interferes with infield defense at the corners (big no-no). Also, Plouffe isn't a scrub with the stick either and he's earned that position. I have zero interest moving a player that's established themselves as a productive player for this team. We need him.

Down the line, I think Sano's everyday position could be first base. That's if he's dedicated to making that move and the learning curve isn't too much to handle, which I hope it wouldn't be because he has some experience at the other hot corner. If first base isn't something he's willing to or able to adjust to, then he'll be a DH for life in the same way that David Ortiz and Edgar Martinez was. That's not a terrible worst case scenario.

The good/bad news about Santana is he is basically a young somewhat promising utility guy you can play him at a number of spots and hope his bat does something. He probably has more offensive potential than say a guy like Escobar did when the Twins got him in the Liriano trade but Santana isn't as good of a defender as an infielder. It's nifty to have a dirt cheap 25 year old utility guy with speed on your bench that still has a shot at being a legit position player as well at some point.