Jack Morris: Miguel Sano is around 280 pounds right now

I moderated a 2016 Twins preview discussion over the lunch hour today, holding court with four good baseball guys: beat writer La Velle E. Neal III, columnist Patrick Reusse, Twins President Dave St. Peter and 1991 World Series hero turned TV analyst Jack Morris. If you missed it, there's no shame. You can listen to the entire thing right here, as we made it the latest version of the Twins Insider podcast.

When you get a bunch of baseball guys speaking off the cuff, the results can be pretty interesting. Morris, in particular, was not afraid to speak his mind — not that he ever has been in the past. Some of his comments from the event stuck with me, and I thought I'd round up a few of them here. Again, please listen back to the full podcast for plenty of other good stuff.

ON MIGUEL SANO'S WEIGHT

"Miguel is a darn good athlete. My concern is his weight. He's around 280 right now. That's a lot of weight to carry out there every day. I'm more concerned about how it affects his at-bats the third and fourth time up in the batting order every day," Morris said.

That said, Morris added, the solution isn't to DH Sano. The solution is for someone like Twins strength and conditioning coordinator Perry Castellano to get his hands on Sano and help him get him in better shape.

"He's young. What are you going to do, put him at DH only? He's too young for that," Morris said. "My deal is, have Perry get the kid to lose some weight and be able to carry his weight out there. He's plenty strong. He doesn't need to get bigger to get stronger."

Now, there's this: It might not matter. Sano could be a good enough athlete to be functional as an outfielder no matter what the scale says. Still, if the 280 number Morris is offering up is correct, he is quite a ways off from the "260-minus" Patrick Reusse says the Twins were hoping Sano would be this season.

Said Morris: "To see that rare talent of raw speed that Byron Buxton has, is thrilling for me. I know what sped can do in the course of a baseball game. He already in my opinion is one of the elite center fielders defensively in the game. … The real question is can he hit enough to stick around? I think if he can — and I think the experience of last year and what Paul Molitor as a manger brings with his quiet confidence — we should see this kid blossom and really stick and never go back. He has the ability few people ever have."

OVERALL OUTLOOK

Said Morris: "I look at this team and I know they're going to score runs. I don't worry at all about that quite honestly. And I know they're going to catch the ball. Even with Miguel Sano in right field, they're going to catch the ball. It's all about how they pitch."