On Wednesday, long before current Twins closer Alex Colome tried to give away a win to Boston — only to have former Twins closer Hansel Robles give it right back — Miguel Sano hit a ball so high and so far that it still might not have landed.
Two nights in Boston show the Twins' Miguel Sano conundrum
He hit the longest home run in the majors on Wednesday, part of a power surge since mid-May. He also this week passed Kirby Puckett on the team's all-time strikeout list.
August 26, 2021 at 3:12PM
The official data says it went 495 feet, the longest home run in all of Major League Baseball.
And that, of course, is the good side of Sano. He hits the ball a long way. And he's even been doing it with reasonable frequency for much of this season: 20 homers from May 15 to now — roughly half a season — helping to make up for a terrible start that torpedoed his overall numbers and helped sink the Twins as well.
But of course there's this: Far more frequently Sano swings and misses. Our Phil Miller had an amazing statistic earlier this week, noting that Sano had just passed Kirby Puckett for fourth place on the Twins' all-time strikeout list.
The, uh, caveat: Sano did it in about 5,000 fewer at bats.
That is the Sano conundrum in a tidy package, something I talked about on Thursday's Daily Delivery podcast.
If you don't see the podcast player, tap here to listen.
Sano will do just enough spectacular things to entice you and make you believe he could more regularly do those things. But more often than not — at least for significant chunks of 2018, 2020 and 2021 — the tantalizing skill will prove to be just a tease and instead you'll be left with weeks (or months) of empty at bats.
He's a corner infielder with a decent glove. Sano is also under contract in 2022 for $9.25 million. After that, the Twins can either move on (for a $2.75 million buyout) or bring him back in 2023 for $14 million. They could also try to trade him this offseason, but is that really maximizing Sano's value?
Do they allow themselves to get fooled by this relatively decent half-season (.835 OPS in his last 78 games)? Is that even getting fooled since it's in line with Sano's .820 career OPS? Do they keep hoping for more? Accept him for what he is and keep running him out there? Trade him to Boston and let every fan worry about David Ortiz Part II?
I don't know. What I do know is that the Twins have a ton of question marks going into next season. And we shouldn't overlook a big one at first base.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
