SAN DIEGO – The contrast was unmistakable in the Twins clubhouse Saturday. Miguel Sano slumped on a couch in the middle of the room, his swollen left knee wrapped and elevated on a table, a frown on his normally ebullient face. About 20 feet away, Tim Beckham beamed, greeting teammates and talking animatedly about his excitement over returning to the major leagues.
"It's exciting. It's exciting," Beckham said. "It's been a couple of years since I've been in the major leagues, and it's been a long one."
Beckham, an infielder who was the overall No. 1 draft pick in 2008, was added to the Twins' 40-man roster on Saturday, then summoned to San Diego from Class AAA St. Paul, along with Saints outfielder Mark Contreras. When they arrived at Petco Park, they were immediately activated, and Sano and Max Kepler were placed on the 10-day injured list, Sano because of pain and swelling in his surgically repaired knee, Kepler because of his broken right pinkie toe.
"I feel sad. It was a lot of work and effort into trying to come back and play my game," said Sano, who went 0-for-6 with four strikeouts since returning to the Twins on Tuesday. "It's not easy for me. I gave it every chance."
Sano batted .348 with three homers in seven rehab games with the Saints, but the seventh game turned out to be disastrous. "I slid into second base and there was a feeling" in his knee, which had been operated on in May to repair the meniscus, Sano said. "I got soreness. I felt up-and-down the last couple of days, but I had more pain. This time, it got swollen."
The Twins have scheduled a magnetic resonance imaging test for Monday to gauge the extent of the damage. But the injury could require a new workout program in Florida, almost certainly will trigger another rehab assignment when he's healthy again — and, given his 5-for-60 (.083) season totals and $14 million team option for next year, could conceivably spell the end of Sano's eight-year career with the Twins.
"We're hopeful that he can get himself into a good spot, but we have a lot to figure out first," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "We're still in July, so we have a ways to go. Could he find himself back out there? Absolutely."
Kepler's case is more straightforward. The Twins gave the outfielder a week to recover from the broken toe he suffered when hit by a Rony Garcia pitch in Detroit last Sunday, but Kepler is still hampered by the injury.
