There was a lot of talk in my timeline about Paul Molitor's pregame statement that Miguel Sano might get shipped back to Rochester when Trevor Plouffe comes off the disabled list in a couple of days.
I'm agnostic on the topic. I'm not close enough to the situation to know if Sano is complacent about his flaws, if he's struggling with his confidence in the field, if his weight is up, if the cultural differences between player and management have created a perception gap.
I do know that Sano's defense at third base while Plouffe's been on the shelf has been atrocious. Sano was charged with another error Thursday; that makes 12 in 20 games, and while there was some grousing about that specific scoring call, there have been other unmade plays that went as hits.
Whether a couple weeks in Triple A will do anything to improve this is debatable, of course. I have said repeatedly that Sano is unlikely to ever be a truly good fielder at any position. Which shouldn't stop the Twins from prodding him to make the effort.
Plouffe gives the Twins three players looking for playing time at third base -- Sano, Plouffe, Jorge Polanco. Which leads to another thing I know: That's too many. At least one of them has to go somewhere. The ultimate solution has to be a Plouffe trade, but his injury pretty much wiped out the chance of a deadline deal last month, and it's difficult (but not impossible) to get value in a waiver-period move. Moving him may have to wait until the winter -- and the new front office.
If Sano is demoted next week, that doesn't automatically mean the Twins are mishandling the situation. It certainly won't mean the Twins are giving up on him, a notion I've seen implied. Progress is seldom a straight line and a steady advance.
Sano started off the year beating himself at the plate. He did not get his weight under control. They are both sign s he did not take his successes seriously.
ReplyDeleteGoing down may help him get his emotion under control so he does not waste his talent.