Twins first baseman Miguel Sanó is undergoing surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his injured left knee, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (including Britt Ghiroli of the Athletic). There is no timetable for his return, although Joe Trezza of MLB.com tweeted yesterday that Sanó would be expected back this season even if he were to go under the knife.
It’s a disappointing development for the burly slugger, who turns 29 next week. Sanó apparently tweaked his knee during a win over the Tigers on Tuesday. That kept him out of the lineup until Saturday; Sanó tried to play through the injury during that contest against the Rays, but he was removed mid-game because of continued soreness. The team placed him on the injured list yesterday with what they termed a sprain, and the meniscus tear represents further bad news.
Sanó had gotten off to a rough start even before the injury. He’s hitting just .093/.231/.148 in 17 games. He’s striking out at a 32.3% clip that’s nearly ten percentage points higher than the league mark, but that’s par for the course for him. More significant is that he had just one extra-base hit (a home run) over 65 trips to the plate. Yet he’d barreled up five balls and was still consistently hitting the ball hard, according to Statcast. That seemed to indicate Sanó would find more power production as the weather improved, but that’ll be put on hold for an indeterminate amount of time.
Throughout his seven-plus years in Minnesota, Sanó has been an up-and-down performer. He’s shown the ability to serve as a middle-of-the-order masher at times, including a 34-homer season in 105 games for the 2019 team branded as the “bomba squad.” Yet he’s also had his share of ruts as the strikeouts have mounted. His 2021 campaign was something of a microcosm of his overall tenure. He limped to a .196/.279/.426 line through the season’s first half before quietly turning in a .250/.343/.504 performance after the All-Star Break.
Sanó is playing this season on a $10.58MM salary. Minnesota has a $14MM option on his services for 2023 (with a $2.75MM buyout). Sanó needs a strong showing at the plate to convince the front office to pick up that tab. Between his slow start and injury absence, that looks to be trending towards a buyout, although the club will evaluate his recovery and post-surgery production before making that call.
Without Sanó, it seems the Twins will move forward with a combination of Luis Arraez and top prospect Jose Miranda at first base. Arraez has more experience at each of second base, third base and in left field, but he’s not a particularly strong defender at any of those spots. His contact-oriented approach makes for an atypical fit at first base (and a complete 180° turn from the shape of Sanó’s production), but Arraez has been an above-average offensive player throughout his career. Miranda was called up for his big league debut when Sanó went on the IL; he can also play multiple positions but is regarded as a bat-first infielder himself.
Twins should trade for Duvall. Apparently, he is a good hitter.
Owie
Sano will be traded unless he mashes upon his return…and maybe traded anyway. They won’t want that salary/buyout for next year.
Who would want him?
Think the Twins are fearing another David Ortiz replay. Give up and then regret. Too much hole in Sano’s game in my humble opinion.
To think us Twins fans feared the same for Oswaldo Arica gives me a good chuckle every now and again
the metric guys loved him.. .. one of them claiming he was the next twins right fielder for the next 10 years…
Ortiz was a lot younger when the Twins cut him.
Ortiz was also coming off a pretty good season when the Twins cut him.
There was too much hole in Ortiz’ swing too. Too much injury in his knees. Too much aging… then BAM! One tiny needle, once/day, cycling on and off, and Ortiz is a HOF player. Incredible when you think about it.
There was too much hole in Ortiz’ swing too.
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Good story, but thee was never a hole in Papi’s swing. In his last year with Minny, he had a 87/43 K/W in 412 ABs. That’s fine for someone with 30-HR power.
I think Minny let him walk because they thought his .837 OPS, with middling-poor defense, was replaceable. And, of course, money.
And the money on the other side as well. Daubach had a similar skillset as Papi, but wanted $5M. The RS thought they could get the same results, from a much younger player, and save $3M+.
Still too much hole for a HOF DH without the… “help” after, wouldn’t you agree? 30HR power @ even 837OPS at that age isn’t a HOF trajectory.
And Kennys Vargas
My uneducated guess would be Sano has played his last game this season the twins buyout his 2023 option and he has essentially played his last game as a Twin. His large body size isn’t doing those knees any good.
Not sure that this is a negative for the Twins, give the kids a chance. Pretty sure they will top what Sano has been showing.
Agreed. And there hasn’t been much media discussion on Royce Lewis but he’s doing well in AAA.
A morbidly obese athlete with deteriorating knees. What’s the worst that can happen?
Sayno actually lost 25-30 LBS.. last winter.. but he was never morbidly obese… the idea that the body normal chart c applies to all is nonsense.. the only way to tell for sure is a body fat analysis.. like a dip tank or a Biometer analysis
6’4” 272 lbs. is morbidly obese regardless of your perspective. Anyone with that body type will not age well and, unfortunately, we’re going to watch that play out.
The Rock is 6’5” 275lbs, there’s some perspective for you.
we identified the following groups based on percent body fat: for men <14% (Very low), 14%–17·9% (Fit), 18%–24.9% (Overweight), 25%–34.9% (Obese), 35%–39.9% (Morbidly obese), ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3317663/
I was 6'2" weighed 255 pounds 45 years old and had a measured ( multiple times because my doctor couldn't believe the results) 15% body fat.. I was working in a Junk yard and threw heavy weights around all day.. You can have a lot of weight if you are in shape and not be " morbidly obese" as obesity isn't a measure of weight but of body fat.. There is much in bone structure and genetics that determine your body structure..
Okay, you’ve convinced me. Miguel Sano, and his knees, are in excellent shape. Let’s look forward to his long and healthy career.
I was working in a Junk yard and threw heavy weights
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When I was a kid, I worked at a beer distributor in the Bronx. The pallets were handled by a forklift, but when you went for a run for the slower selling beers, you used a flatbed U-truck. I had to push that thing uphill for 50-60 feet to get it to street level.
Minimum wage, almost free beer, and working out 5-6 days a week. What more could a 19-year old want?
Hey Joe,
Not everyone had the opportunity to work in junkyards and beer distributors growing up. Some of us were forced to go to college and graduate school to support the family. Not everyone was having fun slinging heavy weights around.
You can be 6’5/270+ and be in great physical condition, or 6’5/270+ and be in poor physical condition. Muscle weighs more than fat and any physician will tell you that physical wellness goes much further past just what BMI says. Not saying that Sano is in tip-top shape, just that you can’t determine if someone is obese or not based on BMI alone.
Okay, so Sano is morbidly obese.
Not in good physical shape doesn’t always mean morbidly obese. Morbidly obese is if you’re movement impaired/handicapped because of your weight. I dont think Sano needs a mobility scooter to get around because he weighs that much.
Yet.
I know, right! Like Alejandro Kirk, he’s not morbidly… well, forget it. But, Dan Vogelbach, he’s not morbid… ah, never mind.
startribune.com/miguel-sanos-sore-knee-injured-lis…
Look at the picture associated with this article. Does that look like a professional athlete? There is no way he isn’t 300+ lbs.
Not sure what’s up with that picture but if you watch the video with that article look at him when he’s hugging someone. He’s not morbidly obese. Yes he’s big but he’s not as big as that picture seems to show.
That photo is not accurate Sano is not even close to as big as it makes him look.
It’s said the camera puts 20 lbs. on you. Maybe he had 12 cameras in him.
Front Office looking to the heavens and thanking God Almighty that they never locked him up long term. That buyout for 2023 will be money well spent.
I just don’t understand why they don’t go ahead and make that call now. Just DFA him and move on.
Arraez at first reminds of Pete Runnels in the 60’s. Had a damn nice career with no power.
I know of another former Twin who was a great 1B without power; Rod Carew (Note,: I’m not comparing Arraez to Carew)
That’s funny, because I’ve heard Carew compare Arreaz to himself a couple years back.
Carew wasn’t as good an all-around player as Grich, but he one of the maybe 3-4 best swings I ever saw. An outside FB was an automatic opposite-field double. To watch his hands was beautiful.
you do not ” repair” a torn meniscus.. .. you cut off the jagged pieces and smooth out what is left trying to prevent irritation… there is no fixing it.. its just minimizing the damage..
That’s not true, If you catch the tear right away, you can suture it and it can heal completely with out removing the damaged piece, does depend on location of it though.
If you wait longer than a 4-7 days then you lose blood flow to the damaged piece and yah you need to remove it.
Interestingly enough, saving the full piece is a much longer timeline, If you remove it you can walk out of the hospital
Thanks for thre info.. how often do you see that regrowth???… I never have but I was just a independent living coordinator who worked with injuries.. i never did any surgery… .. and with most doctors it takes a week for them to have a clue you are really injured.. and with Sayno.. its already been over a week since his injured it..
My guess, at that weight, he’s been damaging his meniscus every day for many, many years.
And a lesson for us commoners. The extra fat is not just a matter of blood pressure, heart disease, etc. It’s the destroyer of hips and knees as well.
When Kirilloff gets healthy, he can play/platoon at 1B
IF.. that surgically repaired wrist isn’t doing well considering the healing time he has had
Obesity strikes again.
All I hear after reading these comments on Sano’s weight is Cartman yelling “And I’m not fat, I’m big boned!”.