The Angels are releasing corner infielder Miguel Sano following last week’s DFA, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll be a free agent once he formally clears release waivers.
Sano returned to the big leagues with the Halos this season after not playing in 2023. A former All-Star and third-place Rookie of the Year finisher with the Twins, Sano looked ticketed for stardom earlier in his career but never consistently established himself as a middle-of-the-order hitter in Minnesota, despite possessing 80-grade power (on the 20-80 scale). He’s cleared 25 home runs in four different MLB campaigns, including a pair of 30-homer seasons, but has gone down on strikes in more than 36% of his career plate appearances and regularly graded as a poor defender at both infield corners.
From 2015-19, Sano turned in a .245/.338/.498 batting line with 118 home runs in 2051 plate appearances with the Twins (an average of 39 homers per 162 games played). His bat has tailed off significantly since that time as he’s struggled to stay on the field as well. In 903 plate appearances from 2020-24, Sano is a .207/.295/.428 hitter. That stretch includes a 30-homer showing in 2021, but that’s the lone time in the past five years he’s made an impact at the plate.
Sano never curbed his strikeout woes and, as his struggles intensified, began to walk less than in his earlier days. He hit just .083/.211/.133 in 71 plate appearances with the ’22 Twins, didn’t play in ’23, and posted an anemic .205/.295/.313 slash in 95 plate appearances as an Angel. He also missed nearly six weeks of the season with a left knee injury. Sano still has that huge raw power, which could land him a minor league deal with another club, but it seems likely he’ll need to slug his way back into the majors with a decent Triple-A showing.
Looks like Miguel Sano could use some therapy… maybe try BetterHelp
So now we have to weed through advertising articles?
4 days without team games. Some of us need assistance to get through it.
Well, as an Angels fan, 4 days without games will be a welcome break.
I assume MLBTR must have bit off more than they can chew. They are tarnishing a good product with the way they are trying to monetize. I’d say go back to offering less, just the basics and keep the overhead low.
They have additional payroll that I assume is being put forth to make the subscriber articles happen, and I can’t imagine that is all that profitable.
I’m starting to hit my limit too. It’s not just the ads. MLBTR has gotten pretty successful it seems with how many posters there are now. I enjoyed MLBTR more when the room was smaller. I don’t have a beef with MLBTR. They’ve come a long way and I think if they have a good product and can make a living doing what they love then that is the ultimate success and I’m glad they’ve found it. For my end though, I’m looking for another baseball site that will scratch my itch for baseball talk. I just haven’t really found one that can replace MLBTR, yet.
Figured out how to log in here to echo this sentiment. I was a regular commenter here back ~2010-2015 (back when the comments were through Disqus). You could actually see who responded to who, there was actual moderation, and the majority of the comments were actually discussing the baseball merits of various moves without much insulting or ad hominem attacks. Still come here for news, and I think it’s still one of the best baseball sites for quick news/analysis. But I miss when I was also a great place to discuss the news with other engaged fans.
I remember my very first post here a few years back. The subject was Michael Pineda and I posted that I saw him up close warming up in the Mariner bullpen when he was a rookie. I described that loud pop of the catcher’s glove on each pitch. Then I described his last warm up pitch where he really let loose, and the pop sounded like an M-80 going off. Well, a guy that called himself Steve Nebraska berated me for posting such a comment. Why? He said it was because Pineda was a “know commodity.” (He forgot the “N” in known.) I remember thinking “What a d*ck!” It was a precursor of what was to come as people that post here routinely berate and belittle each other over the most trivial things. The signing of a journeyman reliever to a minor league contract as a depth move can spark a vicious thread. It’s both astonishing and amusing.
Ditto and Amen.
Wasn’t Better Help outed as a pretty horrible company? Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but they got into some hot water not that long ago for data sharing and not actually having licenced thearapists.
chill boys. They need to make money. You arent entitled to free content.
This is absolutely correct. There is to much entitlement. Why should any of us get free content? I understand preference. If you don’t like the ads for whatever reason, you feel to crowded, I get it. But if these writers can make a living off of what they do then more power to them. Go find your preference but nobody from MLBTR owes anything to us.
I don’t have a problem with them advertising, I’m just a little surprised they’re advertising a company that’s had some trouble recently.
Agreed. People will complain about anything and everything….even free stuff!
bkbk – nothing is free, not even those “free” aps on your phone. They are all selling your data and making a bundle doing it. Privacy is the price we pay for “free” content.
@mlb1225
I genuinely have no problem with the adverts – I mean they’re occasional as opposed to TV. I’m an ex subscriber too. You would think the powers that be (Tim Dierkes) would check the value of the product he is willing to promote.
Alternatively, I’ll try to get my new airline (Plummet Air – only the price drops) on here…
(PS – We have own wine too – Chateau Verthefloor)
I have close friends in mental healthcare. They’re a tech and data collections company from my past research of helping one friend decide whether they wanted to be on the platform. None of them are there. They tried to scale too quickly and often made poor algorithmic matchings with clients and therapists. There is a great deal of nuance in this intricate process. You can’t really expect IT engineers and programmers to know how to do this well.
Someone will pick him up once he clears release waivers. He really wasn’t that bad maybe because the bar was so low.
Really wasn’t that bad?? If sano isn’t hitting hrs he’s useless
Before he got hurt (spare the joke here) he was hitting.
He only has two HRs to go along with his 36/9 K/W in 82 ABs. It is difficult to imagine he had a hot streak amidst those numbers.
Even with Sano’s reported weight loss, it will be hard for someone to “pick him up”.
He was really bad.
Depending on the 40-man situations, could see maybe like the Pirates trying to platoon him with Rowdy a bit , but would be on a short leash
Y’all wanna hear a neat story about Miguel Sano?
Love seeing therapy headlines on MLBTR! Just what I was looking for when I was seeking out MLB news!
It’s free, so I don’t care. But the insertion of a mental health advertisement seemed a bit out of place.
Not out of place with the mental state of many of the commenters here…..
Many commenters who do nothing but insult others rather than keep focussed on the baseball issues being talked about on MLBTR need the use of therapy.
Well done Tim Dierkes. The mental health therapy advertising for MLBTR users was far too long in coming. 🙂
Terrible news. Especially in these touch economic times and high inflation. Feel bad for this guy having to find a new gig to pay bills.
The show must go on!
TS again
That’s Sano big loss.
I remember there was a controversy with the Pirates trying to sign Sano as a prospect and something happened to make it not work. I forget what exactly. Was around the time I first started getting very into baseball.
He ate the entire city’s supply of Primantis sandwiches then was making a move toward the Iron City Brewery before he was stopped by Godzilla and shipped off to Minneapolis.
Oh, and he was a 25 year old rookie claiming to be 17
Uncertainity about his age. Never really entirely cleared up.
Off to the Mexican league, or keep eating and try out for the rams or chargers at tackle.
Some team needs to help Sano break the strikeout records either the season and/or career (but that is a long-term situation – unlikely).
Signed
Reynolds and Jackson
I think he was much older than claimed and he’s probably pushing 40 now and that’s why he’s declining….That is the problem with latin players. You have 14 and 15 year old’s from latin countries playing in the little league world series for christ sake. Wasn’t Albert Pujols also much older than originally claimed? It just seems how business is done there….
@kingbum he never was caught, but he said something about playing against dotel, and he was a couple years younger and he was busted about his age. It’s cleaned up now, everyone did back in the day