The Minnesota Twins signed Miguel Sanó in 2009 and it appeared as if the organization found their future cornerstone star. In 2013, Sanó was the No. 3 prospect in all of baseball – just two spots below Byron Buxton.

Sanó burst onto the scene during his rookie season in 2015, finishing third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting (Carlos Correa edged out Francisco Lindor). In that season, he finished with a batting average of .269 with 18 home runs and 52 RBIs. He also finished with an OPS+ of 149 and has yet to surpass that number.

Despite making you want to rip your hair most nights, Sanó hasn’t been all that bad. He had a nice 2017 season, finishing with a batting average of .264, 28 home runs, 77 RBIs and was nominated to the All-Star Game.

After a strong 2019 season, the Twins and Sanó agreed to a three-year/$30 million contract extension. At the time, this extension didn’t look all that bad. He’s a player that can end a game with one swing of the bat and is guaranteed to hit over 30 home runs a season.

That hasn’t been the case thus far and it’s felt as if every season has only gotten worse. This year has been one to forget, as his batting splits are .208/.291/.446 and has an OPS+ of 103 (100 is league average).

Sanó currently ranks 50th in batting average out of the 57 first basemen who have at least 100 plate appearances.

His biggest weakness in his game is his strikeout rate. He’s currently struck out 110 times, which puts him as the 12th highest in all of baseball – including a strikeout rate of 36.4 percent.

For as much as he strikes out, you also have to appreciate the power he has. There are not many guys in the league that can crush a ball like Sanó. Every time he’s up to bat in a walk-off or late-game situation, you’re always going to have the idea in the back of your head that he might end the game with one swing

His defense hasn’t been bad either, albeit with a few head-scratching decisions. At first base this season, he holds a fielding percentage of .987 and the season before that, .989. Since he’s been playing a lot at first base, it’s easy to forget how amazing his arm is.

Nonetheless, Sanó can be a great home run hitter and defender. It’s the strikeout rate and cold streaks that are too much for the Twins. If they want to ever contend for a World Series, it might have to be without him.

The issue is his contract isn’t a very team-friendly deal. It’s hard to see him being moved at the trade deadline, but maybe there’s a possibility in the offseason. If Minnesota can move on from Sanó, they’d probably have to give up an asset or pay extra money to get off his contract. At $10 million a season, there aren’t many teams knocking on a door for a player that strikes out nearly 40 percent of his at-bats.

While it would be nice to see the Twins move on from Sanó at the deadline, that probably won’t happen. Instead, they need to play him every day at first base and figure out where they stand with him long-term. With Nelson Cruz gone and Alex Kiriloff injured, they should have no issue finding ways to get him in the lineup.