The Story of Miguel Sano

aarongleeman.com

Miguel Angel Sanó was born in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic on May 11th, 1993. Although, if I was telling you this about six years ago, you probably wouldn’t believe me. Confused? I will explain, but first let me give you a little background information.

Sanó began playing baseball at a very young age and he had always stood out. As he grew older, people began to realize that he could turn out to be something very special. Due to the success of Dominican players like Pedro Martínez and David Ortiz, MLB has become very fond of scouting out young talent in the Dominican Republic.

MLB has a set date where players can officially sign their contracts with teams. On June 2nd, all players of 16 years of age or more are officially allowed to sign, so naturally this a date that all Dominican players look forward to. What they look forward to most, is the signing bonus that will come with their contract. How large the signing bonus is for each player depends on many varying factors such as age and talent.For example, a player that’s 16 and extremely talented is going to make far more money than a 20 year old that’s slightly less talented.

Unfortunately, due to the poverty in the Dominican, many players are willing to do anything to get the biggest signing bonus possible so they can help support themselves and their families. There have been plenty of foreign players in the past that have lied about their age to make themselves more attractive in the eyes of MLB scouts.

Of course, not all players lie about their age, but it doesn’t stop them from feeling the ill effects of those who do. Miguel Sanó was one of those players. Sanó was the #1 recruit in the country and he was only 16-years-old at the time that signing day came around. In MLB’s defense, Sanó definitely looked older than 16.

Here’s where things got ugly. June 2nd was approaching and Sanó was looking forward to his inevitably huge signing bonus. That was when MLB notified him and his family that they would be launching an investigation to confirm that Sanó was in fact as young as he claimed. At first, Sanó didn’t seem worried. He claimed over and over again that he was 16, so why worry? However, the investigation dragged on closer and closer to signing day.

Even after blood work, bone scans and birth certificates, MLB still wouldn’t close the investigation to confirm to teams around the league that Sanó was indeed 16. See, Sanó’s mother had a miscarriage a couple years before he was born. Some people thought that the miscarriage had never really happened and that Miguel Sanó was in fact that child. We know now that this was a silly thought, but the theory made it’s rounds on all of the major news sites. I should probably explain to you why Sanó was so worried about this investigation dragging on past signing day.

You see, if a player is caught lying about his age, he is automatically suspended for a year. Teams aren’t going to want to spend big bucks on a player that may be suspended for a year after being signed, so they will hold off until past signing day. However, after signing day most teams have either filled their needs or used up most of their available money. This leaves players that are signed later in the year with smaller bonuses than those of players who have signed on signing day.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. The investigation did go past signing day, and this left teams wary when it came to signing Sanó. The only team that was in serious talks with Sanó was the Pittsburgh Pirates. One of their Dominican scouts named Rene Gayo had been scouting Sanó and showing an incredible interest in him. It seemed as if Gayo was interested in acting as a hero that was willing to pay Sanó to come play for them.

There were even speculations that Gayo and other members of the Pirates had been paying MLB to hold off their investigation into Sanó so that the Pirates could come in and snatch him up at a lower price. This is of course nothing more than a theory. I’m not looking to throw any shade at the Pirates organization because no one really knows the circumstances behind the investigation.

However, in the film “Ballplayer: Pelotero”, it appears as if Gayo is a sketchy sort of character that is trying to weasel his way into signing Sanó. Once again, I don’t want to make any premature allegations. In the end, all we really know is that the Pirates offered Sanó a contract with a bonus of $2.6 million and his agent declined. Sanó had been told that if there had been no problems and he had been completely clean on signing day he probably would’ve raked in a bonus around $5.5 million. Meaning, he would’ve been the highest paid Dominican player of all time.

Sanó and his agent were confident that they could make more money and were frustrated because both knew that Sanó was in fact 16. Sanó’s family decided to set out on their own and find records from the hospital where he was born as well as his past schools to prove that he was telling the truth in regard to his age. Eventually, once there was absolutely no more room for doubt, MLB’s investigation came to a close and many teams began trying to court Sanó.

Teams such as the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins made offers for Sanó but in the end he ended up signing a contract with the Twins with a $3.15 bonus. Sanó became the second highest paid Dominican player ever and was granted a visa so he could go to the United States to play baseball.

Being only 16 years old, he was certain to spend some time in the minor leagues. In the 2011 season Sanó played for the Twins’ rookie team, the Elizabethon Twins. Sanó played both shortstop and third base. He batted .292 with 20 home runs and 59 RBI. Sanó moved up to single A in the following season and played strictly at third base. The move up to the single A level didn’t hurt his production at the plate one bit. He batted .258 and was able to 28 home runs as well as 100 RBI. Due to his success, he moved up to double A in 2013.

During his AA stint with the New Britain Rock Cats Sanó batted .280 while hitting 35 homeruns and 103 RBI. Sanó’s constant success at the minor league level warranted an invite to the Twins’ spring training in 2014. Unfortunately, Sanó injured his elbow during spring training and had to have Tommy John surgery.

However, Sano is back and he is playing in AA this season. He’s only played 10 games this season, so it may be too soon to really judge his performance but he is only batting .182 this season. He is currently 21-years-old and is on the verge of being called up to the Twins’ major league team, but he will need to step up his game in the coming weeks if he wants to make it to the big leagues this season. There is little doubt in my mind that he will once again receive an invite to spring training before the next season begins. It also wouldn’t surprise me if he was granted a roster spot sometime early in 2016.

Some people may think that Sanó was overhyped and he’s been a bust this far considering he’s never even tasted the big leagues since being signed. However, you must consider that he is still only 21 and most likely has about 20 years left in his MLB career. He is still incredibly talented and is working on developing his decision making at the plate as well as his fielding. If he is able to reach his full potential soon, he could be a real force to be reckoned with for years to come. If you would like to learn more about Sanó and all of the circumstances surrounding his life in the Dominican Republic, check out the film I mentioned earlier; “Ballplayer: Peloteros”.