Top Twins prospects Sano, Buxton not yet in call-up 'conversation'
MINNEAPOLIS — The Chicago Cubs made headlines earlier this year when they promoted third-base prospect Kris Bryant to the majors. More recently, the Houston Astros promoted their top prospect, shortstop Carlos Correa, from Double-A to Triple-A.
Baseball fans are paying more and more attention to their team's minor leaguers and prospects. That's certainly been the case in Minnesota, where Twins fans have kept a close eye on the farm system in recent years as the big-league club struggled.
No two Twins prospects have been more closely watched than outfielder Byron Buxton and third basemen Miguel Sano. The talented duo currently plays for Double-A Chattanooga (Tenn.) after both players missed most of or all of last season with injuries. Buxton played just 31 minor-league games in 2014 as a result of various ailments, while Sano sat out the entire year after having Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.
Now 37 games into Chattanooga's season, both Buxton and Sano have had their bright spots. Both, however, have also struggled at times. That inconsistency is the biggest hurdle each will have to overcome before a promotion — to Triple-A or the majors — comes their way. Yet for many fans, being patient with that type of talent isn't always easy.
Twins general manager Terry Ryan and the organization's front office have used a more patient approach that they hope pays off.
"Obviously, I get a lot of questions about (Buxton), and he's been struggling. He's not struggling any longer," Ryan said recently. "Now the questions are a different flavor. Now, 'When are you going to move him?' That's better for me and for everybody involved, including himself. There's a lot of attention given to him, not from just this market but it's national."
It's safe to say Minnesota hasn't had a prospect or prospects this widely touted since some high school kid from St. Paul, Minn., named Joe Mauer was taken No. 1 overall by the Twins back in 2001. As is the case now, Minnesota fans clamored for Mauer to get called up before he eventually made his debut in April of 2004.
More than a decade ago, though, it wasn't quite as easy to track the progress of a team's minor leaguers. Now there are more websites and publications that update, rank and analyze prospects. Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus both think highly of Buxton and Sano, ranking each among the top 15 prospects in the game for the 2015 season. Buxton earned the No. 1 overall ranking from Baseball Prospectus and No. 2 from Baseball America. Sano was No. 12 and No. 13, respectively, even after missing all of 2014.
The results for both of the Twins' top prospects have been mixed thus far. Buxton and Sano were slow out of the gates to start the 2015 season, perhaps expectedly so after being away from the game so much last year. That trend has gone the other way as of late as both players have gotten into a bit of a groove.
Sano was recently named the Twins' Minor League Player of the Week after batting .379 (11 for 29) with three home runs, four doubles and eight RBI in an eight-game span. However, he committed his 10th error of the year at third base in Sunday's game. His defense has always been one area of his game Sano has needed to improve, but Ryan — who recently made a trip to Chattanooga to watch several Lookouts games — doesn't sound overly worried about the player's glove.
"It never has been a concern for me," Ryan said prior to Sunday's game. "I've never had any concern about his fielding. I still don't."
On Saturday, Buxton went 3 for 5 with his seventh triple of the season. His average was up to as high as .287 on May 3 but has since dropped back down to .241 after going 0 for 4 on Sunday. On the season, he has 25 RBI, four homers and 10 stolen bases in 11 attempts. The five-tool outfielder has shown off all five of those tools at one point or another during the young 2015 season.
"With the skills he possesses, you're used to succeeding. He's never really had too much failure. Last year he had a lot of injuries, but he's not failed too much," Ryan said. "Now he's back to doing what we think is normal, his normal approach and normal results. ... He can run, throw, field, range, steal a bag. He's got surprising strength in his bat. He'll hit for average just because he can run so well."
The million-dollar question among Twins fans is this: When will Buxton and Sano finally get called up? Buxton is still just 21 years old, and Sano turned 22 earlier this month. When Minnesota recently promoted outfielder Eddie Rosario from Triple-A Rochester to take the roster spot of the injured Oswaldo Arcia, Ryan said Buxton's name was not in the conversation of possible call-up candidates.
If the young outfielder — and his teammate and good friend Sano — continue to thrive in Chattanooga, they'll no doubt insert themselves into that conversation eventually.
The question of when that is could be up to Buxton and Sano.
"I think it'd be wrong to start putting it into the equation quite this early," Ryan said. "Now if we were talking later on in the year, everything being equal, I'd suspect (Buxton) would be in that conversation. He got off to a very slow start. He's caught up. Let's say it's six weeks later and he's pounding it like he has for the last two weeks, then he's starting to force his hand."
Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter
