MINNEAPOLIS (AP) â Miguel SanĂłâs tenure with Minnesota has flashed all the potential the Twins envisioned when they started scouting him as a 13-year-old in the Dominican Republic.SanĂłâs progress, highlighted by those prodigious home runs, have also been offset by hefty strikeout totals, injuries that have kept him from playing more than 116 games in any of his five major league seasons, and the weight accompanying his big frame that has taken constant work to keep under control.With SanĂł and the Twins facing the prospect of arbitration, the two sides agreed to a $30 million, three-year contract last week that was finalized on Tuesday. The move demonstrated the teamâs belief in his measured progress while also reminding there is more room from growth for the 26-year-old third baseman.âMy agent called me and told me, âYouâve got a deal on the table. Do you want it?,ââ SanĂł said at Target Field on Tuesday. âI said, âYeah, letâs go take it.â Because I donât think about the money. I think about play with the Twins. I take my future, my family. Thatâs the biggest point for me right now.âSanĂł, who made $2.65 million last season in his first year of arbitration eligibility, bounced back from a rough 2018 with a career-high 34 homers in just 105 games last year. All of his home runs came after May 1, which ranked as the sixth most in the American League from that date on. He also had a career-best .923 OPS.âI showed what I can do,â SanĂł said through the team's interpreter. âLast year was a statement. I didnât play the entire season, and I put up good numbers. I know they know what I can bring to the table. Iâm really looking forward to keep doing that.âThe belated start was due to another injury, a heel laceration sustained while celebrating a winter league championship in the Dominican Republic. The injury was particularly frustrating because SanĂł altered his workout habits last offseason and lost 25 pounds. The Twins list currently list him at 6-foot-4 and 272 pounds.SanĂł also wanted to prove himself after a 2018 season in which he played just 71 major league games, had career lows with a .199 batting average and 13 home runs and spent part of the season in the minors because of his struggles.He said heâs using the same training routine this offseason but doesnât plan to play winter ball.âI think with the money that Iâm getting now, Iâm going to go ahead and build a good nucleus of people around me, hire people that can help me like a masseuse and people that can help me with training, besides having what I have here with the organization,â SanĂł said. âI think itâs important for me now that to think about what I did last year, if I play an entire season, I can probably double those numbers.âThe contract, which includes a $14 million club option for 2023, covers what would have been his first two season of free agency eligibility.Minnesota initially signed SanĂł out of the Dominican Republic in 2009. âWhen he made contact at that age, how easy the ball jumped,â said Fred Guerrero, Minnesotaâs director of Latin America scouting and U.S. integration. âFor 14, 15-year-old kids, hitting a ball 400 feet, you normally donât see that and he was hitting a wood bat. He wasnât even (using) aluminum. He did that pretty easily. He caught peoplesâ attention, even people that have no idea what a baseball player looks like.âAfter an ill-fated move to the outfield in his second season, heâs been a regular at his normal position of third base with occasional games at the other corner. The Twins have considered signing third baseman Josh Donaldson this winter. If a third baseman were to be added before the season, SanĂł would presumably move to first base. SanĂł said he isnât worried about where he will play and that heâs been working out at first and third during the offseason. He also said he wants to spend his entire career with the Twins.If his development continues and the setbacks become infrequent, his latest contract will become a real value to the Twins.âItâs not a lot,â SanĂł joked about the $30 million total. âI can get more than that.â___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports |