"Why the Pirates Can't go Wrong With Sano"

Miguel Angel Sano is the 16 year old can't miss prospect from the Dominican Republic. He joins Bryce Harper as another teenager to have millions of dollars in his bank account before he becomes legal. But the only question that is keeping most high payroll teams away is this: Is Sano really 16? On July 18th, Sports Illustrated reporter Melissa Segura reported that the top international prospect has passed MLB's age and identity investigation. According to Major League rules, if Sano is said to have lied about his age, it would prevent him from signing any type of Major League contract for one year. As of now the Miguel Angel Sano sweepstakes is down to virtually three teams, the Baltimore Orioles, the Minnesota Twins, and your Pittsburgh Pirates.

Now in the midst of the wheeling and dealing of the past weeks, many of the few remaining ,but unknowledgeable Pirate fans have been getting frustrated. Before I continue about Sano, let me first salute the job of Neal Huntington. First off, obviously the players such as Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Jason Bay, Adam Laroche, Nate McClouth, Nyger Morgan, Gorzo, Grabow, Jason Kendall, and many others weren't so good after all. I dont understand why everyone is complaining about how some of these guys were traded. When they were all playing in Pittsburgh together did they ever even come CLOSE to a winning season? Yeah, I didn't think so. Our GM is out trying to get rid of all of these guys who are so used to LOSING. He is trying to bring in promising, young prospects to help jump start a true commitment to trying to win. Don't criticize the man for doing his job RIGHT. I guess if most of you were at the helm of the front office you would keep most of these scrubs and sign old, washed up, veteran players who have absolutely nothing left in the tank.

So now that my ranting is over let's get back to talking about Miguel Angel Sano. Now with all of the frustration in the fan base this is something that this organization needs. When someone like this comes around you just can't pass it up. Someone such as Sano would help to re-energize and entire organization and hopeless fan base.

Miguel Angel Sano is a 16 Shortstop from the Dominican Republic. In the international free agent market he is this years version of Daisuke Matsuzaka. And the Pirates are the leading candidates to sign him. Pinch me!!! I must be dreaming!! The Pirates are prepared to offer big money to a big time free agent? Well here is the thing: A player such as Sano will require a big contract and a pretty hefty signing bonus. Sano's agent Rob Plummer has said that a signing bonus for his client could top out at about 4 million dollars. Which is bad news for the Bucs. The Pirates have a 2 million dollar signing bonus limit for international free agents. Alas, GM Neal Huntington has already come to the rescue, announcing both to the public and to Sano, his family, and to Plummer that they would change the signing bonus limit in "extenuating circumstances." Gee, I wonder what that means?

Now, while other teams sit back and wait for the okay from Major League Baseball, the Pirates have been in the race for Sano since April. They conducted their own investigation of his age and background. Even conducting a bone-graft test. The test revealed that his age is probably around 16 or 17 years old. The Pirates also conducted their own personal and private workout session with Sano in late April. Most of the upper front office management was in attendance at the workout. One thing that the Pirates do have on their side is Rene Gayo. Gayo is the director of the Pirates Latin American scouting team. Rene Gayo and Sano's agent Rob Plummer have a great relationship with each other that dates back a while. Also Plummer and GM Neal Huntington go back many years and have a great relationship. Rob Plummer says, "Sano is the best player I've ever had..."

In the Dominican amateur leagues it is very hard to get any statistics. From my research, they keep all stats in notebooks and do not record them in computers. So that being said, I could not compile any stats on Sano. The comparison that I am hearing is this: he is Albert Pujols in Hanley Ramirez's body. At 6'3 190lbs many scouts project the young shortstop to move to either a corner infield or outfield spot. But I certainly see no reason why a special talent such as this would not be able to make a splash at shortstop for a big league club.

Officially the Pirates are the only team to have come out and say that they have offered a contract to the young stud. However, terms of the deal weren't released, but the signing bonus was said to be around the 3 million dollar range. Other sources say that the Orioles and Twins have offered a contract ,but neither team will speak about it.

So here is a five tool player coming your way Neal. What are you going to do? I think we all want to hear one answer. Miguel Angel Sano is a definite risk, no doubt. But the sky is the limit for this kid. He is the real deal. Speed, power, and he can pick it at short. The Pirates can not go wrong if they sign him. Sure he may not pan out, but as we have experienced many prospects don't always pan out. If Sano is signed it will give distressed fans something to cheer about. As Neal Huntington's popularity rate continues to fall just imagine what signing this kid could do. These fans would rejoice. Maybe a decade and a half of losing baseball was all worth it. Maybe Miguel Angel Sano could give all of us faithful Pirate fans a chance once again, to believe.