Sano worked out for MLB teams in winter 2023 but didn't find an offer that worked amid concerns about his health in coming back from a 2022 knee injury. He returned to play for the Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter League in the 2023-24 season. The 30-year-old went just 5-for-60 at the plate for Minnesota in 2022 that ended with a torn meniscus in his left knee, but he has a couple 30-homer seasons under his belt, one as recently as 2021. When Sano is healthy, he has elite power, ranking in the top ten in baseball in 2021 in max exit velocity, average exit velocity and barrel rate. He struggles to make contact (58.3 contact rate in 2022), however, given his high strikeout rate (35.2 K% last season). His lack of contact made him just a league average hitter at first base when healthy (110 wRC+ in 2022) which showed his downside. Sano could be an option to fill the massive void created at designated hitter by Shohei Ohtani's departure. Read Past Outlooks