It appears the bombshell allegations made against Miguel Sano came as no surprise to a few people who personally know the Minnesota Twins third baseman.
Betsy Bissen, a photographer who has covered the Twins in recent years, on Thursday accused Sano of assaulting her at a mall after an autograph signing in 2015. Sano since has denied the allegations, which the Twins and Major League Baseball are investigating, but a few nuggets from a column by Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan published Friday sure paint the 24-year-old in a negative light.
Here’s what Passan wrote:
This was a perfect example of that terrible decision-making, because while Sano might have a lot of things, the utmost respect for women is not one of them, according to five people, including teammates, ex-teammates and confidants, with whom he has spent time. Though none accused Sano of sexual assault or could confirm Bissen’s account of the story, they characterized him as someone who saw the pursuit of women as sport. Getting in trouble for it “was only a matter of time,” said one person familiar with Sano, whom he called “a ticking time bomb.”
Obviously, it’s important to stress this testimony comes from five unidentified sources, therefore making it difficult to gauge. It’s troubling to read about Sano developing such a dicey reputation with women, though, as it makes the story Bissen shared Thursday on Twitter even more believable, and any functioning human should be able to see that such alleged behavior is beyond unacceptable.