Meh. Much ado about nothing. Buxton is a contracted employee. The employer is acting under the terms of the contract signed by the employee. It's a business. Said employee may have some leverage in the situation if he provided solid production for the employer, but unfortunately the employee's production has been far below his co-workers.  

Ted, while I appreciate your passion on this, I don't think the sky is actually falling here. Part of being an excellent MLB player is staying on the field. Frankly Buxton has not been able to do that, even in MiLB. These 13 games would have long ago disappeared without all his injuries. No, they are not all his fault such as the toe and migraine, but running into walls and sliding hands first are. He has to learn to take care of his body, or as a speed valued player his value will diminish well before those control years are up. I do think he has special talents, and I do agree the whole season could have went differently in all areas. But I do think this is the best avenue left for the Twins to pursue. One thing would have been nice though. Molitor could have simply not touched on the subject. Suggesting that Buxton is not the likely center fielder next year gives one of two impressions. Molitor wanted to get a specific hurtful dig in on Buxton, or Molitor has finally confirmed he doesn't know know a quality baseball player when he has one on his roster. Frankly, and sadly, in Molitors case either or both is possible.

This along with how they treated Dozier and Escobar is going to hurt.  No decent players will want to sign with this team.  Seems it is already like this but not it may be worse.  They have such a hard time working with some and let others (Kepler) slack.  Nothing they do makes much sense any longer.

Some of the responsibility has to go on the player and his performance, along with making sure he can stay health.  His quality of at bats at the major league level was painful to watch.  Yep, the talents there; and he has done better at the minor league level.  But we've seen that step to the majors trip up other highly rated prospects.  No matter how good he is in the field, how he can be an impact player overall without being competent at the plate? 

Some of the responsibility has to go on the player and his performance, along with making sure he can stay health.  His quality of at bats at the major league level was painful to watch.  Yep, the talents there; and he has done better at the minor league level.  But we've seen that step to the majors trip up other highly rated prospects.  No matter how good he is in the field, how he can be an impact player overall without being competent at the plate?

So the logical response would be to get him as many MLB ABs as possible...

If your logic was not good, Falvey and Levine would not be trying to think of ways to make amends to Buxton.  Obviously they know that they have blown their relationship.  Next time they want Buxton to play while hurt I imagine his agent might have a response!  

Ted, I agree 100 percent. Those critics that say Buck can't stay healthy are unfair and to the point of absurdity. Buck had migraines. They are debilitating at times. Heck Kareem Jabbar couldn't play in a 7th game of the NBA Finals because of them. Then Buck fouled a ball off his foot and broke it. What are the critics going to say about that? He should not have hit the foul? This is ridiculous.

Buck goes all out on every play. He dives, crashes into walls and MAKES THE DAMN PLAY. He is a star, not a prospect. Last year he hit .300 for a long period after making an adjustment in his leg kick. This year the FO played him when he had a broken foot. Buck tried and I remind everyone, he still ran as hard as he could on a broken foot. He tried to compensate by swinging from his heels and trying to pull everything. But his BA plummeted. He should have never been on the field.

Now a lot of people have found nothing good to say about a platinum glove center fielder who played hurt and tries his best on every play. Pitiful.  What these ungrateful critics say says more about them than it does Buck. Buck is not a slave on their plantation. 

The FO blew it. I have posted what I think they should have done. Bring him up, blow off the year of control and offer him an extension to make that year of control a moot point. Instead, they treated him like just another prospect. They think that is going to motivate him? Well, maybe, but in a way we won't like. Buck is gone when he is able to leave. I hope Buck gets traded to a team that will appreciate his rare skills. The Twins will keep being a second rate team as long as they do things like this. And it is no surprise that the only times the Twins have won the series, they had brother man players. Gaetti, Kirby, T Rex, Gags, all made the team better than the sum of its parts. 

And all those arm chair general managers who are wise in their own eyes because they understand options, team control, stuff like that,  don't know players at all. Its not about moving pawns around a chessboard. Players like to be respected. They like to be appreciated. Many of them will play for less if they feel wanted and treated like family. And intangibles like chemistry, loyalty, brotherhood, and espirit de corps help make a championship team. Those guys who have all that will look at the Twins and say "No thanks" when offered a contract. Because loyalty works both ways. That means the Twins will have to settle for stop gap mercenaries like LoMo and Lynn. Nice going front office. You just became Calvin Griffith.

The CBA is what it is. It's fair to dislike parts of it, and I think the players have the short end of the stick. It's in place though, so I have no problem with the FO acting within the rules. It goes both ways. If I typically vote against politicians who support entitlement programs, and they get elected anyway and push the programs. Well, I would be stupid not to sign up and collect on everything that I legally qualified to collect.

This along with how they treated Dozier and Escobar

Trading them to contenders?

First of all Glen Perkins says hi.

Second the Twins have options when it comes to pay. They can pay him over the league minimum to offset not calling him up if they want to.

They really don't have to negotiate wages with him for what, 4 yrs? Time heals a lot of things. This seems like a lot of hand wringing and angst about nothing.

Does it suck currently for Buxton? Yeah maybe but I would prefer him, as a fan, that he get recharged and reset and start fresh next year. I understand he could get hurt anytime, but I don't see what the point would be to call him up in a lost season when he may not be 100 percent and run the risk of a more serious injury.

As a selfish fan, I'm not unhappy about the xtra yr of control.

My guess, the xtra yr of control is eventual used as leverage in a contractual negotiation and everybody walks away happy.

I am a huge Buxton fan and believer in his ability.but frankly if he doesn't stop running into fences and sliding hands first he is going to keep getting hurt. He is an elite CF'er as is obvious. But his major flaw is he seems never to have learned how to "find" the fence and jump. Hitting it at 23 mph just isn't that smart, nor healthy. As to bringing him up and then offering an extension, I think he made it clear earlier in the year he wasn't interested in extensions, or getting years bought out.? On one other point, I do wish EE was still here, but I fail to see exactly what we "did" to him and Dozier that was so horrific. It was the trade deadline, we weren't good, those are the kinds of players you move. Not an Andrainza. Besides, BD couldn't get out of here fast enough, I wouldn't be surprised if he got a speeding ticket on the way to the airport?

 

So the logical response would be to get him as many MLB ABs as possible...

How many ABs does it take before one realizes "he is what he is"?

600? 900? 1000?

1075?

Why is it he gets a pass at the expense of some others who play in the system? They might need MLB at bats to see if they would stick, too.

He has talent. True. But as for now, it looks "un-realized."