I think the Twins had every right to wait for Buxton and Sano in 2018, after their respective 2017 seasons. 

Yes the Twins could have gone out and gotten a real good 3B and CF – but you could really say that about the entire team. There are better players out there at every position, but you cannot acquire top notch talent at every position (unless you are the Dodgers, Red Sox or dreaded Yankees). The Twins just cannot do that. They did have to hope that Sano and Buxton would be able to play in 2018. Unfortunately, for much of the season at least, they did not play, at least at the ML level.

Yes, the Twins appear to be relying on these two stars for 2019, but I suspect they have a shorter leash this year.  If one or both don't perform in early 2019, I suspect the Twins will commence a trade to alleviate it.

I would hate to lose either player, but at some point, they need to produce.

Unfortunately, there are only so many roster spots available. You have to commit to a plan of action, and if it doesn't work THEN you have to make adjustments on the fly. The Twins can not afford to give up on what are supposed to be the 2 cornerstones of this team going forward. They have to exhaust all their options before they move on.

Remember all the players from teams gone by that it would have been easy to give up on. Remember Aaron Hicks? Torii Hunter was sent back to the minors when he couldn't GET it. Michael Cuddyer had many fits and starts. Kubel was held back by injuries at the beginning of his career. Corey Koskie took a while.

I think the outfield will be OK even if Buxton struggles. And if healthy, he brings enough to the table with defense alone to make him playable while we wait for the offense to catch up.

I agree at this point that 3B will be a problem if Sano struggles again. It's not like you are only going to give him a month to prove himself, though. Maybe by midseason, someone else will step up and take his place if he doesn't perform. That's how it's supposed to work.

I think the Twins had every right to wait for Buxton and Sano in 2018, after their respective 2017 seasons. 

 

Yes the Twins could have gone out and gotten a real good 3B and CF – but you could really say that about the entire team. There are better players out there at every position, but you cannot acquire top notch talent at every position (unless you are the Dodgers, Red Sox or dreaded Yankees). The Twins just cannot do that. They did have to hope that Sano and Buxton would be able to play in 2018. Unfortunately, for much of the season at least, they did not play, at least at the ML level.

 

Yes, the Twins appear to be relying on these two stars for 2019, but I suspect they have a shorter leash this year.  If one or both don't perform in early 2019, I suspect the Twins will commence a trade to alleviate it.

 

I would hate to lose either player, but at some point, they need to produce.

I do not want to give up on them, nor do I want to give up on two seasons of my teams potential.  Yes there are better players at all positions, but the players we had at those other positions played and contributed - Buxton and Sano did not.  I would have rather put them on extended injury reserve and make some moves that kept the team playing well.   

As we watched, Sano went to A ball and came back and did very little, Buxton went down and we did not even let him play in MLB in September.  I want a better set of options.  It would seem that DH and 1B are the ultimate places for Sano according to all I read, so get a 3B and start that movement.  Right now we have no 3B replacement at any level worth considering.  So what happens if Sano can't play again, just does not make it, gets injured?  Shouldn't there be something in place?

With Buxton I guess Jake Cave is the designated filler so we are in  better shape there.  I would have liked to have gotten Billy Hamilton so we had speed and defense in CF or off the bench.

Unfortunately, there are only so many roster spots available. You have to commit to a plan of action, and if it doesn't work THEN you have to make adjustments on the fly. The Twins can not afford to give up on what are supposed to be the 2 cornerstones of this team going forward. They have to exhaust all their options before they move on.

Remember all the players from teams gone by that it would have been easy to give up on. Remember Aaron Hicks? Torii Hunter was sent back to the minors when he couldn't GET it. Michael Cuddyer had many fits and starts. Kubel was held back by injuries at the beginning of his career. Corey Koskie took a while.

I think the outfield will be OK even if Buxton struggles. And if healthy, he brings enough to the table with defense alone to make him playable while we wait for the offense to catch up.

I agree at this point that 3B will be a problem if Sano struggles again. It's not like you are only going to give him a month to prove himself, though. Maybe by midseason, someone else will step up and take his place if he doesn't perform. That's how it's supposed to work.

I do not disagree with you - see my response to the other posting on this blog.  Jake Cave gives us a third OF so we are in better shape there, but we are in terrible shape if Sano does not step up.  We have no decent 3B in the minors and there are not a lot of options for filler like the scrap heap OFs that they kept grabbing during the season.  3B is essential and hard to fill.  We can talk about swinging Polanco over there, but he is at SS because we do not have a good option for him there.  His bat would play okay at 3B.  But Adrianza and Torreyes are not fit to be starters.

I really want a contending team.  When the real first rung teams have a hole they fill it and if they have too many good players they deal them, or deal with the consequences.  We have been playing with two hands tied behind our collective backs for two years.  Something has to happen and I would love it if these players came out and starred this year.

What good player are you going to sign to sit on the bench behind Sano? Nobody. And you don't have roster space unless you eliminate Adrianza. That means it would have to be someone who could also play shortstop.

I don't think this is any different than if you lost say Polanco like last year. Last year they were lucky enough to have Escobar as a captive player at that point. 

If you want a decent player to be the backup, it will have to come via trade. Or move Sano off 3B completely to DH and cripple his value.

What good player are you going to sign to sit on the bench behind Sano? Nobody. And you don't have roster space unless you eliminate Adrianza. That means it would have to be someone who could also play shortstop.

I don't think this is any different than if you lost say Polanco like last year. Last year they were lucky enough to have Escobar as a captive player at that point. 

If you want a decent player to be the backup, it will have to come via trade. Or move Sano off 3B completely to DH and cripple his value.

I am not content to have another below average year at 3B and SS, plus a poor defender at first.  I love defense.  Others have posted that Petit is our back up and that Schoop would move over.  Isn't there a minor league 3B somewhere that is near ready and could be obtained?  This is MLB, the FO has to deal with difficult challenges.  And we have to have a good infield defense if we are going to have productive pitching.  The reason everyone wants Buxton in the lineup is his defense.  What good is CF defense if the infield can't function well?