Bye bye Buxton?

[Emjay]

Thoughts and justifications

[Doctor Gast]

I consider myself as a Twins fanatic. I think all our holes can be filled but if Buxton is gone so am I

[prouster]

Dan Hayes and Ken Rosenthal have a piece about Buxton in The Athletic today. To summarize: 

Others in the industry expect them to trade Buxton. 
 

There has been no progress to date since their discussions broke down at the trade deadline. 
 

Falvey: “At this point of the off-season we’re still just navigating our planning and strategy and trying to understand what’s available to us and what the market looks like . . . There are people on our team that are interesting to other clubs and we just always need to work through what does that look like, what does our team look like as we navigate it.”

 

The tea leaves seem to be signaling a Buxton trade. If that happens, then there’s not really a reason to watch this team as far as I’m concerned. The Twins brass should remember that the Twin Cities are mostly a football and hockey town. 

[Linus]

12 minutes ago, prouster said:

Dan Hayes and Ken Rosenthal have a piece about Buxton in The Athletic today. To summarize: 

Others in the industry expect them to trade Buxton. 
 

There has been no progress to date since their discussions broke down at the trade deadline. 
 

Falvey: “At this point of the off-season we’re still just navigating our planning and strategy and trying to understand what’s available to us and what the market looks like . . . There are people on our team that are interesting to other clubs and we just always need to work through what does that look like, what does our team look like as we navigate it.”

 

The tea leaves seem to be signaling a Buxton trade. If that happens, then there’s not really a reason to watch this team as far as I’m concerned. The Twins brass should remember that the Twin Cities are mostly a football and hockey town. 

Wow. That doesn’t sound good. If they trade Buxton then they might as well blow the whole thing up. This really scares me because I don’t trust their player evaluation.   If the trade returns for Berrios and Buxton end up not being much they essentially gutted the franchise. 

[nicksaviking]

I don't know that Falvey is actually the one who's going to make this decision. 

I don't think the Pohlad's wantonly seek to hand out big deals, but they tend to let the fan base get right up to the cusp of revolt before ownership swoops in and makes a grand gesture to swing favor back their way. If Charlie Walters and Patrick Ruesse start ringing up Dave St. Peter wanting to know more about the Buxton and Berrios situations, Jim Pohlad might go into self-preservation mode.

[AceWrigley]

7 minutes ago, Linus said:

If the trade returns for Berrios and Buxton end up not being much they essentially gutted the franchise. 

What are we, the New York Mets?

[Unwinder]

If I had season tickets I might consider switching to Saints season tickets in that case. Cheaper beer.

[tony&rodney]

It is a little early to become overwrought with the state of the Twins. That said, it gets early sooner in the winter. The time to analyze the roster was in October and those teams with any interest in any Twins assets have already communicated their thoughts. The next week should be interesting because the window before Thanksgiving and then the end of the CBA starting on 1 December  is prime trading season. There may be plans to budget closer to $100 million for 2022. Buxton may be put on the to-do list, later.

The Twins have some decent bats growing: Jeffers, Kirilloff, Larnach, Rooker, Celestino, Lewis, Martin, Miranda, and perhaps someone else. Pitching prospects include: Ryan, Ober, Dobnak, Barnes, Jax, Thorpe, Smeltzer, Duran, Winder, Balazovic, Woods-Richardson, and some others. Perhaps Falvey has confidence in their current hand. I would still bank on a few trades and a couple of signings, not the team below.

[Brock Beauchamp]

There's still a lot of offseason left to go but after the Berrios extension in Toronto and its relatively reasonable dollar figure, let's just say it's unlikely I will support this front office remaining in control if they trade Byron Buxton.

The Minnesota Twins are not the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays and I'm gonna be mad as hell if they try to operate that way.

[prouster]

33 minutes ago, Brock Beauchamp said:

There's still a lot of offseason left to go but after the Berrios extension in Toronto and its relatively reasonable dollar figure, let's just say it's unlikely I will support this front office remaining in control if they trade Byron Buxton.

The Minnesota Twins are not the Cleveland Guardians or the Tampa Bay Rays and I'm gonna be mad as hell if they try to operate that way.

Pretty much where I'm at.

[Mike Sixel]

I won't be surprised if he's dealt. I will be disappointed.

But, as Brock points out, this is 100% what Tampa would do (doesn't mean we have to like it).

If the Twins can get one of the Yankees top SS prospects and one of their top pitching prospects, I would be surprised if they don't deal him, actually. If they take back Hicks' deal, they can likely get another prospect.

Then I'd see Donaldson given away to save money. Signing two bad starting pitchers. And losing 90+ games.

[LastOnePicked]

2 hours ago, prouster said:

Falvey: “At this point of the off-season we’re still just navigating our planning and strategy and trying to understand what’s available to us and what the market looks like . . . There are people on our team that are interesting to other clubs and we just always need to work through what does that look like, what does our team look like as we navigate it.”

 

It's always amazing how Falvey and Levine can say so little while using so many words. Corporate to their core. Translation: "Yup, we're trading Buxton. We blew the negotiations, and we now have to try and get what we can before the season starts."

We will be the Baltimore Orioles of the AL Central for the next decade thanks to the shrewd moves they've made over the last few years.

[tony&rodney]

The Twins need to make a decision on Buxton. They have options: 1) offer Buxton whatever he wants; 2) sign him for 2022 and make the team very competitive in hopes he will sign later in the year; or 3) trade Buxton. 

My choices are the first two but it is entirely possible that Byron has already decided that he will not be returning as a Twin after 2022 no matter what circumstances play out.  In that case, a trade will happen eventually, either soon or during the year. Perhaps a healthy productive Buxton becomes really attractive to a team doing well and willing to gamble that they can sign him because he is healthy and killing it in June.

[tony&rodney]

6 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

We will be the Baltimore Orioles of the AL Central for the next decade

They are the most uninteresting team in baseball. 

[howeda7]

3 hours ago, prouster said:

Dan Hayes and Ken Rosenthal have a piece about Buxton in The Athletic today. To summarize: 

Others in the industry expect them to trade Buxton. 
 

There has been no progress to date since their discussions broke down at the trade deadline. 
 

Falvey: “At this point of the off-season we’re still just navigating our planning and strategy and trying to understand what’s available to us and what the market looks like . . . There are people on our team that are interesting to other clubs and we just always need to work through what does that look like, what does our team look like as we navigate it.”

 

The tea leaves seem to be signaling a Buxton trade. If that happens, then there’s not really a reason to watch this team as far as I’m concerned. The Twins brass should remember that the Twin Cities are mostly a football and hockey town. 

The ONLY player they've kept long-terms since Target Field opened is Mauer. That's it. It's pathetic. They already traded Berrios. If they trade Buxton too, they are giving the fans a giant middle finger. I won't spend another $.01 on them until at least one of the Pohlads are Falvine are gone.

[MABB1959]

4 hours ago, Emjay said:

Thoughts and justifications

He doesn't want to play here.  Of course he will say he does, but I bet he would much rather play for a team that will be contending in his prime years.  And he will get that in FA.  After messing with his service time he will play through next year and become a top FA.  That way the Twins get nothing and kind of what they deserve.  He has a smart agent and the smarter teams will patiently wait until the end of next season unless the see him as a critical piece to go the WS.  Imagine him in pinstripes, Berrios looked good in the Toronto uniform and Eddie, Eddie, Eddie had fun in the ugly Atlanta uniform.  

[Tim]

It sucks, we all want Buxton to be extended. But this isn't super surprising .. Based on Pohlad's comments, it sounds like this is more trepidation from the front office.

With that said, if Buxton isn't the one they are looking to build around, they better have one of the top tier shortstops in mind if they want to sell tickets next year or they might have some serious issues.

[TwinsDr2021]

2 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

I won't be surprised if he's dealt. I will be disappointed.

But, as Brock points out, this is 100% what Tampa would do (doesn't mean we have to like it).

If the Twins can get one of the Yankees top SS prospects and one of their top pitching prospects, I would be surprised if they don't deal him, actually. If they take back Hicks' deal, they can likely get another prospect.

Then I'd see Donaldson given away to save money. Signing two bad starting pitchers. And losing 90+ games.

If they trade Buxton, I also believe they should trade Donaldson, but why sign anybody, it isn't like there will be much of anybody watching or caring about if they lose 90,100,110 or 120 games.

I mean if you don't actually care about winning at the major league level, why pretend?

Wouldn't it best to try the 3 inning pitcher or some other option, when there are no fans to complain about it?

My 13 year old son said if they trade Buxton, lets get the MLB network and find another team to cheer for. He said "today him and a few of his baseball friends were talking at school and they were discussing which team was going to be their new favorite"

In the past I would have tried to convince him not to, and I just said I kind of like the Padres and Blue Jays, who you thinking?

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

If they trade Buxton, I also believe they should trade Donaldson, but why sign anybody, it isn't like there will be much of anybody watching or caring about if they lose 90,100,110 or 120 games.

I mean if you don't actually care about winning at the major league level, why pretend?

Wouldn't it best to try the 3 inning pitcher or some other option, when there are no fans to complain about it?

My 13 year old son said if they trade Buxton, lets get the MLB network and find another team to cheer for. He said "today him and a few of his baseball friends were talking at school and they were discussing which team was going to be their new favorite"

In the past I would have tried to convince him not to, and I just said I kind of like the Padres and Blue Jays, who you thinking?

 

 

I don't think they are ready to promote enough pitchers a this point not to sign a couple. Plus, and I know this seems like it doesn't fit...but I think they'd want a veteran or two to mentor the young pitchers. Getting that from coaches and teammates are different things. Like I said, though, they won't be pretending to win by doing so, it will be to fill the roster and get a mentor or two. 

[USAFChief]

Falvine have driven this franchise into a pretty bad spot in a short time, haven't they?

[lecroy24fan]

Hopefully Jim Pohlad will be like his dad Carl did for Puckett and step in and gets Buxton signed.

[howeda7]

30 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Falvine have driven this franchise into a pretty bad spot in a short time, haven't they?

A terrible FO. Trading away the young stars. Games many can't see on TV and a looming lock-out. Some fans still leery of going downtown. What's not to love? If I was Pohlad I would give Falvey an order in this instance. Just get it done.

[howeda7]

1 hour ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

If they trade Buxton, I also believe they should trade Donaldson, but why sign anybody, it isn't like there will be much of anybody watching or caring about if they lose 90,100,110 or 120 games.

I mean if you don't actually care about winning at the major league level, why pretend?

Wouldn't it best to try the 3 inning pitcher or some other option, when there are no fans to complain about it?

My 13 year old son said if they trade Buxton, lets get the MLB network and find another team to cheer for. He said "today him and a few of his baseball friends were talking at school and they were discussing which team was going to be their new favorite"

In the past I would have tried to convince him not to, and I just said I kind of like the Padres and Blue Jays, who you thinking?

 

 

I think "find a new team" will the minority. Most will just tune out MLB altogether. And many of them will never come back. MLB has big issues long-term. The Twins have even bigger ones.

[LastOnePicked]

33 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Falvine have driven this franchise into a pretty bad spot in a short time, haven't they?

Very likely that the core of solid young players they inherited (Berrios, Polanco, Sano, Kepler, Buxton, Rosario) will be reduced to nothing more than Polanco, an ineffective Kepler and a handful of magic bean prospects in a so-so farm system by the start of '22. 

And several top Twins prospects launching promising careers elsewhere. Oh, and zero playoff wins to show for it all.

Unreal.

[lecroy24fan]

2 hours ago, howeda7 said:

Games many can't see on TV  

This is not the teams fault they have a contract with Bally that they cannot get out of. Every team that has a deal with Bally is in the same situation. Now I will say you can blame the Brewers since they just signed a new deal with them.

[GNess]

Trading Byron Buxton is a terrible idea especially if it's motivated by a tight-fisted front office unwilling compete in the marketplace.. Having said that it becomes less terrible if the FO somehow gets = or > value in assets in return. But I am dubious the current FO will be able to pull that off...

[darin617]

10 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

I consider myself as a Twins fanatic. I think all our holes can be filled but if Buxton is gone so am I

This is a joke right? He has all the talent in the world but can't figure out how to stay healthy.  It's pretty bad when you want a guy to slow things down, what's even worse is when he can't figure it out on his own.

 

You can't break the bank for a guy that might play 100 games.

[tony&rodney]

32 minutes ago, darin617 said:

You can't break the bank

Guess who owns the bank? Or is that what you meant? I missed the sarcasm somehow.

[Doctor Gast]

12 hours ago, darin617 said:

This is a joke right? He has all the talent in the world but can't figure out how to stay healthy.  It's pretty bad when you want a guy to slow things down, what's even worse is when he can't figure it out on his own.

 

You can't break the bank for a guy that might play 100 games.

I'd rather have Buxton in 100 games, than Cave in for 162. That's what they what they think is a suitable sub. I don't trust their evaluation at all, they have proven to me they have no idea how to. Letting very good potential go while keeping dead weight. With incentives he's not going to break the bank unless he earns it. We aren't going to get anything in trade. He impacts the game why do we want just warm bodies who fills the 40 man roster and lose more undeveloped potential. I'm dead serious. You must miss the Twinkie Era, I don't! This FO is the joke, a bad one at that.

[gunnarthor]

9 hours ago, prouster said:

Pretty much where I'm at.

I've been there for a year.