Is Byron Buxton Baseball's Best Player?

[chpettit19]

Certainly has an argument for most talented. Think the question of best comes down to health.

[laloesch]

6 hours ago, DJL44 said:

This season he has a teammate with just as much talent. If they both get going at the same time this team will win a ton of games.

Assuming the pitching holds up.

[Einheri]

Yeah, he's okay.

[ashbury]

9 hours ago, Cody Christie said:

Is Byron Buxton Baseball's Best Player?

Nice to see a counter-example to "Betteridge's law of headlines," discussed earlier at this site.

[Johnny Ringo]

Is he the best? Who knows? That's the kind of unanswerable question that just makes windbags like Stephen A. and Skip Bayless bloviate and rich.  The moment could pass. Injuries follow him like they are tied to the back of his car. He sure is great though. Like franchise and generationally great. The world is cruel. The world is harsh. Let's just soak this in and really enjoy it while it lasts. Let's hope Buck is enjoying it too.  

[travkro]

I don't see anyone in baseball I would pay more to see other than Buxton right now. I think if can stay healthy, best Twin ever. Oh no, I just overreacted. 

[twinssporto]

At this moment in time: Yes, Buxton is the best player in baseball.

He is probably the most talented athlete to ever wear a Twins uniform. Talent, longevity and success is a hard road. The smartest people or the best athletes don't always come out on top. It takes a lot of other things to reach that brass ring. 

Buxton is on the right road though...gonna take a lot more to become a HOF'er though.

Glad I have the opportunity to watch him play...

 

[weitz41]

umm yeah..what I've seen this year he's two step ahead of anyone unlucky enough to throw him a strike. Hes playing like someone who has a boatload of bonus's he wants and plans on getting. More power to him 135 games and MVP with a huge paycheck that's well deserved. GO BUCK!

 

[DocBauer]

I want to say YES based on his sudden rise that really crested in 2021. He was OUTSTANDING and reached a new level. Then he got hurt. Then he came back and finished about as well as he began. He's as good or better now than 2021.

He's as good or better than anyone in MLB, including Trout and anyone else you want to compare him to. Forgetting injuries, when he's on the field, there are as good, but nobody better. And from year to year, an arguement can be made between a small handful as to who is best.

Do I care if he's the best? Not even a little bit! He's ONE of the very best and that's all I care about. And he's ours for probably the rest of his career.

[GNess]

Hard to quantify what best means. But he is uber talented. and an absolute joy to watch. 

[Stew]

He is the best total player in baseball. He is top 5 in every category if healthy. I think we will see him on the field for 130 plus games this year. If that's true and he keeps hitting at this level he will on target for 72 hrs., 142 rbi's ,48 doubles. That at 130 games. Would that make him mvp?

[minman1982]

The answer is yes.  Byron Buxton is the best player in baseball when he is on the field.  Let's put it into perspective.  Over the last two seasons, Buxton has 0.076 WAR/game played, best in MLB.  The next best is Mike Trout at 0.069 WAR/game.  Buxton is currently third in the AL in WAR at 1.2 (and he has missed 6 of his teams first sixteen games).  Let's assume that he manages to be healthy enough to play in 110 more games this season.  If he produces at the same rate he did over the last two seasons while on the field, that would put him at 9.6 WAR for the season.  For comparison, a 10-WAR season is generally considered an all-time great season (only eight position players have every done this, Mike Trout has done it twice).

The key question is can he stay on the field?  If he does, he is a generational talent like Trout, Barry Bonds, Joe Morgan, or Cal Ripken Jr.  The fact that he hasn't been able to stay on the field consistently is the only reason the Twins could sign him to an extension.  I think the good news is that even though Buxton has had more than his share of injuries, none of those injuries seem to be related or recurring.  If you talk about players who have simply had bad luck when it comes to injuries, Buxton has to be near the top of the list. 

[MN_ExPat]

23 hours ago, Harrison Greeley III said:

There are 8 million more reasons why it matters aside from validation. Get that money, Buck!

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/minnesota-twins/byron-buxton-17603/

• Annual MVP Bonuses:
  1st: $8M
  2nd: $7M
  3rd: $6M
  4th: $5M
  5th: $4M
  6th-10th: $3M

 

True... can't/won't really argue that one .

[big dog]

Well, this hasn't aged very well.