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  • Is Byron Buxton Baseball's Best Player?

    Cody Christie

    By Cody Christie

    Minnesota locked up Byron Buxton to a long-term deal this winter, and it looks like the Twins made a brilliant investment. After a torrid start to the season, is he in the conversation to be baseball's best player?

     

    Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY Sports

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    Fans have seen this game changing ability before from Byron Buxton. Last April, he started hot in the season's first month as he hit .427/.466/.897 (1.363) with eight doubles and eight home runs in 18 games. MLB named Buxton the American League Player of the Month, and he had arguably the best offensive month in team history. It was hard to imagine him playing at a higher level, and then the 2022 season began. 

    Over the weekend, Buxton showed his value across multiple games, including some dramatic moments. On Saturday, he went 4-for-4 and reached base in all five plate appearances as the Twins won a blowout. Sunday's game was a nail-biter, and Buxton left the fans happy as he tied the game with a home run in the 7th before a massive three-run walk-off shot in extra-innings.  

    One weekend series doesn't qualify someone to be baseball's best player, but plenty of other signs point to Buxton's greatness. His six home runs tie him for the MLB lead, and he has over 20 fewer at-bats than the other players at the top. His 1.361 OPS would lead all of baseball by close to 200 points, but he doesn't have enough plate appearances to appear on the leaderboard. Baseball's leaders in slugging percentage are tied at .727, but Buxton's OPS is .946 through Sunday's game. 

    At the season's start, MLB Network counted down baseball's top-100 players right now. Buxton ranked as baseball's 39th best player on that countdown, a 52-spot jump from the beginning of the 2021 season. At that time, he was directly behind players like Nick Castellanos, Shane Bieber, and Brandon Woodruff. With his start to the season, he has to move up the list, but would it be enough to get to the top?

    Players at the top of the list include multiple former MVPs and other budding superstars. Shohei Ohtani, the reigning AL MVP, is coming off a season where he did amazing things as a two-way player. Mike Trout is widely considered the best player of this generation and a perennial MVP candidate. Bryce Harper is the reigning NL MVP, and he continues to live up to the hype surrounding him as an amateur. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto are two of the other highly ranked players that have achieved a lot at a young age. 

    So far this season, many of these top players haven't been able to do what Buxton has done on the field. Ohtani is hitting .206/.265/.397 (.662), and he's posted a 4.40 ERA in three starts. Trout was limited to 36 games last season, but he is back to his old ways so far in 2022. Out of qualified players, he leads the AL in OPS and SLG. Harper has posted an OPS of over 1.000 in his two MVP seasons, but this year he has a .766 OPS while still leading the NL in runs. As expected, Soto leads baseball in walks and gets on base nearly 43% of the time. All of these players are great, but none may be able to impact the game quite like Buxton.

    At this early juncture, Trout is the lone top player producing at his expected level. Other players off to hot starts include Manny Machado, Nolan Arenado, and Wander Franco. There is a lot of season left to separate one player from another, but it's clear that Buxton is playing at an otherworldly level. 

    Do you think he is baseball's best player? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion.

    Cody Christie is a Twins writer and content contributor. His writing can be found exclusively at Twins Daily and his voice can be heard on radio stations throughout the Upper Midwest. Outside of the Twins, he is a father, high school teacher, and avid runner.
    Follow Cody Christie on Twitter: nodaktwinsfan

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    Johnny Ringo

    Johnny Ringo 238

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    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.  

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    twinssporto

    twinssporto 5,028

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    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...

     

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    weitz41

    weitz41 515

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    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!

     

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    DocBauer

    DocBauer 14,431

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    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.

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    Stew

    Stew 72

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    • Posted

    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?

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    minman1982

    minman1982 136

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    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. 

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    MN_ExPat

    MN_ExPat 1,845

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

      On 4/25/2022 at 6:07 PM, 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

     

    Expand  

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

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