JaleelWhite FanClub

Can't wait for next's week's version of the "Buxton's 2017 was INCREDIBLE!" article. I appreciate your articles, Ted. But the timing of this one hits a sore spot for me (and expect others - thus the comments above). We as fans have heard enough about his defense. The team needs him to be an all-around player. I don't need metrics to tell me no matter how great he is in CF, if he's a bottom-5 MLB hitter, then the team will never reach its potential.

I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere that the FO chose not to call up Buxton without conferring with him. Am I missing something? Everyone in there Buxton-ness is assuming the player has been wronged significantly. So much so that I've seen articles on TD promoting/advising Buxton's agents to file a grievance with the Players Association. Based solely on speculation? When this website starts favoring (continuously over 2+ weeks) a player, an under-performing one at that, to a point of calling for the team to be hurt for some perceived and unconfirmed wrong, then I as a reader start getting frustrated and confused.

And most strikingly, they left Byron Buxton off the September roster, in a move transparently motivated by service time preservation. LET! IT! GO! ALREADY! Buxton hitting below.200 for another month and risking injury, as he always does, through September would mean nothing for the team's future.

Great year for the kid, but I'm going to hold off on prognosticating and dreaming about him turning the franchise around. You know. Because ... Byron Buxton's 2013 CR MID A(Full) .341 ./ 431 / .559 .990 FTM FSL A(Adv) .326 / .415 / .472 .887 #negativefridays

As several posters have noted, the amazing thing with both Lindor and Correa is how both showed no drop in production when they hit the majors. Lindor has actually had better numbers in the majors then he did in the minors. Contrast that to what Twins fans have seen recently from their own stud prospects. Buxton, who along with Correa was always 1A or 1B on prospect lists, has never approached his minors numbers except for the last two months last season. He has morphed into a .200 hitter with almost no power. Sano has basically lost his way and has become a historically-significant strikeout machine at the plate. By the time Lewis debuts with the Twins, I'm think most fans will respond with tempered excitement given these two cases. It's fun to hope for our own Lindor or Correa, but I think we'd be happy with a debut anywhere better than Buxton's or Sano's.

With players seemingly not having much value on the market, the Twins have to consider more moving people to free up roster spots for their top young prospects as oppose for the return in a trade. The top 3 players in the article should be gone. Dozier goes, up comes Gordon. Rodney goes, up comes Curtiss. Lynn goes, up comes Romero/Gonsalves/Littell. I'd keep Gibson and Odorizzi simply for pitching depth. The former has evolved into a strong mid-rotation guy and the latter, you have to figure, can only pitch better in 2019 and will be arbitrated for a reasonable price. Escobar, to me, is an influential clubhouse guy. Mix in his career year, and you have to make an attempt to resign him. Like the article says, if he chooses to leave, make the qualifying offer and get a nice draft pick for him.

I think you missed my point. I'm actually in agreement that it is wrong to blame Buxton's problems on mismanagement and injuries. I think the player needs to shoulder most of this.

Everything was in place. Coming into this season, Sano and Buxton were both 24 years old, established as successful major-league players. One was coming off an All Star appearance, the other an MVP-caliber second half. The bolded words have no reason being grouped into the same sentence at this point. The "glass half-full" "overflowing" approach with a Buxton outlook is ridiculous now. He caught fire for two months last year and suddenly he is an established MVP-caliber talent. Let's just forget the 2-1/2 seasons of crappiness that preceded last year's second half. Any other player with the same track record and the performance over August and September last year would have been met with a fair share of skepticism. But in the Twins world, Buxton's inevitable rise to stardom is for some reason accepted as a given. Every few days we get a new article blaming injuries or claiming mismanagement to try and explain Buxton's woes. Meanwhile we ignore what guys like Rosario and Escobar have done, if not rip on Eddie's "lack of plate discipline" or Eduardo's "shortcomings at SS." Those two have been consistent producers the past few years, but seemingly never get the credit they deserve.

AMEN!!! The Buxton excuse making has to stop. On this site and within the Twins organization. He deserved a demotion prior to the injury, but everyone worried about his psyche and were relying solely on a hot few months at the end of last season. The, "He's turned a corner. Bring on the All-Star selections" opinion was touted everywhere as a sure thing. He could very well figure things out (I'm for sure hoping so), but it's high time the player himself takes his share of the blame.

How about a little algebra? Solve for x Carter + Sano = (x)K

I wouldn't put it past the Twins to try Lynn out of the bullpen. That's where he started his MLB career, and they've shown a recent willingness to shift starters to the pen (ex: Duffey, May, Hughes). Plus, since he's only on a 1-yr deal, so I doubt fans would gripe too much about one of their free agents moving to a diminished role.

May's FIP numbers are really encouraging and are more in-line with what he can bring (vs. his 5+ ERA). I think it reveals that May has had a well-below-average defense behind him. He missed out on the Twins' defensive transformation last season.

I agree May should be stretched out to start during his rehab. If no injuries occur between now and when he's activated, I'd say slot him into the starting rotation for a few turns. If May's up to 80-90 pitches per start by then, that would hopefully by the Twins 4-5 IP, which is about average (unfortunately) for this staff so far. I say "why not" to the Twins going with a 6-man rotation. That would protect May as well as Romero, both of whom will be on strict pitch counts through the season.

I think this year Rodney has decided that instead of doing his ridiculous bow and arrow celebration after actually saving a game, he'll let the other team hit walk-offs that follow the path his arrow would have taken.

Until he grabs a bat.