ewen21

He was not being dishonest. He was just trying to "be positive"

I remember Mauer saying "baby steps" before the 2011 season and not liking it. We aren't there yet, but I am beginning to wonder what is up. Back on February 15th we read this: "Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said the Twins hope to have Buxton ramped up to game action by mid-March, but Buxton himself didn't put any timeline on his return in Spring Training. The sole focus for both Buxton and the Twins remains getting him ready for Opening Day on March 26 in Oakland." https://www.mlb.com/news/byron-buxton-spring-training-rehab-update Rocco assured us everything was going according to plan. Well, how is that now when he still has not faced live pitching with the season starting in 19 days? Would we not need to hear something real soon? Maybe tomorrow?

Arraez is not "light hitting" One who hits .334 with a 123 OPS+ should not deserve such a designation as you've assigned.

Ben Revere's goofiness might best embody what I couldn't take about the early 2010s Twins teams. Somehow people found his smile charming. I found it to be thoroughly annoying

I take issue with the title. I could not get past it and needed to post my 100% disagreement with the mention of these two names together. This is not a good way to start a discussion about Luis Arraez. He had a .828 OPS last year, Ben Revere had a .661 OPS. TO compare the two is call Arraez toothless after a single half season where he played brilliantly. He also mananged to hit 4 home runs and Revere needed over 2,000 at bats to get there. I will read the article and then see if it's even worth another response. Sorry, Ted....not sure how or why you decided this should be the launching off point for a discussion.

I am not looking at it from a player perspective. Why would anyone here look at this issue from that perspective? If you want to go there then I would submit to you that a great number of players are pretty ornery over this. And PLEASE. Don't classify this in the same group as Joe Niekro filing down baseballs or individuals operating on their own. The logic and reasoning applied in this case isn't a one size fits all thing. Just as in law distinctions are made between different circumstances. You cannot disprove logic by superimposing it over multiple circumstances where the logic doesn't work. IN this case there were so many layers to the cheating, so many people attached to the team were complicit in this. When you say something like, "if you’re gonna ban everyone who breaks the rules" you are really dumbing this down. Honestly you are. This all boils down to the fact that these players were not punished. There is an assumption that it cannot be proven who was and was not involved. I call BS on that one. Baseball simply doesn't want to sink a franchise so they've swept it under the rug.

Agreed. What I do not understand is that some feel criticism (such as what I presented here) should be curbed. How is that? People who are coming from that angle are essentially saying players deserve no criticism. At all....because it is too speculative and too judgmental. To hit back at criticism in this case? Honestly. Get over it and let people rip these a-holes

He really needs to get his act together. He has been praised effusively here for a very long time already. He is fast. We get it. The trouble with a guy whose game is predicated on speed is that speed is the first thing to go, and where he isn't a particularly good baserunner, nor does he get on base very often. I would say whatever chance we had to trade him for something significant has passed. When the Mets asked for him in the Syndergaard trade we should have pulled the trigger. Apparently we view him as if he is a franchise player. This is a guy who in five seasons in the big leagues has had over 300 at bats once. He's had over a .730 OPS once. He has a career OBP of .292 and he has a history of concussions and migraines. Not sure how anyone can term what I said as uninformed and unfair.

I think what you say here is an entirely fair comment. Both Buxton and Sano have had problems staying on the field and in the case of Buxton even more extreme. These two have basically been handed the starting job the last four seasons. Buxton has played in over 100 games a grand total of once. How is that even close to being satisfactory? You may have been a little harsh, but then I think the reaction to what you said was maybe a little over the top as well. Nothing you said was unfair or controversial in my estimation.

Am I being too judgmental?

I am saying what I would do. It would send the message: YOU ARE NOT WELCOME in my clubhouse. Is it harsh? Maybe it is. Then again, I am not trying to convince you or anyone to endorse what I have said. Are we OK still? I hope so, because I kind of enjoy your posts (sometimes)

Uh, there is a distinction I make between taking PEDs and being part of a team-wide cheating scandal. Those guys did it and deserve a strike. Another strike and I would want to cut ties. The other thing about it is all of those other players suffered consequences. Marwin has not. You do understand this, right?

Right here you are doing your own speculation. I don't find it offensive, but it is worth pointing out if you are going to play that card. When I brought up his "lifestyle" I was not referring to his "rap career". I had completely forgotten about it until someone posted the video. I could care less if you speculate on my motivation behind that post to you, but if you think it is imbedded in rap music you are wrong. Also, I see nothing wrong with anyone wondering WHY this has happened twice after months of being away from the game. You say we don't know how or why it's come to this so how are you going to stop people from wondering? It absolutely could be he isn't eating right, staying hydrated or whatever. You don't know that isn't true and I never passed that off as fact. I do think it is something the Twins ought to monitor, though....since this is the second time. Maybe he is drinking too much coffee and soda and not enough water? Maybe he eats poorly. Who knows? Least of which ME and YOU. He sure is very skinny (a fact) so that is a concern of mine. In most cases, there is a reason for this kind of thing and it is quite possible he could avoid these issues in the future. Not sure how that is such a horrible thing to say. it is almost like a "how dare you" response and that is not really necessary.

If this has nothing to do with diet and lifestyle then it is a medical issue. The trouble is, it is awfully hard to be a pro-athlete with a medical issue. It is what derailed Rocco's career. Is it horrible to say this? I don't think it is.

Is there any chance at all that a medical issue is going to derail his career and prevent him from being an effective player? You really have to wonder now if he takes care of himself or is doing things he should not be doing. Not saying he IS, just sayin

How is Gonzalez necessary to win a ring? I get that he has 10.5 left on his contract this year and we aren't going to just throw it away, but I know I would. His game is no better than Adrianza's and I think it is important to send a message to all Twins players that this bullsh*t is not tolerated here. Not sure how or why that is a crazy notion. Tell him he can keep his check and just leave.

Kirby Puckett never played in under 145 games 9 years in a row. That alone makes this hopeful comparison completely off base, in my opinion. He isn't going to suddenly develop into a durable player, and in fact, as he goes into his 26 year old season he is player entering his statistical prime. For a first round pick with such hype he has a .292 OBP and he is supposed to be a speed guy! When I see Buxton, I do not see Kirby Puckett. I see Mike Cameron--so far

Sometimes things go beyond analytics I would be happy if the Twins simply hit the eject button and no one ever spoke his name again

You are guilty! You kind of remind me of Gardenhire!! Sorry man, but....since you'd be willing to 1) rush a kid up who into emergency duty (who probably isn't ready) and 2) in the process more than likely create a black hole in his spot in the lineup. Way too early to plug this kid into that spot. That doesn't compute for me. And thankfully, I am certain our GMs probably see it my way

STOP. You picked a guy who has not played over A ball to replace our starting CF if he goes down. You picked him over a player with a good deal of ML experience and has an OPS around .800. His speed and defense is that magical it supplants a guy with an .800 OPS and two years of experience at the ML level in that role. I don't need a lecture about the Go-Go Sox of 1959 and the Whitey Herzog teams (which are completely dated in today's game). To pick Celestino over Cave only serves to illustrate how far over on the continuum you are on defense and speed. You value that over experience and everything else. I am not discounting the importance of defense. It's more like you have grossly overvalued it in this case.

He's got "speed and defense" so let's take him? Doesn't matter that he is 20 and has not played an inning past high A ball. You have seen this guy play? Honestly man. Might be 2 or 3 more years before he is ready, by the looks. I will take Cave as our 4th outfielder. He is a better offensive player than Buxton even with considerable drop off in the field. I want a lineup with no black holes in it as opposed to the mythical "speed and defense" in CF which apparently cures cancer and saves lives. This old elitist BS about defense is bunk. It is important, but it gets far too much weight around here from what I am reading. I will take a team that is simply average on defense and outstanding on offense. You can have the all hands HOF defense team with the average bat team and I will kick your teeth in 7 times out of ten (given we have the same kind of pitching).

Agree with you 100% Given a choice between two players with the following skill sets: One of the very best hitters in the game in all areas, but OK defense vs. One of the best defenders in the game, but OK bat I take the bat every day and twice on Sunday. A great glove is great to have, but I would rather have a spectacular hitter over a spectacular fielder. There is no way the glove can have the same impact. A centerfielder makes about 2.5 plays a game on average. Buxton doesn't make much more than that. Not his fault. He just doesn't get the opportunity to make a lot of plays only he can make. Maybe just a few a year, to be honest. A great hitter gets up four times a game and can wreck games, screw up the other team's pitching and manager, etc,.,, since his time up is 100% guaranteed. Buxton could wait weeks before he makes a great play. It is beyond his control. It really is that simple

Buxton reportedly got his surgery on September 11 of last year and recovery time is supposed to 5-6 months. In less than two weeks it will be six months so what gives? He is getting his work in right now according to all I have read, but isn't ready for live action. We went through a laundry list of ailments in 2018 and we really never knew when he would be ready. The fact that articles like this have to written tells me all I need to know. I literally have zero expectations for Buxton this year. This "if healthy" tag is something he needs to lose real soon or else he isn't going to last very long in this league

Not trying to knock Stashak, but......he's pitched 25 innings. If we know anything about relief pitching we don't know what 90% of the relief pitchers are one year to the next. It is the most unstable position there is. Sure, it was nice to have him come up and be useful and it would be nice to see more of these kinds of guys.

I would like to see the rest of the league turn on these guys. If it means they have to take a lot of beanballs then OH WELL. They were granted immunity and still can't fess up to what it is that went down. No one but NO ONE should talk to an Astros player. No fraternizing, not a word.