ewen21

I get the whole injuries excuse, but can we be real? Erv is 35 years old. How much should we have reasonably expected? Now let's get real. Buxton, Sano and Castro were all terrible when they played. What if all three did not get injured and played every day. Castro would probably be hitting around .200, and Buxton? Maybe he just isn't a major league bat. He got hot at the end of last year, but then lot's of players have had spurts. Not sure that run at the end of last year says more to me than the beginning of the last few seasons. Maybe he is going to be one of those injury plagued guys who just never puts it together? It happens and as a Twins fan it is very concerning to watch his regression. And Sano came into camp fat. There were red flags everywhere with him before the season started. He needed to do conditioning DURING the season because he didn't when he was supposed to. THat isn't bad luck The problem I have with Buxton and Sano is they don't seem to learn. THe Twins have done a poor job developing players for a long time. We might not like it and Reusse might be a curmudgeon, but this article is entirely fair. Sick of the excuses. Injuries were not so much the cause of this terrible season as much as it was young players like Kepler, Sano and Buxton regressing and vets like Dozier and MOrrison doing nothing

This stuff about Buxton, Sano and Casto being injured. OK. So what? They were terrrible when they weren't injured! Can't even listen to the injury excuse.

If you look at Tyler Austin and Jake Cave they carry themselves differently. There is something to be said for the mindset of our young players. Buxton, for example, strikes me as a guy entrenched in the apprentice mindset. If he can hit .200 and run all over the place that is just grand

Here is my thing..... In the last I don't know how many years of watching Mauer I have never thought that I am watching "greatness" He's been a pretty boring, ordinary player for quite some time. THe best thing he does is walk a lot. Apart from that, what does he do? HIs ISO numbers have been among the worst in baseball for years and he hasn't been a catcher for six seasons. Where is the value? If he were to sign for anything more than 1 year 5 million we overpaid. Sorry for not feeling sentimental about Mauer. I just want the Twins back on course

Any scientific study you have done that can support the claim underlined? I hate when people assume who is doing the "complaining" There is no reason to marginalize criticism the organization gets by generalizing complaints into a single category made by people who just live to whine and complain. Those are useless claims made by the "we need to be positive crowd" I think being critical IS positive. It beats putting your head in the sand and ignoring the unpleasant truth. At least when criticism is involved some analysis gets done. Always accentuating the positive and brushing aside the negatives is fools errand if you have any hopes of understanding any issue and turning it around

Making Mauer a priority actually makes no sense.

This "Buxton was hurt so we should discount 2018" stuff does not wash with me. Part of his issue is all the injuries! He took a step back AND he was injured all season. Not good and not good.

I am not down with the counterintuitive thinking I'm seeing regarding Buxton. Everything has to be GOOD instead of what things are? He's had a terrible year? That's great. Give him an extension! Huh??? Really?? Really??

At this point I really could not care less about team control. I really couldn't. This is a player who struggled mightily against major league pitching (a six week run at the end of last year notwithstanding) and is an injury waiting to happen. The Twins may have mishandled him this year, but he has mishandled every opportunity he's been given. The kid gets tons of support and virtually no criticism aside from people like me in the margins. Not sure how much more time, love, support and TLC we need to give to this guy. I give him until next year. If there isn't enough progress I simply cut the cord. It is starting to become an issue, in my opinion. When you have a certain young player who isn't performing (and hasn't for some time) eventually you have to stop treating him like a blue chip talent. It simply is not right to give Buxton special treatment at this point. He should now be viewed as simply another player. If he can't hit or stay healthy then he isn't a major leaguer. If he is weak offensively and gets injured again next year I am totally over him.

Bremer with a lecture about how Detroit gave up prospects. They at least went for it,

You are selling the "gotta look at the positives" angle. That's noble. Just don't get your hackles up when others don't. You went in on Number3 a little too hard. Relax

I am not understanding the "hometown discount" angle AT ALL. What is the market for a 36 year old first baseman who hardly hits any extra base hits AND has missed chunks of time due to post concussion issues? I can't imagine him being worth any more than 5 million one year on the open market. A hometown discount in this case looks like what exactly? Thinking of JOe Mauer as our first baseman next year is risky.

David St. Peter would be proud of these remarks

We didn't get a year out of Hardy, not because he sucked. Then he went on to have several good years after we traded him. Gomez never became all that much his "five tool player" moniker notwithstanding. You may have an argument in Hicks, but he was not going to be successful here. As far as Buxton is concerned, I cannot understand where you are coming from. Earlier you seemed to suggest you would not be against trading. Was that "sarcasm"? I am not for holding onto any player who sucks for five years. Next year is it for me. He has too many red flags. He strikes out a ton, doesn't get on base, doesn't hit for average, gets lots of injuries and relies almost entirely on speed. Where is he headed with that kind of a profile? I am not saying GET RID OF HIM!! I am simply saying a) it's time to understand he likely isn't going to be great (maybe not even good) and we need to stop giving endless amounts of rope to guys just so they can hang themselves

I don't think we moved on from Hicks or Gomez too early. We got Hardy for Gomez and that was a pretty good haul. Had we held onto Hardy we would not have bothered to think of Gomez. Gomez is also a sideshow and he was not "Twins-like" I also thought it was not a terrible move to trade Hicks for JR Murphy. IT was a roll of dice and we got snake eyes. Hicks had his chance with us and it was becoming apparent that he was not developing with this organization. And there is the rub. I am not sure if Buxton has a chance in this organization. THere is something seriously lacking when players make the jump from the low minors to where they need to be. He was great to talk about as a prospect and it was great to coo on and on about his "tools" and "potential" The kid needs to put on the big boy pants and embrace the fact that he has to contribute at the major league level. I don't know what kind of mental barrier he has put up, but there is something about him that has me concerned. Almost like the major leagues is too big for him. He almost acts like he is in his apprenticeship. There are players several years younger that are more polished. It is almost as though the Twins put him on a pedestal and believed his talents were so great he would figure it out.

I do not agree with the underlined for the simple fact that his offense is way WAY behind the curve and it simply isn't going to correct itself. The last seven weeks of last year seems more and more like a mirage. Subtract out that little run and his major league stats are atrocious. I am also worried about his propensity for getting injured and the zeal with which he runs into walls. I am having a hard time envisioning him being much more than a Jackie Bradley type..... And it is funny. When Bradley had his little spurt 2 years ago people liked to compare Buxton to him. How come not now? Not positive enough? Let's get real with Buxton.

When you to have say we aren't as bad as the Reds, Marlins and Padres to find a sliver lining you are reaching. If this is "being positive" then I don't any part of it. The Twins need to make tough decisions and honestly assess what they need to do. I happen think they need to let go of both Molitor and Mauer after this season. It is time to move on into the next era. Needing local guys to sell the product is a Mickey Mouse approach.

Interesting.

Why all these stipulations for him? He is a very replaceable part at this point

That's awfully nice of him to "offer a hometown discount" Come on. With that sexy .711 OPS coming from first base. LOL What does that even mean for 36 year old guy well into his decline!? One year 3 million?? What if the Twins decide it is better to move on from him? Would that be so bad?? Quite frankly, that is what I would do. I have no interest in seeing Joe Mauer gingerly play the game of baseball, making cameo appearances.

Should we find a CF now?

Ya well....Buxton better hit next year or we will be looking to fill the void in CF again

You have meddled with the primal forces of nature and you will atone!

There are development issues, in my opinion. HOwever, the examples used just don't fit

Exactly. It isn't too much of a reach to You cannot discount Cave's comments, but he also did some dumb and awkward stuff that makes you shake your head. The talk about not getting an extension was sour grapes to me. The "respect the game" BS in Baltimore was ridiculous. There were a number of times he had lapses in the field and sometimes doesn't run out balls. He gets visibly affected by things that go on and it sometimes caused him to sag instead of double down and get fierce. I did not like his antics after Escobar was beaned by Porcello. He joked about it with Escobar RIGHT THERE in front of cameras and I don't care what anyone says. That was awkward, dumb stuff. If that "keeping the boys loose" stuff is what leadership is made of then give me a different leader. Good luck to him in LA, but he should have understood the baseball business better. He wanted guaranteed money before the season started and he has had a lame season. We made the right decision.