Buxton and the knee topic is at 6 years and counting.  That's definitive.

You left out the list.

7 hours ago, ashbury said:

You left out the list.

Just checked, and all of the information is there!

He has two knees and they are often injured.  Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks!

Why you are so stuck on a Buxton who has injured himself into oblivion.  Every off season it's the same.  Next year we plan to have Buxton back full time and performing well.  What fantasy island are some of your writers on.  He's played 8 big league seasons.  Or at least taken up space for that amount of time.  Yet he only had one full season in 2017.  Even then he missed several games.  He has some good hot streaks at times but just as many bad streaks.  He's not dependable and just clogs up the roster.  It would have been fun to see him play a few full seasons to see if he was as good as all the hype about him.  Somehow the Twins need to move on from Buxton.  He should retire for the benefit of his health and the Twins.

I read one report that said he had a chondroplasty procedure. This suggests that he has degenerative arthritis. 

Nothing at all.

The fact is that Buxton cannot be counted on given his injury history. Hopefully his rehab over the winter will allow him to play 125 games at defense, but clearly that cannot be counted on. They need a backup plan like 2023. Not sure Austin Martin is the answer. Signing Michael A. Taylor for one year isn’t a bad idea. Good glove caliber defense and some pop, despite the high strikeouts. Whatever they do, don’t put Lewis back out there! 

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

The fact is that Buxton cannot be counted on given his injury history. Hopefully his rehab over the winter will allow him to play 125 games at defense, but clearly that cannot be counted on. They need a backup plan like 2023. Not sure Austin Martin is the answer. Signing Michael A. Taylor for one year isn’t a bad idea. Good glove caliber defense and some pop, despite the high strikeouts. Whatever they do, don’t put Lewis back out there! 

I am afraid you are correct.

Well, we know he's had at least one cleanup procedure in the knee, and most recently had a plina flap removed because it was irritated and barking and they couldn't get rid of the inflammation after all that time. I realize that the plinas aren't super important, but it's another chunk taken out. The Twins themselves have said the knee is 'chronic'.  He can exercise and rehab all winter and still 'trigger' it simply by slipping on the ice a bit getting out of a car; It's a shame, but that doesn't change the reality of it.

His knee hurts. Go play the game. Geez. 

5 hours ago, Whitey333 said:

Why you are so stuck on a Buxton who has injured himself into oblivion.  Every off season it's the same.  Next year we plan to have Buxton back full time and performing well.  What fantasy island are some of your writers on.  He's played 8 big league seasons.  Or at least taken up space for that amount of time.  Yet he only had one full season in 2017.  Even then he missed several games.  He has some good hot streaks at times but just as many bad streaks.  He's not dependable and just clogs up the roster.  It would have been fun to see him play a few full seasons to see if he was as good as all the hype about him.  Somehow the Twins need to move on from Buxton.  He should retire for the benefit of his health and the Twins.

I’m not really sure what you mean by this comment. What fantasy land are you referring to, based on the content of this post?

Part of me just wants him to retire .. Unless he can play the outfield Buxton is a. cLog in the wheel. I'd rather he play all out for as long as his knee holds up and then bring someone up to take his place whether it's 3 months or 3 weeks. 

'OK, OK, this time it's different!' Just kidding; he's Jacoby Ellsbury and will never put in a full season with the Twins--that's the sad reality. It's hard to swallow, but in private conversations at the water cooler it comes to light that everyone actually thinks it but doesn't want it to be true, so we pretend it will be different this time around.

20 hours ago, Schmoeman5 said:

Buxton and the knee topic is at 6 years and counting.  That's definitive.

Sad and 100% true

2 hours ago, saviking said:

Part of me just wants him to retire .. Unless he can play the outfield Buxton is a. cLog in the wheel. I'd rather he play all out for as long as his knee holds up and then bring someone up to take his place whether it's 3 months or 3 weeks. 

Or 3 games or 3 hours is probably a more accutate time frame.

I would say Erstad him to 1st, but he would be diving for fly foul balls hit towards 3rd.

We know his knee was bad in 2022. It was bad last off-season. It was bad during the entire 2023 season and it is still bad. We also know that no matter what they do to try to fix it, there is no guarantee it will stay fixed. They tried that last year. No? Unfortunately the FO married themselves to the most injury prone over-hyped player in Twins history for 7 years when they extended his contract with a no trade clause in 2021. They cannot rid themselves of the problem even if he retires as I assume his contract would still have to be paid in full. That means he'll hobble thru 5 more seasons with the Twins. Another less than brilliant move by the smartest guys in the room. 

Yup, if he retires they still have to pay him.  Maybe some form of insurance could pick up a portion of the tab (I would expect the Twins have an insurance policy with Lloyd's of London or someone to that effect).  The big thing a retirement would accomplish is the ending of all the speculation. 

Just a couple days ago, one of the Twins Daily writers had projected the Twins 26 man roster for 2024 and each player's salary and there was Byron Buxton, listed as our CF!  Any projection of the 26 man roster needs to have Buxton placed in a parenthetical category, off to the side, listing his salary, but with 26 actual contributing, warm bodies making up the roster.  ANYTHING they get from Buxton should be considered a bonus.  But a flat out retirement just removes the fog of confusion as to where he actually fits in the plan going forward.

The comparison to Jacoby Ellsbury by Aerodeliria  hits the nail on the head.  The Twins need to have a plan that Buxton is not a part of, because to count on him for anything, yet again, is poor analytical thinking.  

He'll never retire and walk away from all that money. That's just ridiculous.

1 hour ago, adorduan said:

He'll never retire and walk away from all that money. That's just ridiculous.

Pretty sure even if he retires he'll still get paid in full. The only thing he WON'T get is any incentives that are also part of his contract, such as reaching a certain number of plate appearances, winning the MVP Award, and if I remember there were a few others.........   Of course he likely won't get those even if he doesn't retire because he can't stay on the field long enough for them to kick in..

1 hour ago, rv78 said:

Pretty sure even if he retires he'll still get paid in full.

Don't think that's true.  He has to show up.  If he gets a team doctor to certify he's injured and belongs on the IL, then that's a different thing. 

To allow players to say "nah, I think I've played for long enough" in the middle of a contract would open things up to terrible abuse.

20 hours ago, rv78 said:

Pretty sure even if he retires he'll still get paid in full. The only thing he WON'T get is any incentives that are also part of his contract, such as reaching a certain number of plate appearances, winning the MVP Award, and if I remember there were a few others.........   Of course he likely won't get those even if he doesn't retire because he can't stay on the field long enough for them to kick in..

The Strasberg retirement is instructive here. He retired and was paid in full because he was deemed to have incurred a work place injury. Such matters are provided for under the MLB collective bargaining agreement and are common to union contracts.

I am sure under the provisions of the CBA and the particular contract (which would cross-reference the CBA) that some form of medical sign-off is required for this, lest a guy can decide that he just doesn't want to play. Given Byron's history, I doubt that would be difficult to obtain. 

I hope that this helps everyone. 

10 minutes ago, Johnny Ringo said:

The Strasberg retirement is instructive here. He retired and was paid in full because he was deemed to have incurred a work place injury. Such matters are provided for under the MLB collective bargaining agreement and are common to union contracts.

I am sure under the provisions of the CBA and the particular contract (which would cross-reference the CBA) that some form of medical sign-off is required for this, lest a guy can decide that he just doesn't want to play. Given Byron's history, I doubt that would be difficult to obtain. 

I hope that this helps everyone. 

Prince Fielder is another example of this.