Buxton: "Pissed" at Twins for No Call-Up Decision in 9/2018

[DrNeau]

According to the Star Tribune, Byron Buxton is displeased with the Twins after not being called up in September of 2018. According to Byron Buxton himself, in the article's video, he said he is "pissed". 

 

Byron Buxton's 2018 accomplishments: 

 

* 4 DL trips

* Multiple migraines

* Blurred vision

* Broken toe
* 134 games missed
* 28 games played
* 0 HR
* 4 RBI
* .156 BA
* .383 OPS

 

Byron Buxton has no real gripe here. He did absolutely nothing in 2018. He was completely clueless at the plate. 

 

I've got to say, though. I loved that video. Buxton actually broke the boring cookie cutter mold and said what he thought. Actually really respected that response. Sounds to me like he believes in himself. That is good to hear. Buxton says he has an "edge" to him after that? Great. Let' me see it.

 

Show me what you're all about, Buck. I'll root for you. 

[h2oface]

Good for Buxton. Now put up or shut up. Time's up. Tic toc.

[PseudoSABR]

The fact that he's engaged suggests that his use of "pissed" isn't so much directed at the Twins as the circumstances, probably including himself.  

 

I hope this signals he's motivated to be the player we all believe he's capable of being.

[Pardon My Dinger]

I could not possibly disagree more with the initial post. He pretty surely lost time and money by not getting a month of baseball with a team that wasn’t playing for anything. Like, what are you talking about?

[beckmt]

Depends on how this plays out.  If there is no chance he stays here, the Twins have really messed things up if he ever figures things out (read Aaron Hicks) only Buxton has a chance to be much better.  Hope the Twins get a line on this in the offseason, because it can become an issue soon.

[DrNeau]

I could not possibly disagree more with the initial post. He pretty surely lost time and money by not getting a month of baseball with a team that wasn’t playing for anything. Like, what are you talking about?

What am I talking about? I posted Buxton’s stats right in my post. Those stats absolutely justify the move. What did Buxton do in 2018 that demonstrated he was worthy of being on a MLB roster?

 

In any CBA/NBU business relationship, one party shouldn’t just make exceptions here and there, otherwise they set a precedent. When it comes to a dispute with a player and ownership, the MLBPA most certainly will take the position which supports the player.

 

If Buxton simply learns to hit, he will have every opportunity to earn more money through arbitration and then free agency. I don’t believe the Twins are wrong to require that he produces before rewarding him. Sano was sent down to A-Ball at some point in 2018, and they were justified in doing that. The team has that right. It’s called accountability. Buxton got a taste of it, and I don’t think the Twins are at fault for it. I think if the team did anything differently, it sends an even worse message to the other players in the organization.

[nytwinsfan]

I also completely disagree with this post. He had an excellent 2017 and then was injured and jerked around last year.  He's going about dealing with the way he was treated unfairly with maturity and reasonableness in my opinion. Even Falvey knows that, as you can see by how he's acknowledging Buxton deserves to blow off a little steam.  Buxton's not holding it against the fans or his teammates or the kids whose charity he attended. And he seems to want to excel as much as ever. I really think he's going to show a few people this year. 

[DrNeau]

In 2018, Buxton had 94 ABs. There were 458 MLB players who had a minimum of 90 ABs. Out of those 458 players, Buxton ranked 457th in OPS. Players get demoted all the time for poor performance. I can’t think of a better justification than this.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=90&type=1&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=10,d&page=16_30

[amjgt]

I’m sympathic to both sides of the argument, but I still think it was a really terrible idea from management to mess with his service time like that.

[amjgt]

In 2018, Buxton had 94 ABs. There were 458 MLB players who had a minimum of 90 ABs. Out of those 458 players, Buxton ranked 457th in OPS. Players get demoted all the time for poor performance. I can’t think of a better justification than this.

 

https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=90&type=1&season=2018&month=0&season1=2018&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&sort=10,d&page=16_30

If he’s so terrible then why bother messing with his service time.

[diehardtwinsfan]

 

The fact that he's engaged suggests that his use of "pissed" isn't so much directed at the Twins as the circumstances, probably including himself.  

 

I hope this signals he's motivated to be the player we all believe he's capable of being.

This. I hope this is true.

 

If he's still upset, I don't have much to say. He didn't deserve a callup. He played awful the entire season. 

[Twodogs]

Well the Twins probably bought an extra year of his services, which is fine because if he hits the jackpot and figures out how to become a superstar he most likely will not resign with the Twins anyway. Even before this crap he most likely wouldnt have come back anyway. It's just how things are in Twins land.

[TheLeviathan]

I think this is exactly what the Twins brass hoped for.  Let's hope it translates to his game.

[Old Twins Cap]

If I'm running the Twins and I know how the MLB rules work around minimum salaries, service time and arbitration -- and I DON'T take them into consideration when I make player decisions, I'm on the street looking for work.

 

Buxton is not a victim.  He's an elite athlete.  The way to champagne and roses runs right through figuring out how to hit.

 

And God, are we all hoping he figures that out.

[Platoon]

Buxtons "potential" would justify a callup. His "performance" did not. That said I would have left him in Rochester for a different reason. If he continues on his present performance path, which btw I don't think he will, leaving him sit was a moot point. If he turns into the player he has the potential to be, overall history would indicate he's "outa here" as soon as he is a FA. So the move gave the team one more year of the good Buxton. I can't say if he would really bolt, but the overall odds are in that direction.

[wsnydes]

 

I think this is exactly what the Twins brass hoped for.  Let's hope it translates to his game.

This. I believe that if I were in Buxton's situation, I'd be miffed at the team for clearly messing with my service time. I most certainly would have wanted that extra time to get my bearings. That said, I'd be really pissed at myself for not forcing the issue to begin with. If I would have simply played better then this would have been less likely to happen. Not playing all that well to begin with only cemented to move in my view.

 

From the team's standpoint though, I do agree that this reaction is exactly what the FO was looking for. I'm still not sure that I completely agree with the move, but I do think that this was the reaction they wanted and I'm definitely happy with the result in that regard.

[laloesch]

 

According to the Star Tribune, Byron Buxton is displeased with the Twins after not being called up in September of 2018. According to Byron Buxton himself, in the article's video, he said he is "pissed". 

 

Byron Buxton's 2018 accomplishments: 

 

* 4 DL trips

* Multiple migraines

* Blurred vision

* Broken toe
* 134 games missed
* 28 games played
* 0 HR
* 4 RBI
* .156 BA
* .383 OPS

 

Byron Buxton has no real gripe here. He did absolutely nothing in 2018. He was completely clueless at the plate. 

 

I've got to say, though. I loved that video. Buxton actually broke the boring cookie cutter mold and said what he thought. Actually really respected that response. Sounds to me like he believes in himself. That is good to hear. Buxton says he has an "edge" to him after that? Great. Let' me see it.

 

Show me what you're all about, Buck. I'll root for you. 

 

Agreed.  Like another poster said it's "put up or shut up time" for Byron Buxton.  The same can be said of Kepler and Sano as well.

[DrNeau]

 

If he’s so terrible then why bother messing with his service time.

 

Maybe part of the decision was to send Buxton a message.

 

If the message is "produce first and earn rewards second", then maybe it is not such a bad message. Whether or not Buxton likes the message, he receives it. Also, the message funnels down within the organization. I do not think that's such a bad thing. A merit-based system creates an incentive for the employee to perform well. 

 

If Buxton had produced in 2018, he would have continued playing, passing the threshold, and the team's judgment undoubtedly would not be in question. If he was so worthy of being on an MLB roster in September, you would think he would have hit better than .156 for the entire remainder of the year. He did not.

 

Any employer has the right to demote and further train an employee, in order to increase their productivity. It was a business decision based upon an employee's background and performance. The makeup of this player (draft rank, money and time already invested in him, etc.) and potential of this player are things to be considered. Considering Buxton's horrible 2018 injury-marred performance, the team decided that it was better to shut him down. Myself included, many people didn't even raise an eyebrow at this; others, however, are completely up in arms about it, and vilifying the organization.

 

It's an interesting topic. 

[gunnarthor]

The Twins ****ed with his service time. Full stop. He was hitting well in AAA and then they claimed he was playing hurt, which, if true, means the entire front office should've been fired for making him play hurt. The ML roster had injuries to their OFers so Grossman was starting in the corners. They promoted Johnny Field, who was playing worse than Buxton in AAA, instead of Buxton. The Twins had every right to do what they did but it was still a dick move and we'll see if it poisoned the relationship in a few years.

[Thrylos]

 

The Twins ****ed with his service time. Full stop. He was hitting well in AAA and then they claimed he was playing hurt, which, if true, means the entire front office should've been fired for making him play hurt. 

 

Fact:  He was in the DL from July 14 to July 27th and from August 1st to August 14th with a left wrist issue.  He played in 12 games from July 14th on...

[gunnarthor]

 

Fact:  He was in the DL from July 14 to July 27th and from August 1st to August 14th with a left wrist issue.  He played in 12 games from July 14th on...

Technically it was 15 games but he was pulled from the 7/29 game before he got an at-bat.

 

And he hit .339/.381/.593 from July 14th on. So his performance was fine. He needed more at-bats but the team decided an extra year of control was more important.

[SomeGuy]

 

What am I talking about? I posted Buxton’s stats right in my post. Those stats absolutely justify the move. What did Buxton do in 2018 that demonstrated he was worthy of being on a MLB roster?

In any CBA/NBU business relationship, one party shouldn’t just make exceptions here and there, otherwise they set a precedent. When it comes to a dispute with a player and ownership, the MLBPA most certainly will take the position which supports the player.

If Buxton simply learns to hit, he will have every opportunity to earn more money through arbitration and then free agency. I don’t believe the Twins are wrong to require that he produces before rewarding him. Sano was sent down to A-Ball at some point in 2018, and they were justified in doing that. The team has that right. It’s called accountability. Buxton got a taste of it, and I don’t think the Twins are at fault for it. I think if the team did anything differently, it sends an even worse message to the other players in the organization.

Buxton was hitting really well late in the year at AAA, at the same time the Twins were giving MLB at bats to Johnny Field.  Who we never had any plans for and is no longer a part of the team.  Might have helped Buxton to develop at the major league level when we weren't playing for anything.  But I like the extra year so I'm kinda meh on the whole situation.

 

Buxton has batted .310/.364/.499 at AAA in his career.  At some point he is going to have to adapt to MLB pitching and he isn't going to do that at AAA, I think his learning at that level is complete.  Seemed like a missed opportunity to not let him practice when we were no longer competing in 2018.  Now he will still likely require some time to adjust to MLB and 2019 or beyond might be negatively affected by it.

[zenser]

If there is anything good that can come out of this, I hope it left a sour taste in Buxton's mouth and that he realizes to play that the MLB level, you need to perform.  I am not saying he did or didn't deserve what happened.  I get both sides.  The Twins demoted Sano. They demoted Gibson a couple years ago.  With Gibson, it seemed to light a fire.  I get that in Gibson's case it didn't mess with service time.  I just hope Buxton learns from it and figures it out.  I hope the Twins and him can mend any differences and get back to producing on the field.

[PDX Twin]

Is Buxton out of options now?

[AlwaysinModeration]

I don't like that he gets interviewed at a charity and says that he doesn't want to talk about the situation, and winds up doing it anyway, and saying some things that can be spun as disgruntled and will likely cause him a headache.

 

Everyone knows that the management did a business move by not calling him up.  You can squint and see their justification base on the numbers and the play, but obviously it was all about having him as a Twin in 2022 as a 28 year old instead of hitting free agency.

 

Buxton is a super-2.  He's a Twin for 2019, 2020, 2021, and now also 2022.  I think he is going to play CF full-time this year, hopefully getting ABs in the top part of the line-up sooner rather than later.  I think he will win another gold glove, and improve all of the pitchers' performances. And I think he is going to start hitting this year, putting up a 750+ OPS (maybe 800+) with a bunch of homers and triples. 

 

Then next off-season, I hope the FO signs him to an extension (off the top of my head, 5 years, $60million, buying out two years of FA at $20mm per year?) that puts this whole issue to bed. 

[Number3]

I agree with the "put up or shut up" or , as I said in another thread, fish or cut bait approach. However, spending more time in the minor leagues or playing Wiffle Ball in his back yard does him, or the Twins, no good. He should have been brought back up as soon as he was recovered from his headaches and bruised toes and played against major league pitching in major league ball parks. Bujxton (and Sano and Kepler) are now established in the major leagues. I don't think there are many examples of players who have had a degree of success at the major league level, been sent back down to the minor leagues other than rehab, and then resumed success at the major league level as a permanent fixture.

To me the chance to get some value out of Buxton's 2018 season was totally wasted.

Bottom line is that 2019 will be totally devoted to the Buxton/Sano/Kepler(to a lesser extent) project. They will either prove themselves as legitimate major league baseball players or they won't. I don't want to hear the words "potential" or "upside" about any of these 3. Kepler is at least a reliable day to day player. Buxton and Sano haven't even demonstrated that.

[Jerr]

 

I think this is exactly what the Twins brass hoped for.  Let's hope it translates to his game.

I think the same, appears to have lite a fire under him. Now he needs to prove it.

[lukeduke1980]

This FO seems incommunicable sometimes, which I don't understand.  It seems like they had a fine opportunity in September to b.s. to him about his health - migraines, concussions, etc.  Get healthy.  Put on some weight.  Come in February 100% physically and mentally ready.  If you run into a wall on September 30th, who knows how long that can set you back on offseason training.  We need you in 2019.

[Vanimal46]

This FO seems incommunicable sometimes, which I don't understand. It seems like they had a fine opportunity in September to b.s. to him about his health - migraines, concussions, etc. Get healthy. Put on some weight. Come in February 100% physically and mentally ready. If you run into a wall on September 30th, who knows how long that can set you back on offseason training. We need you in 2019.

Which is funny because during Falvey's interview on 1500 ESPN he thinks of himself as a people manager first, analytical second.

 

But I recall players like Dozier and others say as they leave the organization say the duo is cold and metrics driven.

[nicksaviking]

***Moderator note***

 

Please stay focused on the topic and refrain from personal swipes.