Here we go again.....

[stringer bell]

It is official, Byron Buxton has a "boxer's fracture" of his left hand. He will miss weeks recovering from his latest injury. It just never seems to end for the ultra-talented center fielder. If it isn't his legs, then it's his shoulder, if it isn't his shoulder, then it is his head (concussions). 

I feel terrible for the player and feel some disappointment for the organization. A wonderful talent who just can't seem to stay on the field. 

Time is drawing short for Buxton to perform for the Twins. Assuming he is out until after the All-Star break, he might be able to play 60 more games this season. He will almost certainly be either a free agent or traded before he reaches free agency and he is such a risk that it is unlikely that the middle-market Twins will make legitimate offers to keep him. ing time. So that will be a silver lining. 

Whatever fleeting hopes of returning to contention depend on the Twins winning lots of games against their Central Division opponents in the next few weeks and now it appears that they won't have their best and most exciting player. Someone will get more opportunities. I presume Nick Gordon will get some time in center field as will Max Kepler and the two left hitting rookies (Larnach and Kirilloff) will get plenty of play

 

[operation mindcrime]

This really sucks!!!!!

[1991]

14 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

It is official, Byron Buxton has a "boxer's fracture" of his left hand. He will miss weeks recovering from his latest injury. It just never seems to end for the ultra-talented center fielder. If it isn't his legs, then it's his shoulder, if it isn't his shoulder, then it is his head (concussions). 

I feel terrible for the player and feel some disappointment for the organization. A wonderful talent who just can't seem to stay on the field. 

Time is drawing short for Buxton to perform for the Twins. Assuming he is out until after the All-Star break, he might be able to play 60 more games this season. He will almost certainly be either a free agent or traded before he reaches free agency and he is such a risk that it is unlikely that the middle-market Twins will make legitimate offers to keep him. ing time. So that will be a silver lining. 

Whatever fleeting hopes of returning to contention depend on the Twins winning lots of games against their Central Division opponents in the next few weeks and now it appears that they won't have their best and most exciting player. Someone will get more opportunities. I presume Nick Gordon will get some time in center field as will Max Kepler and the two left hitting rookies (Larnach and Kirilloff) will get plenty of play

 

He has always been an injury waiting to happen.  Very good player when he's healthy.  Move on and trade him.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

1 minute ago, 1991 said:

He has always been an injury waiting to happen.  Very good player when he's healthy.  Move on and trade him.

It’s no problem to keep him and ride him out, and hope he stays on the field. I’m talking about 2022 as well. Problem is if we trade him, we won’t get peanuts back. Maybe a single peanut. 

[RedBull34]

Can anybody think of another player who was more injury prone but as electrifying as Buxton?  JJ Watt from the NFL is one I suppose.

The crazy thing is that he also seems to bounce back from these injuries too.

[Number3]

He is an injury magnet. If you believe in curses he would be a prime piece of evidence. looking at the replay, the pitch was inside all the way and Buxton took a full swing directly into the pitch. Made no attempt to avoid contact so he must have though it was a pitch he could get his bat on.  Any other player; just one of those unfortunate things that rarely happens. With Byron Buxton its almost expected. On the running catch he made there was a collective groan as he headed for the wall.

[Number3]

2 minutes ago, RedBull34 said:

Can anybody think of another player who was more injury prone but as electrifying as Buxton?  JJ Watt from the NFL is one I suppose.

The crazy thing is that he also seems to bounce back from these injuries too.

He bounces all right. Off the ground off of a wall or a ball bounces off of him. Did you see his first ab where he fell running out of the batters' box?

[Dodecahedron]

I suspect Buxton has Marfan Syndrome or some other syndrome in that family.  

[tony&rodney]

Eric Davis. Paul Molitor early in his career too. Molitor recovered to have quite a run of excellence. I would keep Buxton unless totally blown away by another team. Furthermore, I would try to extend our often injured centerfielder. The Twins do not need any more utility players or prospects who might be real good back of the rotation pitchers. If San Diego, for just one example, wants to win a World Series then they will have to give us C. J. Abrams for Byron. The easy retort is that will never happen. My reply is - their choice.

[RonCoomersOPS]

4 hours ago, RedBull34 said:

Can anybody think of another player who was more injury prone but as electrifying as Buxton?  JJ Watt from the NFL is one I suppose.

The crazy thing is that he also seems to bounce back from these injuries too.

Ken Griffey Jr.

[Vanimal46]

10 minutes ago, RonCoomersOPS said:

Ken Griffey Jr.

This is the correct answer. He was on pace to be the HR king until injuries derailed his career with the Reds. He had 398 HRs through his age 29 season! To showcase how absurd that is, current best player on the planet Mike Trout needs 88 more HRs this year to keep pace with The Kid. 

[RedBull34]

54 minutes ago, RonCoomersOPS said:

Ken Griffey Jr.

I think this is both a yes but also a no.  Between Ages 19-30, Griffey only had two seasons where he didn't reach 500 PA's and three where he didn't reach 600.

Buxton only HAS one season between 21-27 where he has reached 500 PA's.

While I'd have loved to see Griffey play more, he was practically an Iron Man compared to Buck.

(Edited: Added second and third paragraphs)

[Mike Sixel]

5 hours ago, RedBull34 said:

Can anybody think of another player who was more injury prone but as electrifying as Buxton?  JJ Watt from the NFL is one I suppose.

The crazy thing is that he also seems to bounce back from these injuries too.

Robert Smith. People even said his chicken pox were proof he was injury prone. Then he went on to be awesome....

[Platoon]

I think Buxton is a 3/30 player. When he comes back it’s always for somewhere between 3 games and 30 games. 
 

I think he is a wonderful talent, he simply cannot stay on the field. He seems to be made of glass. Realistically I don’t think it matters standing wise this year, but it leaves the team in a bind in the future, 

IF I got a good offer I would regrettably move him, he really has no value on the IL. If I don’t get something I like, I would simply run out his tenure here and let the chips fall where they may.

I am sure Buxton will want a contract based on his talent. I am sure the Twins will only pay him based on his playing time value. I doubt those numbers will be close!

[ashbury]

19 minutes ago, Platoon said:

I am sure Buxton will want a contract based on his talent. I am sure the Twins will only pay him based on his playing time value. I doubt those numbers will be close!

It's worse than that, I think.  A rich team can afford to take on the risk of a contract based on talent.  I feel it's wrong to phrase it as having anything to do with Buxton's wishes.  He's literally worth more, in dollars and cents taking risk into account, to a rich team than to the Twins, and it's asking a lot to expect Buxton to accept the lower value.  Just not a level playing field, where it comes to the high-end talent.

[Mike Sixel]

35 minutes ago, ashbury said:

It's worse than that, I think.  A rich team can afford to take on the risk of a contract based on talent.  I feel it's wrong to phrase it as having anything to do with Buxton's wishes.  He's literally worth more, in dollars and cents taking risk into account, to a rich team than to the Twins, and it's asking a lot to expect Buxton to accept the lower value.  Just not a level playing field, where it comes to the high-end talent.

100% this. It is not an even playing field at all. And a rich team can totally take the risk he's going to be healthy.

[KirbyDome89]

The difference with Watt and Griffey is that they were healthy enough to reach the pinnacle of their respective sports. It seems counterintuitive but Buxton would've needed to be healthier/more productive to reach the level of disappointment as the above mentioned. 

[TheLeviathan]

Buxton has no business in a comp with Junior.  That's more akin to Trout now tailing off hard.  Buxton has nowhere near that equity.

Mark Prior seems better.

[Pdxtwins]

Eric Davis is the best comparison from my generation.  He had all the tools for a HOF career and just couldn't stay healthy.  And even he was relatively healthy to begin his career.  Go check out his late career healthy seasons.

I have know idea what they should do with Buxton and I am glad I don't have to make those decisions. 

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

3 hours ago, RedBull34 said:

I think this is both a yes but also a no.  Between Ages 19-30, Griffey only had two seasons where he didn't reach 500 PA's and three where he didn't reach 600.

And one of those sub-500 PA seasons was the 1994 strike year — Griffey only missed 1 game out of 112 Seattle played that year.

[USAFChief]

4 hours ago, RedBull34 said:

 

Buxton only HAS one season between 21-27 where he has reached 500 PA's.

 

Not fun with numbers.

[Robert Gauthier]

Instead of worrying about past injuries, remember this. Byron Buxton is one of the best players in all of baseball. As noted above, Paul  Molitor was very injury prone when he was younger. Nelson Cruz had a lot of injuries and was very inconsistent when younger. Sometimes, just bad luck it’s just that. I think the twins need to re-sign him, because of one thing. When he plays they are a 600 team. He has not come back from any of these injuries a lesser player.  If there’s a desire to stay here, the twins should make every effort to sign him.  He is a once in a generational talent, like Acuna, Tatis, Trout, Griffey, etc.  Even when he doesn’t hurt, he helps them win with his defense. Despite what the fans say, the twins do have a history of signing their key players. Think Puckett, Herbek, Mauer.  The Fanbase thought all of them were lost, all of them stayed. We have to ride this out, because it is so rare to get a talent like Buxton, and while Kiriloff, Larnach and Lewis look like they will make it, Buxton has.  And remember how electric it was when he came back and beat out a hit, hit a homerun and made a great catch?  I am willing to wait for his return.  

[Mike Sixel]

2 hours ago, Robert Gauthier said:

Instead of worrying about past injuries, remember this. Byron Buxton is one of the best players in all of baseball. As noted above, Paul  Molitor was very injury prone when he was younger. Nelson Cruz had a lot of injuries and was very inconsistent when younger. Sometimes, just bad luck it’s just that. I think the twins need to re-sign him, because of one thing. When he plays they are a 600 team. He has not come back from any of these injuries a lesser player.  If there’s a desire to stay here, the twins should make every effort to sign him.  He is a once in a generational talent, like Acuna, Tatis, Trout, Griffey, etc.  Even when he doesn’t hurt, he helps them win with his defense. Despite what the fans say, the twins do have a history of signing their key players. Think Puckett, Herbek, Mauer.  The Fanbase thought all of them were lost, all of them stayed. We have to ride this out, because it is so rare to get a talent like Buxton, and while Kiriloff, Larnach and Lewis look like they will make it, Buxton has.  And remember how electric it was when he came back and beat out a hit, hit a homerun and made a great catch?  I am willing to wait for his return.  

Every one of those players was great at 22........or younger. No comparison. But yes, it would be great if he stays. I don't see it happening, though.

[Dantes929]

He's been my favorite player for a while now and he has definitely played at MVP level when he's been on the field.    I've always said, and somewhat believed Ripken was just a badly twisted ankle and a poorly placed hit by pitch from being called injury prone but this Buxton think is getting to be a lot even for an optimist like me.    Too expensive to keep and too many injuries to get a lot of return value.    Same solution I had for Johan Santana.    Play him til the end of his contract and be happy to have a player even for one year at a bargain price.     If he happens to stay on the field for 2022 he might get a return if the Twins are out of contention.   My hope is that he has his monster year in 2022 and becomes legend. for leading the Twins to a  championship.

[prouster]

14 hours ago, Mike Sixel said:

Every one of those players was great at 22........or younger. No comparison. But yes, it would be great if he stays. I don't see it happening, though.

Well, Nelson Cruz didn’t get regular playing time until he was 28. 

[bighat]

One thing is a 100% certainty:

If Buxton gets traded or signed elsewhere, he will become the next Cal Ripken Jr, play in 162 games per year and put up Kirby Puckett-like numbers for the next 10 years.

Deep down we all know this is fact.

[Battle ur tail off]

I wouldn't trade him. If you did, just as you guys are saying, I would want back what his talent is worth, not how much he has played. 

 

It's worth the risk for this sorry organization to try and resign him. And with that injury history they DO have a little bit of leverage. We won't be able to touch another player like Buxton for many many years. 

 

Put it this way. This team doesn't have any top pitching. And they won't until they can identify a guy in the draft that can throw hard, go 7 innings and dominate games. The way forward until they can get this pitching is to win with your position players. Your pitching staff will continue to be below average until you pay someone or develop someone. 

[Dodecahedron]

4 hours ago, bighat said:

One thing is a 100% certainty:

If Buxton gets traded or signed elsewhere, he will become the next Cal Ripken Jr, play in 162 games per year and put up Kirby Puckett-like numbers for the next 10 years.

Deep down we all know this is fact.

I don't think so.  As I said elsewhere, I suspect Buxton has Marfan Syndrome or some other connective tissue disease.  I suspect this is why he is fast but brittle.

When Buxton plays for another team (let's face it, he does not want to be a Twin forever), he will still be a superstar on the field who gets injured a lot.  Compare him to Percy Harvin.  When the Vikings sent him to Seattle, Pete Carroll could not rave more about him and publicly stated he was the reason they would win the super bowl, even though Harvin played in just one regular season game.  

[Number3]

I don't know how much time it will take to come back from his fractured hand but at least its not his throwing hand. Lets assume there will be at least 50-60 games left. So the obvious question is, will he be able to finish the season on the active roster? What do you think the Vegas odds would be that he will not? At least now he has been hurt in all 3 aspects of the game; playing the outfield, running the bases and hitting while still in the batters' box. Still can't get over his slipping and falling in the first ab and actually turning his previously injured foot or ankle.. No one else seemed to have that problem