It's Time to End the Byron Buxton Experiment at Designated Hitter

[Thebigalguy]

You are absolutely right. Put him in CF. Not every day but often enough to get his mind straight. The man is being disrespected when his Gold Glove caliber defense is shut down. He knows that. You know that. I know that. Let Buxton be Buxton. He knows enough at this stage to practice good hygiene when going after balls almost out of his reach. The man needs to be grass fed!

[Schmoeman5]

On 6/3/2023 at 1:43 PM, Ricky Vaughn said:

If he's healthy put him in the field at least 1/2 the time.

Not an argument, but how is 1/2 the time determined? Just play him 1 game at DH and then 1 game in CF till the inevitable happens?

[The_Phantom]

In my friend group chat I was calling over and over for the twins to sign Kiermaier because the writing was on the wall they needed a top shelf defensive center fielder. instead of opening up the wallet they traded a high prospect reliever for a far lesser hitter in MAT. this front office makes blunder after blunder 

[DJL44]

2 hours ago, The_Phantom said:

In my friend group chat I was calling over and over for the twins to sign Kiermaier because the writing was on the wall they needed a top shelf defensive center fielder. instead of opening up the wallet they traded a high prospect reliever for a far lesser hitter in MAT. this front office makes blunder after blunder 

The Twins traded nothing special for Taylor.

[Aerodeliria]

This issue has been one of the more vexing ones to me because I felt we've been given the smoke and mirrors treatment. I thought the plan from the start was to give him a chance to rest a bit between the games and a bit at the start of the season as the weather was so cold. I guess that was a scam or at least double-fake. We have claimed that Buxton is the DH (for life? I thought he was the CF for life...) but in fact, he is the second DH, because Taylor is eating up one spot in the batting order everytime Buxton doesn't play centerfield. Taylor is not filling in during late inning games or to give someone a rest; he is an everyday player, playing the position Buxton has been paid to play. I know that is a bizarro way to look at it, but that is how I look at it. In a normal world, Taylor would not be starting in CF--Buxton would be there and the DH slot could be open to someone with a much higher OPS than Taylor...

 

The great 'signing' was that we had the number one CF in all of baseball for years to come, but we don't play him in case he gets hurt...I wonder if there has ever been another player who was paid not to do what he does best. "Hey Buck! You're the best centerfielder in the game, so we are gonna sit you on the pine. That way you won't get injured and everyone can still envision how great you are without you actually playing..."

[SoDakTwinsFan]

His defense is his greatest asset.  That is a huge chunk of his value.  His contract that all you said was a "great deal" could turn out to be a terrible signing.  Compare his season stats to date to Miguel Sano's in 2021.  Very similar and I don't recall anyone calling Sano a superstar.

[USAFChief]

12 hours ago, DJL44 said:

The Twins traded nothing special for Taylor.

You missed the point, though. The plan to DH Buxton needs a center fielder that helps win games.

That's not MAT. There's a reason he could be had for nothing special. He's a good enough fielder, but he's long proven himself a liability in the lineup.

I dont like Buxton at DH, but that seems to have always been the plan. Particularly on this team, which was always going to be offensively challenged, any plan to take Buxton out of CF needed a better plan than one that trades a real bat for MAT's.

[Nine of twelve]

And one more thing: it's not an experiment. It's simply trying to roll with what is given, doing what they can with what they have and hoping for the best.

[joefish]

We all watched Mauer try to overcome his concussion. And Justin.  It was very frustrating then to see them give it their best, which was an underperformance by both, imo. It takes a toll on the guys around them too. Watching and waiting for Buxton to get back to good is feeling just like that.  He feels like a losing cause. Not lost yet, but not winning either. Not moving closer to good either.