This is Why Byron Buxton is Worth His Contract

[Joe Schmitt]

Buxton is the same as Taylor?
Taylor's 2024 WAR is .1
Buxton's 2024 WAR is 1.6
(Fangraphs WAR, that is)
WAR accounts for playing time, defense, strikeouts, etc. It's not perfect, but it's the best comprehensive measure of contributions I know of. Taylor's basically a replacement level player. That's worthwhile. But Buxton's been much, much better this year.

 

[SoDakTwinsFan]

One month does not make him worth his contract.  My goodness.  He was bad in 2022.  He was atrocious in 2023 and up until a month ago he was in between bad and atrocious.  He has a lot of homers to hit to make up for 2.5 years of bad baseball.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, Jim wyllie said:

I will never doubt his talent or humility, however I still say if he stays healthy and has a strong year it might be best trade him while the value is up.  They already have martin and Castro who can cover cf til Rodriguez is ready possibly by next seasons end.   It also makes a lewis extension easier

Trade for what, even though he has a no trade clause.

They would ONLY accept some thing that is in the absolute top level of pro ball, not some wishful thinking rookie.

[stringer bell]

I agree this has been an interesting conversation. I hope there is consensus among even the critics that while his play and his contract can be criticized, it has nothing to do with the player's efforts, preparation or desire. He's had a boatload of injuries literally from head to toe that have robbed the fans of seeing a truly exceptional athlete.

Which brings to mind two things: 1) If there is disappointment with Buxton's performance, it is that in the team control phase of his career he was unavailable so much. That is where the team gets so much value because the player's salary is controlled while performance can reach star or superstar levels. 2) Buxton's career so far reminds me of two Twins' pitchers who got injured when seemingly they had claimed elite status--Francisco Liriano and Scott Erickson. Both guys came back, but never were quite the same. The didn't have the same bite on their pitches and became more hittable. I think if all three of these guys hadn't suffered injuries how great they might have been.

My wish for Byron is that he defy the odds and become a healthier player in his 30s than he was in his 20s. It doesn't happen often, but isn't unheard of. Paul Molitor is an example. 

[Markdumont25]

The bottom line is that the Twins overpay when he's hurt and he gets vastly underpaid when healthy... So it's just a matter of how healthy he can be. If he can average 120 games for the next 4 years then this contract will have been a steal for ownership.

I liked it at the time and still like it. Most good things in life require some risk and locking down a player with his elite potential for only 15 million a year was well worth the risk of injury or him not playing close to his potential in my opinion

[dxpavelka]

14 hours ago, Aerodeliria said:

It's a TD requirement to write this kind of article whenever Buxton gets hot....

Don't see them writing this one about Kirilloff or Larnach

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

On 7/2/2024 at 8:54 AM, Doctor Gast said:

'22 wasn't great, '23 was recovering from '22. But '24 he has made up for it. '24 his biggest problems haven't been physical it was emotional (placing a lot of pressure on himself to produce), mechanical (trying to pull everything) & mental (trying to apply all the analytics to his swing). When he simplified everything he started to rake. Many have been pessimistic about Buck playing time, I'm not. I expect good things from Buck this 2nd half & years to come.

Come on, man. This is just drivel. 

[MABB1959]

22 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Yep, the parallels with Buxton in terms of injuries are a real concern. The difference is Buxton was never going to be an elite bat because he can't get on base and he had tons of strikeouts.

He used to be able to get on base and then run like the wind!

[Doctor Gast]

1 hour ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

Come on, man. This is just drivel. 

Where have you been, Falvey? I can say the same about your hype you spin. 

[laloesch]

On 7/2/2024 at 8:25 AM, Whitey333 said:

Another Buxton gloating, and over- hyped and excessively dramatized story.  I'm sorry for him that he's been injured so much.  We never got to see him full time.  We will never know him in that way because his biggest statistic in 9 years is games missed.  Yes he's oʻn a hot streak right now.  It's about time!  But we all k ow that he is close to another 2 for 25 stretch that will highlight his ability to flail away at pitches low and away.  He sure gets a lot of kudos for such a part time player.  Twins Daily could do better by being a little more authentic and honest about Buck.  

There is truth to this statement above.  I fear Royce Lewis is gonna fall into the same category.  It's just injury after injury after injury.

[laloesch]

1 hour ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

Come on, man. This is just drivel. 

I agree with you.  The homers have been circling the wagons around Buxton for years.  They did the same thing with Sano until he was gone.  Look it's unfortunate (really unfortunate), that he hasn't been able to stay healthy in years past and there's no doubt it's effected his production dramatically.  

[CCHOF5yearstoolate]

2 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

Where have you been, Falvey? I can say the same about your hype you spin. 

Busy with life. Glad to see you haven't stopped acting like you know these guys personally and commenting on things you cannot possibly know to be true. 

[IndianaTwin]

Unless I missed it, no one has noted that he’s fourth in bWAR on a team that’s on pace for 91 wins. It’s hard to do that and not be worth $15M.