The Minnesota Twins Have Failed Byron Buxton

[laloesch]

9 minutes ago, Wedman13 said:

The whole article is confusing, and I love the guy.  It's been noted that Falvey was completely clear with him about tearing things down.  If Buck 'chooses' to stay, that's his decision.  Further, the org stuck with him for years and rewarded him pretty handsomely even though he couldn't play 100 games.  His fault?  No.  But it was how it played out.

im a huge fan of his, but to say he's been let down is pretty dramatic.

and not to nitpick at everything, but he wasn't the first overall pick in 2012.  I forget who was...

yeah.  Hey I admire Buxton wanting to stay in Minnesota, that's admirable, but eventually he's gonna regret that decision because the one thing that always will elude him is a championship. 

[ashbury]

17 minutes ago, laloesch said:

Hold on.  These guys are getting 15-20x the average yearly salary of most Americans.  Treat like Crap? Yeah right!  They ALL make more money in one year than most of us make in 10 lifetimes of toiling away at normal jobs, so the "who treats who, loyalty, bla bla bla stuff between the players and owners," talk (scoffs) makes me sick hearing commenters whine about it like it's their own personal plight.  It's not.  They (players and owners) are all spoiled rotten MASSIVELY overpaid babies playing a kid's game as adults.    

1. Players earn too much money.
2. Tell them to stop it.
3. ???
4. Profit! (We all get lower ticket prices.)

[Coach Wheels]

2 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

It's bizarre that Buxton chooses to show loyalty to an organization that has made it crystal clear that the loyalty is not reciprocated.  What does that prove?  The Pohlads, like all billionaires, don't care about players or loyalty or anything that doesn't involve them hoarding more and more money.  Hard to feel too sorry for a guy who chooses to stay with a crappy organization that treats players like crap.  

In my opinion, Buxton is currently saying all the right things and that's what a professional should do. If he comes back this summer and continues to play at a high level with a bad team, let's see what happ3ns this winter. He'll be 31, would love one more big contract, and he probably won't get that in Minnesota regardless of who owns this team. I say its 50/50 hes a Twin next spring.

[S Bart]

Buxton put forth a comment on staying in Minnesota more than a week ago. If he had not been hurt all of the time, I believe that he could have been a HOF candidate. I don't see him as being a real vocal leader in the clubhouse, but he is not a person that only thinks of himself in my view.

[jjswol]

The Twins have not failed Buxton, he failed the Twins and their fans. Sure, he has been their best position player in 2025, But look at all the other years, the man has played in less than 53% of the games over the years. Ability is great but you also need durability and Buxton has never had that. Yet, the Twins rewarded him with a large contract. No, I don't feel bad for Buxton, a player who  has an average WAR of 2.9 annually and gotten his WAR above 3.9 just twice in 11 seasons. Kirby Puckett is a good comp with Buxton and Kirby played in 93% of the games and I am not even going to compare WAR numbers. I would say that Buxton is a lucky man and certainly not someone to feel sorry for because the team or ownership has let him down. The man has a no-trade clause and all he had to say is "trade me" and I think the Twins would have jumped at the chance.

[Woof Bronzer]

2 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

BTW - Yet another article blaming the FO for the fire sale. I am beginning to think the writers here do not understand how business hierarchy works.

The Varland and Stewart deals were not Pohlad directives, that was purely the FO "finding value".  And according to Derek St. Peter's letter the fire sale was his intentional plan to make the team better.  It's weird that you keep insisting he had nothing to do with this.  Like most things in life it's not black and white.  

[The Great Hambino]

They put him in a position to make his own choice regarding his future.  That is not failing him.  If anything, that's treating him with respect.

And if this rebuild/teardown continues going they way I fear it will, then he will be just about their only marketable player left.  They'll run out of ways to repackage Buxton bobblehead night

[hitterscount]

This is not a knock on Buxton, if he could stay healthy he could be one of the highest paid players in the MLB, if he chose. He is that good when he's on the field.

But winning and playing for a chance at a WS does not appear to be a priority, goal, dream... whatever you want to call it. Correa waived his no trade clause to get the hell out of here and went to a team that is serious about being competitive and it doesn't hurt he played there before. 

As a competitor I just don't understand why you would stick around this organization with the clock winding down on your productive window of opportunities... this team will be bad for the foreseeable future, personally I would be gone

[Fire Dan Gladden]

10 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

The Varland and Stewart deals were not Pohlad directives, that was purely the FO "finding value".  And according to Derek St. Peter's letter the fire sale was his intentional plan to make the team better.  It's weird that you keep insisting he had nothing to do with this.  Like most things in life it's not black and white.  

Any statements coming out after the fact are 100% spin. To expect him to come out and say anything negative is naive.

Word is trickling out that the Jax and Varland moves were made for culture reasons. Jax even requested a trade after talking to Correa about the team direction.

Of course Falvey had a role in this, but no GM wants to destroy a team and rebuild. My "insistence" revolves around the fact that virtually every story, every comment, puts all of the blame of Falvey for the negative fallout. The money aspect of this teardown, the impending sale, and ownerships role in this process is being virtually ignored, while every writer and commenter is taking the opportunity to bash Falvey as much as possible (reference your Derek St. Peter comment as example #1).

I would love to see some balance and a tad of objectivity (or at least empirical data) in at least a few articles. I see bashing on the prospect return, yet nothing about how these types of trades have worked out in the past. There is bashing about how the Twins do in prospect development, but no information about how they compare to their contemporaries. Are they better? Worse? Have they done a better job than their predecessors in this regard? How about a little reporting into how involved the Pohlad's were in this process? Nope. Just ride the emotional wave of "Destroy Falvey!"

[Woof Bronzer]

56 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

My "insistence" revolves around the fact that virtually every story, every comment, puts all of the blame of Falvey for the negative fallout.

 

This is just extremely, extremely false.  The hatred for the Pohlads is visceral, and every story and comment mentions them.  Again, so very weird to blindly defend a guy you readily admit was lying in his letter by putting for the laughable take that "no one is blaming the Pohlads." I have yet to find a single article, blog, opinion piece, anything at all that claims the FO did this on their own independent of the Pohlads.  Just a bizarre thing to claim.  

Clearly the majority of the activity was Pohlad-driven.  But to pretend Falvey is innocent in it is just shockingly naive, and I truly don't understand the point in pretending otherwise.  Here's a guy who traded an MLB reliever on a team friendly deal for a 28 year old AAA LH hitting outfielder (the 178th LF hitting outfielder in the organization) because he figured out he could stash him in St Paul for 3 weeks to gain another year of service time with which to put his his incredible .105 batting average to use.  Indefensible.  

 

[USAFChief]

2 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

This is just extremely, extremely false.  The hatred for the Pohlads is visceral, and every story and comment mentions them.  Again, so very weird to blindly defend a guy you readily admit was lying in his letter by putting for the laughable take that "no one is blaming the Pohlads." I have yet to find a single article, blog, opinion piece, anything at all that claims the FO did this on their own independent of the Pohlads.  Just a bizarre thing to claim.  

Clearly the majority of the activity was Pohlad-driven.  But to pretend Falvey is innocent in it is just shockingly naive, and I truly don't understand the point in pretending otherwise.  Here's a guy who traded an MLB reliever on a team friendly deal for a 28 year old AAA LH hitting outfielder (the 178th LF hitting outfielder in the organization) because he figured out he could stash him in St Paul for 3 weeks to gain another year of service time with which to put his his incredible .105 batting average to use.  Indefensible.  

 

Yeah. I don't know about this.

I mean, there's a lot of love for ownership around here. 

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Clearly the majority of the activity was Pohlad-driven

Why is this clear? Why do people keep saying this? 

Just because payroll is lower? Payroll SHOULD be lower if you're not trying to compete. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

7 hours ago, NYCTK said:

I

Anyways, loyalty to an employer is always stupid. They don't care about you. Whether you work for McDonald's or the Minnesota Twins. 

The above statement comes from a confessed New York Mets fan. I'm sorry you have had these job experiences. I can assure you this was not my experience during the 52 years when I was an employer. 

[NYCTK]

4 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

The above statement comes from a confessed New York Mets fan. I'm sorry you have had these job experiences. I can assure you this was not my experience during the 52 years when I was an employer. 

I don't know what the hell that's supposed to mean, as a confessed Mets (and Twins) fan. 

I'm glad you feel you treated your employees well. Did they get equity in your business? 

This is all just to say, work isn't all there is to life. Which is perhaps why Buxton doesn't care to leave. 

[jkcarew]

No. Having a great year. But he’s missed way, way, way, way too much time in his career to have anything owed him beyond the millions he’s being paid.

WAY too much time.

Did I say WAY too much? Way too much.

[laloesch]

6 hours ago, ashbury said:

1. Players earn too much money.
2. Tell them to stop it.
3. ???
4. Profit! (We all get lower ticket prices.)

Riddles.  Let's play chicken then and fill in the blank.

[LyleCole]

Totally disagree with the concept.   The 2025 year was lost and the Twins got what they could out of it.  And while it isn't his fault and Buxton is a great player, the problem with Byron is he is a great player for 80-90 games a season.  His max games played is 140 in 2017 and he has had just one other season playing in more than 100 games (102 in 2024).

Injuries are probably not a player's fault, however, in 11 seasons of MLB baseball Buxton has only played 857 games of the possible 1,782.  

The real problem is not just ownership (the cheapness of the Pohlads at the expense of the fans has been a topic I have talked about for a long time).  It is that the direction of the team simply was fading as the core players could not sustain a full season of play.  

Here is the real issue:   I think this group only has one more season before you see a real fire sale of the roster.  If 2026 goes the way of 2025  I doubt Buxton will not be traded (assuming he is healthy).  Ryan, Ober, and Lopez could be dealt.  It will be complete rebuild.   This scenario has to be in the possible projections of the GM so getting a head start on that isn't totally bad management.

[jimbo92107]

Emancipate Byron Buxton. Don't chain the man to this losing franchise any longer. Let him go to a team that has a chance to contend. I don't even care if it's the Yankees or the Dodgers. Let him go. Set him free. He's done his time in baseball pergatory. The wolves finally unshackled Kevin Garnett. Time for the Twins to do the same for Buxton. 

I would ask for a couple hard-throwing, low minors pitchers. Every team has those. 

We have loved Buxton. Let him go.

[JD-TWINS]

Buxton is a great talent!!

He’s been injured an inordinate amount over the past 10 years ……. 107 games & 140 games other than those 2 seasons he hasn’t played 100 games plus in a season ……. this year should change that……..

Saying the Twins (regardless of the deadline) have let Byron Buxton down is ridiculous.

I must say, I wasn’t thrilled with Jax being traded  (benefit of Bradley is real) & really bothered by Varland’s trade. They got real value back in the trade with Toronto but letting a kid from St. Paul go with control through 2030 seemed short sighted - we’ll see.

France - Paddack - Dobnack - Coulombe - Correa (fading performance and injuries have started) - Castro - Bader  ……… that’s 7 of the 11 guys moved……..no big deal, seriously, as nobody thought the Team was going to be competitive any longer in ‘25 after July 26th. Duran & his probable $8M salary are gone. Jax and his probable $4M salary are gone. The other guys total, this year, to $58M. That, with what Jax & Duran make currently, frees up $65M in annual salary heading to ‘26. Again, Varland stings but Stewart is an injury waiting to happen. …… I wish them all well BUT them no longer being Twins does not spell doom in ‘26.

Lopez hurt - Ober hurt - Keaschall hurt…….etc……..all coming back.

Lewis is finally playing well - enough n last 4 games Larnach, Lewis, & Wallner have all contributed in the way they should as central figures in the core of the Team. Buxton has generally been healthy and has performed. at a high level. Keaschall is the real deal and the future at 2B or 1B for years.

Bradley - Rojas - Abel all have the talent to step in for guys that were traded, with more years of low cost control.

TEAM has flexibility for 2-3 FA adds in the off-season and with the core of Buxton - Keaschall - Jeffers - Lewis - Larnach -Wallner, I see them being very competitive in ‘26.

 

 

 

 

[Bodie]

22 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

It's bizarre that Buxton chooses to show loyalty to an organization that has made it crystal clear that the loyalty is not reciprocated.  What does that prove?  The Pohlads, like all billionaires, don't care about players or loyalty or anything that doesn't involve them hoarding more and more money.  Hard to feel too sorry for a guy who chooses to stay with a crappy organization that treats players like crap.  

All billionaires are sociopaths...

You forgot "cheap" Pohlads!

And my  DFL comments is didproven!!!

Edited August 6, 2025 by Bodie
Spell check shenanigans

[mluebker]

23 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

It's bizarre that Buxton chooses to show loyalty to an organization that has made it crystal clear that the loyalty is not reciprocated.

If he didn’t have the no-trade clause, they’d have long since thrown him overboard.

[Charleo]

On 8/5/2025 at 9:08 AM, old nurse said:

Baseball is a game of failure. Failing to get a hit 2 out of 3 times to the plate is great hitting.  A home run every 15th or 20th time to the plate shows you are a power hitter. Draft 20 players. If one is a great player or a couple are useful it was a good draft. In his 11 seasons he has been to the playoffs 4 times. That is better than if he would have been drafted in the next three picks.  The Twins are a failure this year. The lack of development by the hitter is on that player, the coaches or the drafting guru for not picking someone else. The same can be said for the slow starts this year of several of the veteran players added in recent years.  Injuries happen. Who is at fault that Festa and Mathews are not Lopez and Ober?  Some years are like that. Just look at Atlanta who was predicted to win the NL East and a favorite of some to dethrone the Dodgers.  Some seasons are like that. They did not blow up their team, but their assets were different. The point is, some teams have a collective bad year.

 

The rules of the baseball teams are very specific on how much debt teams can carry and how they accumulate. At 400 million the Twins are not at the debt level ceiling, but they are at the point of why spend more.  Whatever excuse you want to us doesn’t change that the locals did not increase their coming out to the ballpark, not all that watched on cable purchased the internet coverage 

I may be wrong, but my understanding is the debt is the Twins, but it's not FROM the Twins.  I read the Pohlad's basically fail at everything and use the Twins to borrow against to prop up other failing ventures.  Again, happy to be corrected if this is inaccurate.   

[USAFChief]

2 minutes ago, Charleo said:

I may be wrong, but my understanding is the debt is the Twins, but it's not FROM the Twins.  I read the Pohlad's basically fail at everything and use the Twins to borrow against to prop up other failing ventures.  Again, happy to be corrected if this is inaccurate.   

I don’t think there's been any definitive reporting of where the debt came from. 

Not sure how there would be. Twins finances aren't publicly disclosed.

[The Great Hambino]

15 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I don’t think there's been any definitive reporting of where the debt came from. 

Not sure how there would be. Twins finances aren't publicly disclosed.

I haven't seen definitive reports either, but I have seen reports that their debt load is almost triple what other similar franchises like Cleveland hold.  The Twins have run their payroll a little higher, but not that much higher.

It would be bizarre for that debt to be purely baseball debt.

[NYCTK]

16 hours ago, jimbo92107 said:

Emancipate Byron Buxton. Don't chain the man to this losing franchise any longer. Let him go to a team that has a chance to contend. I don't even care if it's the Yankees or the Dodgers. Let him go. Set him free. He's done his time in baseball pergatory. The wolves finally unshackled Kevin Garnett. Time for the Twins to do the same for Buxton. 

I would ask for a couple hard-throwing, low minors pitchers. Every team has those. 

We have loved Buxton. Let him go.

He doesn't wanna go. 

Not to say he's not a competitor, but maybe he's not one of those intense competitors that values WINNING above all else, like a psycho. 

He's always been a pretty poor clutch performer, and if he were shipped off to the Mets, who asked about him, he'd be hearing boo birds at some points (even Soto has heard them) and maybe he'd just rather be the best player on a bad team than go through that BS.

That, and stability, might be way valuable for his well-being. 

[old nurse]

1 hour ago, Charleo said:

I may be wrong, but my understanding is the debt is the Twins, but it's not FROM the Twins.  I read the Pohlad's basically fail at everything and use the Twins to borrow against to prop up other failing ventures.  Again, happy to be corrected if this is inaccurate.   

Baseball rules prevent that due to the Wilpon fiasco 

[GNXman]

Sorry but buxton has failed as much as anyone. Has he ever been a player we could count on to carry the team? No. That’s not all his fault, but gee whiz hes never been the Puckett or hrbek that’s been there every game. He may be a good guy to his credit, but the on field performance is where it counts the most, and lets us down far too often. Recently bias is prevailing here.

[Riverbrian]

On 8/5/2025 at 6:49 AM, Matthew Taylor said:

And the front office repaid that by tearing down everything around him.

What was around him? 

Good Gravy!!! Does anyone think resupplying Ty France, Manual Margot the latest lead vocalists of the revolving door of low rent one year contract rebound candidates band is producing gold records.

It has been the performance of the supporting cast around him that led to this. 

Thank You to Byron Buxton for announcing publicly that you found a home in Minnesota and plan on retiring here. You've become one of my favorite Twins players of all time just for that public statement. I look forward to your eventual statue on the plaza.

Thank You for your commitment to helping your new surrounding cast get your team and my team to better place sooner rather than later.  

Ladies and Gentlemen... it was shocking... it's not the end of the world. It could be the beginning.