Cory Provus Thinks Season Finale Might Be Byron Buxton’s Last As A Twin

[old nurse]

4 hours ago, CCHOF5yearstoolate said:

Crazy clickbait article. Buck has consistently said he's never waiving his NTC, and nothing Cory said even remotely hints otherwise.

Remember the last time Cory made a prediction about what was happening to the team? Loved not having any blackouts this season!

Aw, these people get so apoplectic about what someone says with no knowledge of what the team has for a plan. 

[tony&rodney]

Change Happens

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

2 hours ago, howeda7 said:

I don't understand this logic that they're going to trade Buxton/Pablo/Ryan? And do what? Have a $50 million payroll?

It’s because people have lost their ****ing minds. 

[Craig Arko]

I think it’s more likely to be Provus’ last game as a Twins announcer, if ESPN is actually becoming the broadcast partner.

[Brandon27]

Buxton and lopez are  good as gone there is no way they stay for a rebuild/youth movement.if the twins go that way the rebuild could last a long time 

[howeda7]

54 minutes ago, Craig Arko said:

I think it’s more likely to be Provus’ last game as a Twins announcer, if ESPN is actually becoming the broadcast partner.

Why? He's employed by the Twins. They've always employed the on-air talent. That won't change just because ESPN distributes the games. 

[howeda7]

41 minutes ago, Brandon27 said:

Buxton and lopez are  good as gone there is no way they stay for a rebuild/youth movement.if the twins go that way the rebuild could last a long time 

They aren't free agents. What are they going to do? Refuse to report to Spring Training?

[dxpavelka]

7 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Except the plan is not to compete next year unfortunately... 

Really?  Did you help formulate the plan?

[David HK]

9 hours ago, USAFChief said:

We don't even know for sure there actually ARE minority investors, much less hiw much they're investing, what it might be used for, or how it'll change payroll going forward.

 

Probably some hedge fund bros who are gonna wanna squeeze the rest of the juice from this lemon.

[jmlease1]

well, trading Buxton would be an utter disaster for the franchise and signal that they have no intention of even trying to win until after the presumed lockout, and would be an expression of greed that Grandpa Carl would have certainly approved of.

While the market for Buxton might be robust should he go on it, the need to get him to waive his no-trade also limits it extensively and could easily result in the team doing another salary dump, rather than getting the kind of real value we'd need for this to be even remotely palatable. But will ownership care? Seems unlikely. They've "right-sized" payroll down to a point where they'll make money even if no one shows up next season (and attendance will be awful), and if they trade Lopez, Ryan, and Buxton (hell, why not trade Jeffers too at that point!) they'll be able to drive the payroll down to $50-$60M and generate real profits for everyone...except for the fans. Then they won't even lose much when the owners lock out the players in 2027! 

Brilliant business that will destroy baseball in MN. It's gross and evil, so seems pretty likely.

[In My La Z boy]

6 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

well, trading Buxton would be an utter disaster for the franchise and signal that they have no intention of even trying to win until after the presumed lockout, and would be an expression of greed that Grandpa Carl would have certainly approved of.

While the market for Buxton might be robust should he go on it, the need to get him to waive his no-trade also limits it extensively and could easily result in the team doing another salary dump, rather than getting the kind of real value we'd need for this to be even remotely palatable. But will ownership care? Seems unlikely. They've "right-sized" payroll down to a point where they'll make money even if no one shows up next season (and attendance will be awful), and if they trade Lopez, Ryan, and Buxton (hell, why not trade Jeffers too at that point!) they'll be able to drive the payroll down to $50-$60M and generate real profits for everyone...except for the fans. Then they won't even lose much when the owners lock out the players in 2027! 

Brilliant business that will destroy baseball in MN. It's gross and evil, so seems pretty likely.

This is how I feel most Fall's after the season. I look forward to Spring when I am always optimistic. Seems with the Braves very disappointing season, and their large payroll abilities, and their constant desire to win, they will no doubt come calling for Byron, and I'll be sad for us, and happy for Byron. He'd love to play for the home town winning Braves I am certain. We'll definitely trade Pablo, and we'll keep Joe Ryan and call it a winning off-season 🙃 

[Riverbrian]

12 hours ago, howeda7 said:

I don't understand this logic that they're going to trade Buxton/Pablo/Ryan? And do what? Have a $50 million payroll?

50 million would probably cause revenue sharing complications. 

[Doctor Wu]

13 hours ago, howeda7 said:

I don't understand this logic that they're going to trade Buxton/Pablo/Ryan? And do what? Have a $50 million payroll?

At this point, with our starting pitching depth, and the fact that he doesn't seem thrilled with Rocco, I COULD see a Ryan trade, but not Buxton or Lopez.

[Doctor Wu]

10 hours ago, Brandon27 said:

Buxton and lopez are  good as gone there is no way they stay for a rebuild/youth movement.if the twins go that way the rebuild could last a long time 

I still don't see what is happening as a rebuild at all. And we will NEED veteran players and voices like Buxton and Lopez on the team next season. Let's not write off 2026 just yet. 

[chpettit19]

14 hours ago, howeda7 said:

I don't understand this logic that they're going to trade Buxton/Pablo/Ryan? And do what? Have a $50 million payroll?

Yes. The smart move in baseball from a profit perspective is that if you're going to be bad, be bad as cheaply as possible. It's how you maximize profits because of the revenue sharing rules in place in the CBA. If you're going to lose 90-100+ games in front of an empty stadium, do it with a low payroll. 

The Twins can't run that low of a payroll for crazy long because the MLBPA will throw a fit, but doing it until after the incredibly likely lockout coming in 2027? They could absolutely do that. And it'd make the Pohlads and their new minority owners (assuming they're approved by the league) a bunch of money. Which is what they care about.

So, yes, the logic behind trading Buxton/Pablo/Ryan is to run a bare bones payroll. It's the smart move when you're not concerned about winning and know you're going to set another record for low attendance. 

[Trov]

This is a Buck call.  He said no to being traded mid-season.  It is possible he will change his mind during off-season when you have more time to plan and work out deals with teams and not just go by the quick decision.  Reports are he intends to build his dream home back in GA, which makes it easier for him to go to different teams as his long term plans is return there either way.  

I am sure after this season his trade value is as high as it has been in years, and I am sure the Twins would love to cash in, go more with the youth movement they are doing.  However, Buck holds all the cards, so it is up to him. 

[Woof Bronzer]

14 hours ago, howeda7 said:

I don't understand this logic that they're going to trade Buxton/Pablo/Ryan? And do what? Have a $50 million payroll?

Yep, exactly.  They'll sit back and let the TV money/revenue sharing roll in.  

This is the plan of teams like the Rockies, Pirates, As, Nats etc.  Being terrible is very profitable in MLB.   

[bean5302]

11 hours ago, Hosken Bombo Disco said:

It’s because people have lost their ****ing minds. 

TBF, so have the Pohlads and Falvey based on their moves recently. Some of the crazy thinking is just trying to match the team's decision making philosophy... probably.

[jmlease1]

13 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

Yes. The smart move in baseball from a profit perspective is that if you're going to be bad, be bad as cheaply as possible. It's how you maximize profits because of the revenue sharing rules in place in the CBA. If you're going to lose 90-100+ games in front of an empty stadium, do it with a low payroll. 

The Twins can't run that low of a payroll for crazy long because the MLBPA will throw a fit, but doing it until after the incredibly likely lockout coming in 2027? They could absolutely do that. And it'd make the Pohlads and their new minority owners (assuming they're approved by the league) a bunch of money. Which is what they care about.

So, yes, the logic behind trading Buxton/Pablo/Ryan is to run a bare bones payroll. It's the smart move when you're not concerned about winning and know you're going to set another record for low attendance. 

This. If you go crazy low for too long the MLBPA will squawk and we saw from the A's actually spending some money last offseason that it will have results. But Twins could get away with it easily for 1 season after having much more middle of the pack roster costs for several years in a row, and then we're in lockout mode anyways with the CBA coming up.

But god, it's like perfectly designed to kill baseball in the state. Baseball has tons of competition here for professional sports (Vikings, Wild, Wolves, Lynx, Loons...) and loads of things for people to do in the summer. Tanking attendance and fan interest going into a lockout with billionaire owners who are arrogant and stupid enough to think there won't be any significant effects of the sport disappearing seems...bad.

All viciously cutthroat business decisions that have nothing to do with the wonderful game of baseball. Gross.

I hope Provus is wrong. I want Byron Buxton to retire a Twin and be one of those awesome one-club players. I certainly don't want to see him a freakin' Atlanta uniform! That'd be almost as bad as seeing him in a Yankees jersey. 🤮

[David Maro]

Buxton and Lopez's personalities are something that will dictate if they stay or go. Ryan is going to be gone,he would have been gone at the deadline if his fiance wasn't with child. You can see that he is not happy and you can't have someone who doesn't want to be there.

[mluebker]

Hope for the best. Expect the worst.

[bean5302]

13 hours ago, Jacksson said:

Buxton sure fell apart down the stretch when all he could do was Strikeout or hit a HR.

Had plenty of games to become a 30 -30 player but he could neither get a hit or take a walk.  I would not be surprised to see him waive his no trade clause and get traded.

BUT Please, for heaven's sake come up with a replacement other than OUTman or Keirsey.

Buxton doesn't get on base. It's why he's not a 10 WAR player and won't be an MVP. That's not going to change. When he made attempts to increase his walk rate, his K rate also climbed.

2nd half .226/.287/.516 OPS .803 6.7% BB, 29.2% K, wRC+ 113
Aug-Sep  .228/.292/.531 OPS .823 6.7% BB, 28.7% K, wRC+ 118
Sep alone .233/.300/.556 OPS .856 6.0% BB, 32.0% K, wRC+ 128 (5 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs)

 

[nicksaviking]

19 hours ago, T.O. said:

"I hope that the minority partners, once revealed, have the capacity to change things at One Twins Way."

There seems to be a lot of posts expressing hope that the minority owners will save the Twins or steer them in a better direction. I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes but I see no reason to see these minority owners as anything other than investors providing cash to resolve debt now with the expectation of cashing in when the team sells at a higher price in the future. If the minority owners were going to be revealed wouldn't it have happened already?

If Buxton wants to go I'm sure they will choose saving the money and taking another long shot "prospect". 

I wouldn't count on the minority owners to do right by the fans.

But in continuing to lower payroll, what I don't understand, and what nobody else has explained, is why MLB would approve these minority owners if the Twins are just going to continue to use their revenue sharing they get from the other billionaires, to pay off their real estate losses, and not re-invest in the team.

Why would the other owners give them free money that won't benefit the Twins and MLB interests as a whole? These aren't generous people, they only do anything to benefit themselves. So if the Twins are going to lower payroll even more, wouldn't the other owners say, 'Nope. We're not approving your investors. Deal with your debts like the rest of us do or sell the team.'

I'm open to understanding a different point of view on this, but I haven't heard one.

[T.O.]

17 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I wouldn't count on the minority owners to do right by the fans.

But in continuing to lower payroll, what I don't understand, and what nobody else has explained, is why MLB would approve these minority owners if the Twins are just going to continue to use their revenue sharing they get from the other billionaires, to pay off their real estate losses, and not re-invest in the team.

Why would the other owners give them free money that won't benefit the Twins and MLB interests as a whole? These aren't generous people, they only do anything to benefit themselves. So if the Twins are going to lower payroll even more, wouldn't the other owners say, 'Nope. We're not approving your investors. Deal with your debts like the rest of us do or sell the team.'

I'm open to understanding a different point of view on this, but I haven't heard one.

This is so far over my head. I wish we knew.

[Vanimal46]

25 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

But god, it's like perfectly designed to kill baseball in the state. Baseball has tons of competition here for professional sports (Vikings, Wild, Wolves, Lynx, Loons...) and loads of things for people to do in the summer. Tanking attendance and fan interest going into a lockout with billionaire owners who are arrogant and stupid enough to think there won't be any significant effects of the sport disappearing seems...bad.

Fans will come back once the Pohlads are gone and the roster gives people a reason to care again. The Wolves for nearly 15 years were the most incompetent organization in sports. It’s amazing what competent ownership can do. They’ve been one of the hottest tickets to get for the last 3 years. 

[Riverbrian]

The only thing that I have to say on the subject is this. 

Buxton has been through a lot with the injuries he has suffered throughout.  

This year... he came close to a full season and that makes me happy for Buck.   

Byron is on my team... no matter what we go through in the next few years. I hope Byron remains a Twin for his entire career. 

Players that play their entire LENGTHY career for one team is rare. Byron is already a rare player from a talent perspective Playing for one team... would make him rarer than rare. 

Please don't request a trade... help us out of this hopefully temporary hole.  

[Killer Rod Tony]

21 hours ago, 1985Fan said:

What a blow to baseball in Minnesota trading Buxton would be! If they decide to trade Pablo for cost cutting purposes, I wouldn’t be surprised if Buxton then wants out. If the return for Pablo is talent that can immediately contribute at the MLB level, then they could be competitive. I don’t think Buxton would see it that way though and would probably want out. I hope Falvey has enough sense to talk to Buxton before making offseason moves. Let him know the plan is to compete next year with him as the leader in the clubhouse. I don’t have any confidence that Falvey would do that. I do fear the Twins are going to kill any fan interest in the name of payroll and sink this franchise into Rays and Marlins territory. This is the worst I’ve felt about the future of Twins baseball since the contraction debacle. 

Well said

[Killer Rod Tony]

21 hours ago, Dawgzilla said:

Who cares!!!  If the ownership/front office doesn't care, we the fans have better things to do with our money, especially in a high inflation cost society.  Players, owners, retailers/concessions in sports cost/make to much anyway.  Waaaayyy to expensive.  Then you have the payroll disparity between the clubs and larger market cities!!!!!!!!!!  Gosh, which teams have best chance to make playoffs....every year, with an exception here and there?!!!!  Lastly, there looks like a player lockout next year, meaning more disgruntled fans!!!!  MLB is destroying itself from the inside out!  Oh, one final thing:  you need multiple tv/cable/streaming pkgs just to watch a garbage team.  Laaaattteeerrr!!!

I couldn't have said that better having been a twins fan since 1965. I think it was 1976 when free agency started Kurt flood and the messersmith guy. That's what started the higher salaries and all the bidding wars for players and the prices of tickets exceeding the rate of inflation like an unimaginable figures. The person that I dislike in baseball is Bryce Harper. There's so much bad to say I won't say anything except when he got upset in the presence of the baseball commissioner thinking is going to be a request for a salary cap. When the players make more money than they could possibly use in a lifetime just in one season and they would get angry at a salary cap where do the fans get the money to go to these games to pay for it? With larger TV screens in the home I would pay more than the monthly fee is now to bring down prices in the stadiums and have a salary cap that can somehow allow for a box seat under $100. I live in Virginia and in 1987 the World Series I was offered a World Series ticket for $100. Can you imagine anything like that now? I turned it down thought it was too much money. I'll read twins news everyday of the year. I know it's a business the players are going to play for whoever pays them but there's a Mystique about putting on a twins uniform because of the credibility of the people that they would hire and draft and trade for like Harmon Killebrew Tony Oliva Rod Carew many people with Class Act type folks on and off the field. They've done that better than any other team then the fire sale. The most stunning thing I've ever heard of. That's because money is tight with ownership unlike some franchises that it doesn't matter and that has to change and until that changes the Minnesota Twins and some other organizations have no chance to win anything. So baseball May end next season maybe for the whole year but ownership has to hold their ground and the players must realize you can make a living for your family on the minimum wage of Major League Baseball.

[saviking]

19 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

I pointed this out a few weeks ago to a chorus of down votes.  

Buck is not going to be interested in a historic Twins losing season. 

The Pholads are not interested in spending money at least until the next collecting bargaining agreement if ever. 

Something has to give. 

Buck does not align with the current realistic competitive timeline.

I expect him and Lopez to be traded with Ryan a maybe depending on the return.

I'm not saying that I like it. I'm just saying it is likely

Ik notnl promoting it but can you imagine the package Buxton, Lopes and Ryan could bring back. Young players with a lot of cheap service years. 

So if you think we are in position to win a world series within the next 2 years dont do it ... I guess what Im saying is with low revenue, a cheap owner we are between a rock and a hard place. 

[tony&rodney]

27 minutes ago, Killer Rod Tony said:

I couldn't have said that better having been a twins fan since 1965. I think it was 1976 when free agency started Kurt flood and the messersmith guy. That's what started the higher salaries and all the bidding wars for players and the prices of tickets exceeding the rate of inflation like an unimaginable figures. The person that I dislike in baseball is Bryce Harper. There's so much bad to say I won't say anything except when he got upset in the presence of the baseball commissioner thinking is going to be a request for a salary cap. When the players make more money than they could possibly use in a lifetime just in one season and they would get angry at a salary cap where do the fans get the money to go to these games to pay for it? With larger TV screens in the home I would pay more than the monthly fee is now to bring down prices in the stadiums and have a salary cap that can somehow allow for a box seat under $100. I live in Virginia and in 1987 the World Series I was offered a World Series ticket for $100. Can you imagine anything like that now? I turned it down thought it was too much money. I'll read twins news everyday of the year. I know it's a business the players are going to play for whoever pays them but there's a Mystique about putting on a twins uniform because of the credibility of the people that they would hire and draft and trade for like Harmon Killebrew Tony Oliva Rod Carew many people with Class Act type folks on and off the field. They've done that better than any other team then the fire sale. The most stunning thing I've ever heard of. That's because money is tight with ownership unlike some franchises that it doesn't matter and that has to change and until that changes the Minnesota Twins and some other organizations have no chance to win anything. So baseball May end next season maybe for the whole year but ownership has to hold their ground and the players must realize you can make a living for your family on the minimum wage of Major League Baseball.

Would you support a maximum net worth for all individuals/households or even a maximum that anyone is allowed to earn or spend via any avenues? Random number (pick your own), say no one person or household could have total assets above $100M or earn more than $10M in any given year?