Which Hitter Cost the Twins the Most Down-the-Stretch?

[PuckettPond]

6 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

What in the world??? There are no words for this... 

Buxton's 2nd half collapse is upsetting & confusing for the fans just like when the Dragons & Cobbers stopped playing each other in football because of travel costs.

[ewen21]

10 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

How do you suggest they move on.  The latest he has said is he wants to be here, there is where we know he is at currently.  Do you suggest they release him and eat the last two years of his contract, because that currently is the only way "to move on".

The fact that he proclaimed that he wants to be "a Twin for life" is irrelevant to me at this point.  I have said the Twins could approach him at some point next season (perhaps before the trade deadline) to tell him he will not be resigned after 2028.  That is rough, blunt and probably too soon, but I am all for it.  Let him decide if he really wants to play baseball.  Why is it that Buxton gets to decide at this point?  He is signed through 2028.  The Twins should tell him at some point next year or (probably) during the offseason following 2027 that he will not be resigned after 2028.  Thank you very much, have a nice day.  We did it with Hunter and Santana and they were at least a big part of a resurgence the Twins had in the early 2000s that saved the franchise.

 

How is it that Buxton is any more special than those players?  He isn't to me (as you can probably surmise by now)

[HarmonK03]

2 minutes ago, ewen21 said:

The fact that he proclaimed that he wants to be "a Twin for life" is irrelevant to me at this point.  I have said the Twins could approach him at some point next season (perhaps before the trade deadline) to tell him he will not be resigned after 2028.  That is rough, blunt and probably too soon, but I am all for it.  Let him decide if he really wants to play baseball.  Why is it that Buxton gets to decide at this point?  He is signed through 2028.  The Twins should tell him at some point next year or (probably) during the offseason following 2027 that he will not be resigned after 2028.  Thank you very much, have a nice day.  We did it with Hunter and Santana and they were at least a big part of a resurgence the Twins had in the early 2000s that saved the franchise.

 

How is it that Buxton is any more special than those players?  He isn't to me (as you can probably surmise by now)

You asked why Buxton gets to decide, because he has earned that under the rules, being with the same team for 5 years and being in the major leagues for 10 years.  So he has earned this whether anyone agrees or not.

And I don't believe the team is going to push the issue, they have made it clear that he is still the face of the franchise and want him here.  So to keep banging the drum of trading him is futile.

[ewen21]

5 minutes ago, HarmonK03 said:

You asked why Buxton gets to decide, because he has earned that under the rules, being with the same team for 5 years and being in the major leagues for 10 years.  So he has earned this whether anyone agrees or not.

And I don't believe the team is going to push the issue, they have made it clear that he is still the face of the franchise and want him here.  So to keep banging the drum of trading him is futile.

There is literally no need to explain the bolded to me.  I KNOW that is the situation.  He earned that according to the collective bargaining agreement, but he didn't earn the right to be resigned for 2029 and beyond.  The Twins do not need to resign him.  They have a team to run.  They can hasten his departure if they so choose and we can see who is interested.  I  see no reason for him to remain on this lofty perch as "face of the franchise".  I would rather have no face of the franchise for a while.  THe 2002 to 2004 Twins did not have a "face of the franchise" and they did just fine.  This "face of the franchise" stuff is actually part of the problem if you ask me (and I know you haven't)

 

I am simply stating measures that can be taken by the Twins

 

Why he is cast in stone as "the face of the franchise" really is absurd to me.  We have not played much meaningful baseball with him.  The Twins have played in just 12 playoff games in the 12 seasons he has been with them and he has appeared in a grand total of TWO  of those games.

 

I am trying to say it is time to let go already.  

[mrmpls]

The Twins have played in just 12 playoff games in the 12 seasons he has been with them and he has appeared in a grand total of TWO  of those games.

 

[Jacksson]

BUXTON

[Riverbrian]

On 9/12/2026 at 11:36 AM, ashbury said:

Now that the Twins have (tacitly) waved the white flag on the season, I would like to see a stop to platooning.  No, I would go even farther if I had any say: Anti-Platoon!  Go to every length possible to find out which batters are at least "playable" when the opposing manager brings in a reliever of the same hand.  Of course I want our batters to pulverize the opposition when handedness is favorable, but they'll get the most chances to do that if they can survive the unfavorable matchups.

If the batters named in this article can redeem themselves this way during the final few weeks, it would perhaps mean something.

Be still my heart.

It's nice to hear this expressed because I often feel alone. Even if its only with a tacit white flag qualifier. I'll take it. 

We called up Gonzalez over Rodriquez and everyone needs to pragmatically think about this.

We called up Ggon over Erod. Our organization purposely called up a LESSER player because of HANDEDNESS. We chose the LESSER player on purpose.

We are so unescapably tied to the concept that we purposely choose LESSER players to feed it... instead of breaking the chains of it and simply choosing BETTER players instead.

When an organization purposely staffs LESSER players they are fundamentally broken because BETTER should be the selection criteria. 

We called up a LESSER player to join the other purposely staffed LESSER players. Jackson, Caratini, Kreidler

So we could lock into a 9 player lineup that would then proceed to slowly and consistently fade out of contention. We locked in and we lessened the talent behind it which led to no escape route. Fate was in the hands of 9. 

BTW... The inevitable call up of Gonzalez over Rodriquez was set in motion years ago when the organization decided to take EVERY left handed hitting prospect and PURPOSELY make them dependent upon a lesser player.

They will need to choose lesser players over better players 5 years from now because the calling up of a lesser players TODAY shows no inclination to create players who will break the dependance TOMORROW.  

How does this pertain to the trolling topic of this thread. We locked into 9 players and COLLECTIVELY they led us out of contention. 

The players who actually played are the ones. All 9 of them. 

 

 

[Linus]

It’s the whole lineup - and has been for several years. It was hidden in the first half by luck with RISP but returned to normal. Add in the fact that they were not good in the field and you have a substantial challenge trying to create a winning lineup.