The Twins Made a Mistake Waiting on Byron Buxton’s Hip Surgery

[Kummel]

I hope Buxton's recovery goes well.  We don't know how long it will impact him or how he will do when he returns.  Considering that he is rarely able to play late in the season, delaying his return could mean he is more likely to be healthy and available to play in the second half.  Of course it would be better to play an entire year, but this way he could be a factor late in a season.  And Jenkins can develop as next CF.  

 

[djvang]

3 minutes ago, Cris E said:

What were Tristan Grey's numbers? 

Better than Buxton's are when he's on the IL.

[Fatbat]

We should actually be surprised that he already had surgery. Secondly, who wants buxton playing in march and April anyhow? He would just get hurt and not be available July-October when we really need him on the active roster. Let the kids play next spring and bring in an unbroken Buxton in June to heat up and let it rip in late summer!!! Ya’ll are short sighted.

[AKTwinsFan]

That's why Tatum and DiVencenzo both had their surgeries ASAP, we'll see if DDV will be back in time to help the Wolves this year. But if he waited till after the playoffs he'd have missed the whole year probably. 

[D.C Twins]

Twins gonna do Twins things... 

[Twins GFP]

2 hours ago, old nurse said:

The criticizing with minimal knowledge of complex situations is what people do. 

Close the comments, we have a winner!

[LastOnePicked]

30 minutes ago, Kummel said:

Considering that he is rarely able to play late in the season, delaying his return could mean he is more likely to be healthy and available to play in the second half. 

I'm seeing this argument a lot. I think people are forgetting that a playoff run can be derailed by a bad April. You want banked wins to build on, not an early hole to dig out of.

And if the Twins are struggling, Buxton might feel additional pressure to push himself in his return. He would have missed Spring Training, and re-injury could be even more likely.

This only works if a work stoppage lasts about as long as his recovery. Maybe the Twins just assumed that the season will start in June or July.

[Kummel]

Yes, the first half is important.  And as we can see from three years of collapses, the latter half is as well.  The problem for Twins and their fans is that Buxton is not a full season player.  So let Jenkins develop in CF and add Buxton later in season, I think it's a decent response to reality.

[Patzky]

3 hours ago, HarmanWithAnA said:

I'd rather have peak Buxton for the last 107ish games of the season than the first.  The mistake might have been not waiting till June every season to start playing him even when he was healthy.

Exactly. 

[David Maro]

The whole thing is a mess because of Buxton. With his injury history the team carried Outman to cover CF if Buxton went down. Now that is on the FO because Outman is far from what he was in LA but had no options. Then the medical staff didn't help the matter at AS break telling him he wouldn't do anymore damage if he could play though the pain. I think everyone knows that the older you are the longer it takes to come back from injury and or surgery. And another thing that seems to happen is when you favor a injury you have another. To be realistic he should have had the surgery around the AS break and it maybe would have been less complicated,but now that's all hindsight. Anyone who believes that he has value to this team at this point of his career is fooling themselves. 

[Nashvilletwin]

Everyone, don’t worry.

The question is not if Buxton/the Twins waited to long to have his surgery - they didn’t, because it’s highly unlikely there is any baseball before June next season anyway.

The actual question is what role is he going to play.  Ideally, he’s our primary DH, playing in the outfield no more than twice a week, and certainly not taking innings and ABs away from Keaschall, Jenkins and ERod.  If he still wants to be an everyday outfielder, we give him the option to do that somewhere else.  Easy peasy.

[MeleMouth]

2 hours ago, Cris E said:

Oh good lord. Hyperbole much?

The man is only making $15m and had hit 25 HR with a .930 OPS in mid-JUNE.  Yeah, he sucks. 

That would be awesome if the season ended in mid-JUNE, but it didn't.

After mid-JUNE, he performed terribly and had a surgery that will require extended rehab and may impact his ongoing performance, which is already declining because of aging. Nobody will give much for that kind of asset until they see if he can sustain decent performance.

In 2028, he'll be 34 and in the last year of his contract. Maybe they can get something for him then from a team who thinks he could be an asset in contending. Of course, ideally the Twins have a somewhat competitive team in 2028 and Buxton could be a fourth outfielder for it.

[MeleMouth]

1 hour ago, HarmonK03 said:

The team isn't going to force a trade if he wants to be here.  Regardless of how frustrated we are with the amount of games missed by Buxton, he has produced when in the lineup and has earned this right both contractually and from a business sense to be deferred to on this decision.

That's fine, but a typical 75-win team trades assets like Buxton. The Twins, however, not only don't trade him if he doesn't want to be traded nor put him on the IL and call up someone able-bodied when he's injured, they don't even take him out of the lineup if he wants to play when he's injured.

[Western SD Fan]

20 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

That's fine, but a typical 75-win team trades assets like Buxton. The Twins, however, not only don't trade him if he doesn't want to be traded nor put him on the IL and call up someone able-bodied when he's injured, they don't even take him out of the lineup if he wants to play when he's injured.

Everyone that wants to just trade Buxton away keeps forgetting that he had a full no-trade clause for 2026.  Just because you stamp your feet and whine doesn't make the full no-trade clause go away.  Even if Buxton would have agreed to a trade, you're basically trading with one team, your trade value drops significantly, likely to the point that Buxton is more valuable on your team than trading him.  Now in 2027, he has a limited no-trade clause that allows him to be traded to five teams.  I don't know what that list is, but I'm reasonably assume the Pirates aren't on there.

If you're in marketing for the Twins, how do you spin that you attempted to strong-arm your most recognizable player in on the team into breaking his NTC in what would appear to be a salary dump and giving up on the season.  Much of the fanbase is already apathetic, at best, towards the Twins.  You're trying to rebuild trust in the organization, not burn it down.

[PuckettPond]

There will be more Big Foot, Elvis & Unicorn sightings than Buxton playing Center field. Fans must stop listening to Jim Jones & not drink the Kool Aid. People with hip injuries use walkers not baseball bats. Baseball lost their greatest player Bo Jackson to a hip injury.

[Parfigliano]

4 hours ago, Mike h said:

I’ve had several surgeries including a back surgery that was supposed to take 4 hours but ended up taking almost 7. More to the point, once it was determined that surgery was necessary I still had to fit in to the doctors schedule and O.R. availability, etc.  And Buxton may have needed some time to digest the reality and rethink alternatives.  That would seem normal and his right. The wait could have been on him, not the Twins.  If so, that’s ok.  When it comes to your health you have to look out for number one.

Only Buxton can decide to have or not have surgery.  TC can suggest and push for him to get surgery but Buxton has final authority on the decision.

[HerbieFan]

Hindsight....20/20.

[IndianaTwin]

13 minutes ago, Western SD Fan said:

Everyone that wants to just trade Buxton away keeps forgetting that he had a full no-trade clause for 2026.  Just because you stamp your feet and whine doesn't make the full no-trade clause go away.  Even if Buxton would have agreed to a trade, you're basically trading with one team, your trade value drops significantly, likely to the point that Buxton is more valuable on your team than trading him.  Now in 2027, he has a limited no-trade clause that allows him to be traded to five teams.  I don't know what that list is, but I'm reasonably assume the Pirates aren't on there.

If you're in marketing for the Twins, how do you spin that you attempted to strong-arm your most recognizable player in on the team into breaking his NTC in what would appear to be a salary dump and giving up on the season.  Much of the fanbase is already apathetic, at best, towards the Twins.  You're trying to rebuild trust in the organization, not burn it down.

Because he has now reached 10 years of service, five with his current team, he effectively has a no-trade clause with the Twins.

[Parfigliano]

2 hours ago, Kummel said:

I hope Buxton's recovery goes well.  We don't know how long it will impact him or how he will do when he returns.  Considering that he is rarely able to play late in the season, delaying his return could mean he is more likely to be healthy and available to play in the second half.  Of course it would be better to play an entire year, but this way he could be a factor late in a season.  And Jenkins can develop as next CF.  

 

Better.   Jenkins is the starting CF out of the gate next year, is very good, and does not relinquish the job if/when Buxton comes back.  Buxton moves to 4th outfielder DH role.

[Cris E]

Wait, players only have value if they play 162 games?  Or is it the first half of the season doesn't count?  Or maybe guys that get hurt offend your aesthetic senses. Do you hate Mike Trout and Aaron Judge and Jacob DeGrom too? 

If someone offered you a deal to sign a guy to a half season deal for $15m where he'd hit 25 HR and have a .930 OPS you'd jump at it.  (Or you should, but I admit I am really not following all your deep 4-D chess logic here.)  Plenty of players like Buxton get paid for 600AB even though they rarely play that much, but our guy is being paid about half what he's worth. And that's roughly what we get, 90-odd games.  And Byron isn't complaining even though he could make a lot more money elsewhere and the team isn't complaining because we're only paying for what he's providing, but ignorant fans are complaining that half a loaf is worse than none. 

You seem to be having trouble wrapping your arms around the idea that the Twins did sign him to a smart, long-term deal where he's paid for about half a season of work and he's got huge bonuses in the event he does win an MVP or a World Series.  If this is the only way the Pohlads will spend money then take it, and maybe you need to get in the We Need New Owners line over there and leave Buxton alone.  

 

[Jacksson]

Yes they did, the DUMMIES !!

[AceWrigley]

"An eight-month recovery pushes his potential return to May 18, which would be 47 games into the 2027 season."

If there is a lockout and the season doesn't start until game 48 the timing will be perfect, eh?

[Wedman13]

6 hours ago, Czelgert said:

The Twins were probably measuring whether they’d meet their medical plan deductible for the year and only scheduled after they had.  It’s all you can eat for the rest of the season!  /s

Now this is funny!

[Wedman13]

6 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Wait a minute here.  You have assumed that the Twins' front office made the decision as to when the surgery would take place. How do you know it wasn't Buck's decision? How do you know what the doctor recommended? Did Buck get a second or third opinion? If so, what did these doctors recommend?  What went into this decision? Were there additional factors that influenced whomever made the final decision?   I know Buck has a contractual relationship with the Twins, but I doubt that contract gives the Twins carte blanche to make Buck's health decisions for him. 

Preach.

 I'm sure Buck is a fine fella but he is constricting the organization.  he is.  And anyone cannot tell me if his salary wasn't doubled (which at the deadline it would have been)  he wouldn't accept the no trade thing.  So dumb.  Zoll should have moved him and I mean that positively for both the organization and Buck.  If he doesn't care about winning or $ , it's not loyalty but a major red flag.  Sorry.
 

He wasn't living in a rental away from his kids in Georgia  for half of what his value was.  Zero superstars, aside from Mike Trout, do that.  Do better Zoll Pohlad and buck and trout 

just my opinion 

[S Bart]

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

Better.   Jenkins is the starting CF out of the gate next year, is very good, and does not relinquish the job if/when Buxton comes back.  Buxton moves to 4th outfielder DH role.

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

Better.   Jenkins is the starting CF out of the gate next year, is very good, and does not relinquish the job if/when Buxton comes back.  Buxton moves to 4th outfielder DH role.

6 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Wait a minute here.  You have assumed that the Twins' front office made the decision as to when the surgery would take place. How do you know it wasn't Buck's decision? How do you know what the doctor recommended? Did Buck get a second or third opinion? If so, what did these doctors recommend?  What went into this decision? Were there additional factors that influenced whomever made the final decision?   I know Buck has a contractual relationship with the Twins, but I doubt that contract gives the Twins carte blanche to make Buck's health decisions for him. 

Good point. A pet peeve of mind was the decision to suddenly make sure he was ready to play in the Field of Dreams game with no AAA proof that he was ready. It hurt the team. I am so sick and tired of HOPING he will play well. He is entering his mid-30s. NOTE TO Buxton, Shelton, FO, and TP. . PLEASE stop thinking that he will be a wonderkid who should be answer to the Twins making the playoffs. Use him as the DH to prevent the likelihood of injuries and sparingly in the outfield. Outfield CF Jenkins in CF, Emma, LF,  Keasch RF

[S Bart]

4 hours ago, MeleMouth said:

The Twins made many bad decisions regarding Buxton and his hip, but the timing of the surgery is not one of them and may actually be good.

Mistakes:

1. Letting Buxton continue to play when he was obviously injured and his results were terrible. Unlike surgery, which should be the player's decision, whether a player should play should not be up to the player.

2. Not filling his roster spot with Roden or someone else who could play every day, likely with better results, and should have been given an opportunity so that the team could plan for next year.

3. Deluding themselves, for the third time in just the last few years, that Buxton could get better with rehab and return to lead them in the playoffs.

4. Deluding themselves that they actually had a team that could make the playoffs, with or without Buxton, and deciding to buy at the deadline with a team that already lost Lopez and Buxton, two of their three top players, and not admitting that Joe Ryan had much worse second halves in each of the three previous years (now four in a row), instead of leaning into a rebuild.

5. Bonus mistake: not persuading Buxton to agree to a trade last summer or during the winter. His loyalty is admirable, but it's hard to see how staying on the Twins is good for Buxton or the Twins. I guess he wants to be remembered as a one-team player, but his legacy would be better if he was known as a guy who played in the World Series, which isn't going to happen here. This may be water under the bridge now, because it's hard to see how another team would give much for him.

As for the timing of the surgery, it's fine. If it takes him eight or even nine months to recover, he can return in mid-June or July. Based on his average 90-game season, that would actually allow him to be relatively healthy for the playoffs, if the team is in them, instead of being run down by the All Star game. 

Good analysis. My only question is the 90 day average.    It is an average. They should be full preparation not to count on him and have such plans in place. If he plays...and is healthy great. With his constant injuries...his 90 days may turn into less. He is not Roy Hobbs. .

[jkcarew]

Buxton and his agent had huge influence on what went down. Obviously. There are big ($500k each) bonus steps tied to PA that were in play. They announced the surgery right after the first bonus became mathematically impossible. I don’t think this is a knock on Buxton. “Stars” and their agents are going to have some influence, and at the beginning at least, Buxton probably thought he could be productive through it, as well. Human nature. He should have been sent for surgery earlier, yes. But, it’s not an entirely simple and straightforward process to get the player there. There’s probably a parallel universe where management could have been more proactive and persuasive…but it ain’t this universe.