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

Change Happens

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 

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. 

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?

7 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

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

Really?  Did you help formulate the plan?

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.

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.

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 🙃 

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.

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. 

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. 

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.   

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. 🤮

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.

Hope for the best. Expect the worst.

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

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.

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? 

8 minutes ago, saviking said:

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. 

We fans are certainly in a tough place. The Minnesota Twins Baseball Club is worth more than a billion dollars. There are a ton of options for the organization. I keep going back to whether the people who make the decisions have sufficient talent and skill to put into place the series of moves needed to improve the outlook for the team in the future. Do they? We will find out just as we witnessed how well-run the franchise was this year.