Hardball, the Twins, and Byron Buxton

Outside of the Yankees and Houston, Buxton will be facing AAAA pitching up here in September.  Will anyone learn anything from that?  With hearing in the Star Tribune his wrist may still be a minor issue (this may be FO doubletalk), shutting him down does not seem that unreasonable.

This is a wild exagerration. Yes, there are some bad teams, but there are still a lot of players on those teams above "AAAA" talent. (And September callups don't usually pitch many innings, and honestly aren't that different from the staff the rest of the year -- in some cases, they might be inprovements!)

Look at the Tigers, they still have 3 SP with 104-113 ERA+, plus Fulmer having a down year at 94, plus Greene and Wilson in their pen. Those are all pitchers for whom it would be valuable for Buxton to face.

The Royals are worse, but they still have Duffy, Junis, and Keller starting.

The White Sox have Rodon and Kopech who have looked great so far, plus Shields and Lopez having competent seasons.

Not to mention we have 30% of our remaining games against NYY, HOU, and OAK where we could encounter a nice playoff atmosphere.

The Tigers have 0 starting pitchers with an ERA under 4.  FIP and XFIP disagree on the year Boyd is having.    I am not agreeing on the AAAA pitching bit. AAAA pitching is Slegers. That is not what a team sees in September. They may see a few innings from players close to the major leagues who have had ok seasons. I don't recall the lifer minor league pitchers getting a reward call up playing. other than a mop up It doesn't mean they don't exist. It is just highly unlikely

It is a business and it should be. It is the front office’s obligation to protect the interests of the organization. I haven’t seen an argument that a month this year is better than a full season in his prime. I haven’t seen an argument that a month of this losing season is better than a few weeks next April.

I am not convinced that the at bats he will get this month are critical to his success. I also am not convinced that his reaction to the decision will have an impact on his future performance.

Will the White Sox call up Eloy Jimenez who has destroyed minor league pitching and has shown solid pitch recognition in his strike out rates? Probably not. It is in the best interest of the organization to keep control an additional year of his prime.

For two weeks. And he has a record of starting slow.

Two weeks, my man.

The career OPS+ sits at 79. That speaks for itself...and he was looking worse than ever.

Please. Don’t talk about the financial hardship of Byron Buxton. He received a six million dollar signing bonus. Even if he never makes another dime, he should be set for life.

I didn’t say anything about financial hardship. He’s earning his money honestly, and not calling him up to keep him another year away from free agency would not be honest. It’s bad form, and the Twins should be better than that.

I simultaneously want Buxton up, getting as many MLB at-bats as possible....AND at the same time, don’t have a problem with a FO making a decision in a scenario similar to this based on service time. I just wouldn’t have gone this way with Buxton.

I didn’t say anything about financial hardship. He’s earning his money honestly, and not calling him up to keep him another year away from free agency would not be honest. It’s bad form, and the Twins should be better than that.

And if Buxton had gotten the service year, and decided to sign elsewhere when he hit free agency...despite the Twins having made a ‘fair’ offer and having ‘stuck with him’ during his months/seasons of struggling....

would that then be poor form on the part of Buxton? Or would that be Buxton exercising his rights under the terms of the CBA? It’s a business, has been forever.

And if Buxton had gotten the service year, and decided to sign elsewhere when he hit free agency...despite the Twins having made a ‘fair’ offer and having ‘stuck with him’ during his months/seasons of struggling....

 

would that then be poor form on the part of Buxton? Or would that be Buxton exercising his rights under the terms of the CBA? It’s a business, has been forever.

That hasn’t happened. So there’s no analogy there. And I would think Buxton walking is more likely if the Twins aren’t honest with him.

It is a business. That doesn’t mean it’s okay to be dishonest. In fact most people in business act ethically. It’s generally better for business.

There is no human right to reach MLB arbitration as early as possible. The Twins are under no kind of ethical obligation to call up a struggling, banged up player so that, in the event he actually becomes good, the player gets to free agency sooner. The logic behind this complaint escapes me entirely.

I urge all Twins fans to step back, look at the offensive stats, and pretend you are looking at a guy who plays for the Padres or Marlins.

 

What the Twins have is a 25 year-old career .230 hitter who has played parts of 4 seasons with the team. He has great speed, gold-glove defense, and a terrible strikeout rate. He's prone to prolonged slumps and injuries. That's what Buxton IS. An amazing defensive player who cannot hit MLB pitching right now. He also appears to be a great human being but that doesn't count right now.

 

Buxton is not going to transform into Ted Williams in 3 weeks playing against other September call ups. The Twins are doing the right thing by not recalling him in 2018.

I want players to succeed upon callup and this is a good post. First of all I think people need to reassess their expectations of Byron Buxton. He's not Mike Trout and probably never going to be. That said if he can develop better pitch recognition ability he has a future at the major league level as a starting center fielder. I am somewhat disturbed by how many people who continue to insist that he just battle through these woes at the major league when he has shown that he can't CONSISTENTLY hit major league pitching.

Marching orders for the offseason. Get stronger, stay healthy and really work on pitch recognition and bunting. Let Buxton focus on those things the entire offseason and reassess next spring. Cave has earned an extended look for the remainder of the season which Buxton has not. Just my opinion.

Again, then, you didn't read the complaint. I have no issues with him not being called up due to health and performance issues. I just don't think service time manipulation should be the only or primary reason to not call him up. That alone is my point.

If he didn't have health and performance issues, he never would have been in AAA. 

There is no human right to reach MLB arbitration as early as possible. The Twins are under no kind of ethical obligation to call up a struggling, banged up player so that, in the event he actually becomes good, the player gets to free agency sooner. The logic behind this complaint escapes me entirely.

Not one poster here has said it's a human right to reach arbitration. However, the Twins and Buxton are in a contractual relationship. If one party to a contract does something to prevent the other party from reaping the benefits of the agreement, it's a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

You may believe Buxton doesn't deserve to be called up based on performance. That's fine, and that's a legitimate reason to not call him up. I disagree. I believe Buxton deserves to be called up, and that not calling him up would be a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. It would be dishonest and unethical, in my opinion. And I don't want the organization I root for to conduct its business in that way.

I felt this way when the Cubs held back Bryant as well, and I expect he and Mr. Boras won't be giving any loyalty discounts when the Cubs seek to extend him.

You are correct... If I sign a contract that provides a 100 Grand Bonus for selling 1 million crayons for the year and then forces me to do nothing but clean toilets in December when I'm sitting at 999,980 Crayons on December 1st. I have the right to call my lawyer because of a clear breach of the covenant of good faith. 

 

However... you are going to have a hard time finding a team to root for. 

 

I'm being Honest... as a fan... I want the year back and I am under no legal obligation to disguise my intentions. 

As a fan, I want to see the best players playing. Buxton is among our best players, and he is, if not the most entertaining, among the three or four most entertaining players to watch. I also want to see the players get paid fairly, and it doesn't bother me at all that Buxton will get a better deal on an extension if the Twins don't jerk him around for the rest of the year.

This is so maddening. 

I know I'm late to the party, but I sure hope Doogie is wrong. Not bringing up Buxton can only be seen as a service time issue. Even if it isn't, everybody is going to THINK it is and that's not a good thing, either.

If his wrist still has issues, he should not be playing. I don't care if it's Rochester or Minnesota or Fort Myers.

If he's healthy enough to swing a bat, he should be up here testing out his swing on major league breaking balls. 

My view of the front office is completely different now because of this. As I said, I hope Doogie is wrong. But one year of service time doesn't matter if the player isn't very good. 

If he's not wrong, then the Twins deserve every bit of criticism for being "cheap" that they get because of this.