How Did the Buxton Process Go So Horribly Wrong?

2 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

He was physically unable to spend even any amount of time in CF to this point. The effort the Twins put in to ensure he never set foot in the OF was comical at times. He adds the wear and tear of 85 games played, people are constantly pointing to the grimacing, labored movement, ect as evidence he's struggling, he finally hits the IL, but now he's no longer dealing with the physical limitations that wouldn't allow him to play defense earlier in the year? Yeah, I think that's odd. I also think there's a very clear difference between incapable and unwilling. 

Again, it's not about him having different physical limitations right now it's about how long of a stretch you're trying to get him through. His body is likely in no better shape now than it was at any other point in the season. They are just worried about different things. They have a different goal now.

Their plan failed. No doubt about it. He didn't perform well enough as a DH to have made him a useful player. But the goal when they were limiting him to DH was to maximize his ABs over the entire season while having him available for the stretch run and the playoffs. They've said this from the beginning. The team, Buxton, Correa, the trainers, everybody said it. They thought he'd be able to handle just DHing and keep his body from falling apart over 162 games. They were wrong. Plan went "horribly wrong" to steal the title of the article. Now they only care about 30ish games(will be less than that by the time he'd come back). It was a marathon, now it's a sprint. You have different strategies for a marathon than you do for a sprint.

6 hours ago, saviking said:

I remember reading another article just before the season started that said Correa talked Buxton into not playing centerfield for the team. I wonder if Correa was a part of that suggestion.

Yes, this came out back in early May, when Buxton was batting .900 OPS. 

Success has a thousand fathers; an orphan, none. 

To those discussing a possible Buxton retirement or not:

Stephen Strasburg has just announced his retirement, leaving millions on the table. So, it does happen. 

48 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Would you also propose this equation: Defense<Defense+Hitting? And would you agree for for Buck his playing equation is Buck's  Defense>Hitting? If so maybe Buck should only be a defensive replacement in CF and not bat.  Look, I don't fault Buck at all, but he has not been helping this team this year by batting DH. There are better options for DH for the Twins in 2023.

Oh, I've never argued the plan worked. Never really even said it was the best option. Just defended the idea that there's a real and very clear difference between being a DH and being a CF.

4 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

My point is that it depends on how much he has to exert himself on the basepaths. Accelerating quickly, stopping suddenly, touching raised bases as a runner races full speed past them,  sliding into fielders, diving headfirst back to first base in response to a pickoff are arguably as taxing physically as catching 3 to 6 balls hit to CF, some of which require very little physical effort and some of which may require running at full speed and diving, similar to running the bases and sliding headfirst. I usually agree with almost all of your posts, CH, but on this one I must respectfully disagree with you.

But doesn't he move for balls he doesn't catch? Balls hit to right field or left lead to him accelerating quickly, stopping suddenly, etc. right? But I'm not even arguing offense is less work on any given day than defense. Simply arguing that offense alone is less work than offense and defense 100% of the time. Yes, running the bases can be a lot of wear and tear on his body. But running the bases then turning around and going to CF is even more wear and tear.

It wasn't offense only or defense only debate. It was offense only or offense and defense. Him going 5 for 5 is X amount of wear and tear. But him going 5 for 5 and also playing defense is X amount plus Y amount. That is more. That's the entire argument I'm making. Just playing offense is less than playing offense and defense. That's why there's a difference between being capable of DHing and being capable of playing CF.

38 minutes ago, SoDakTwinsFan said:

If you're argument is that playing CF is too much of a workload for him on top of hitting then the Twins need to work on a buyout .  He is obviously not a good enough hitter to justify his current contract.  

As far as the people on here saying he is a streaky hitter...I mean he shows flashes of being a good hitter followed up by much much much longer stretches of being putrid.  I look at as "a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while."  His K rate and OBP have never been good.

I don't disagree that him as a DH only is not what they're paying him for. But a buyout isn't something that's going to happen. Far more likely he just retires if his body continues to fail him. They're not eating that deal.

13 hours ago, mnfireman said:

Better check your source's on how much $$$ he's leaving on the table.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10087183-nationals-stephen-strasburg-reportedly-will-retire-after-complications-from-injury

Good catch, and dumb me. Collecting in full due to medical retirement

This could be relevant for Buxton and especially Correa if either ever reaches a point where they simply cannot take the field to do anything baseball related.

4 minutes ago, KirbyDome89 said:

You aren't participating in either if you're physically unable to run, that's the oddity being pointed out here. 

The messaging seems to have shifted more than the goals...

When was he physically unable to run? My understanding is that it's always been about the amount of running his body could handle.

Maybe I'm just understanding the messaging differently than you and some others? My understanding has always been that they wanted to maximize his ABs (pretty sure those exact words have been said by Falvey, Rocco, and Buxton) while keeping him in the lineup as much as possible for the entire season. That's always been the messaging I've been aware of since those are almost direct quotes from Buxton himself. Now "the entire season" is going to be less than 30 games before he's back (plus the playoffs). I think that changes things, but I recognize that others have interpreted the messaging differently, and have different opinions on his health in general.