Is The Buxton Era Beginning?

As long as it's accompanied by the Sano era, the Berrios era, and the Kepler era, count me in.

yeah, he finished strong last year if memory serves me right... I just want to see him cut down the Ks.

Eye test says he looks a little more confident and his approach seems more consistent. He's still striking out an awful lot but on the surface he doesn't seem to be flailing as much, he's had much better AB's than previous IMO. Deer in the headlights look is gone.

Whatever that's worth.

Is the Buxton era beginning?

Certainly, but Buxton will be to Sano and Polanco what Gaetti was to Puckett and Hrbek.   Thus term "Buxton era" is equivalent to that of "Gaetti era".

Eventually, he'll be fine.  He just needs reps.  We're probably over analyzing everything right now.  He's had about 400 PA in the majors and less than 550 PA in AA and AAA combined over the last three (injury plagued) seasons.  Occasionally, you see glimpses of what he can become.  

I know WAR has a ton of warts but both b-r and fangraphs have him on a 2+ WAR pace for a full season.  He's been about as valuable this year, in few PA, as Denard Span has been for the Giants.  He has to improve his plate discipline but he's already an asset and he'll get better.  

I've been as disappointed as anyone with his slow start to his ML career. But like any young prospect, it does usually take time to adjust to the level of pitching in the majors. There's a reason these guys...most of them...are pitching in the majors and not AAA. There's a reason guys like Albers can look good to very good as SP in the minors but not Pitch nearly the same at the ML level.

Buxton is only 22. He has about 1 full season at the ML level. He did, unfortunately, miss some developmental time in the minors due to injury. Yes, he raked. But time missed to build confidence, to maintain an approach, etc, are all real things.

Think about Hunter. Think about Gomez (though he died off rather quickly).

Always thought, over time, he may develop more power and sacrifice some speed and SB success, but that's more in the future I think. I believe he'll be fine.

Yes it is beginning. And with Dozier, Polanco, Sano, Kepler, Rosario, Mauer, and Vargas in the mix, the offense should be pretty nice next year.

 

I still think he will be a game-changing star.

Hope that 2 off that list, but for sure one, is not a Twins' player next year...

I think the Buxton Era started on June, 4, 2012. He has matured and improved since that date and that will continue. It's a process, but he will be a top-flight major leaguer.

Yes it is beginning. And with Dozier, Polanco, Sano, Kepler, Rosario, Mauer, and Vargas in the mix, the offense should be pretty nice next year.

 

I still think he will be a game-changing star.

Bingo, Shane and Spin. He's just too uber-athletic plus an enormously tireless worker to not eventually become a perennial All Star- that's a rare combination and a sure-fire formula for ultimate success.

Mark me down (yet again) for Buxton ultimately becoming a 30/30 guy at least once or twice in his career. Over the last 5 seasons since 2012, there are two CFs who far surpass anyone else in MLB- Trout with 46 fWAR and McCutchen with 29. The next tier of CFs drops off significantly into the 18-19 range- Jones, Cain and GoGo (avg.- ~3.7 fWAR/season).

Somewhat incredibly, after Saturday night, Buxton is now rated as ~1.5 in terms of bWAR for 2016 after 79 games played and overall, unquestionably a very tough baptism of fire amid enormous media scrutiny and expectations.

He's still only 22 years old.... This third time around, there is a general consensus that he definitely has a more confident look at the plate and the appearance of having a plan- the automatic clueless-looking countless 0-2 count situations have dropped significantly for Buck. I think it's entirely reasonable to expect Jones/Cain/GoGo 3.5 fWAR average type of numbers/year between ages 25-30 as a realistic floor, and somewhere closer towards McCutchen (6 fWAR/season) as a potential/possible ceiling. Not Trout numbers, but definitely not the "bust" as he has so frequently been characterized.

Gunnarthor (See Post #13) is spot-on correct with respect to WAR and Buxton's MLB adjustment process, let's see what his production numbers look like during his second 1000 PAs- i'm betting they will be significantly better than his first 500 PAs.