It's Time to End the Byron Buxton Experiment at Designated Hitter

BB has been able to come out of slumps in the past by returning from a stint on the IL. I think that's what the Twins should do by putting him on the IL even if that means doing a rehab assignment before coming back. It still may mean "no centerfield" this year (or less) but at least he'll have a chance to be an effective DH. Ii think the FO needs to be able to adjust to situations quicker than they have, such as by bringing up players that have a hot bat and not waiting for players with a cold bat to heat up. Otherwise in the meantime the Twins can lose games and waste good pitching performances.. Since that's the purpose of the IL, the Twins should make use of it.

Two things seem pretty obvious at this point

 1. Clearly team would benefit immensely from him playing CF

2. Clearly he is not healthy enough to do so.

The scary thing is I'm guessing this isn't a "go on the IL and get right" type of injury. After all, he had all off-season and is only DH and still isn't healthy. Some athletes bodies just stop working right, and all the modern medicine in the world can't fix that. Plenty of examples across baseball and other sports of careers ended or severely compromised by chronic injury 

4 hours ago, Nine of twelve said:

I'm not going to comment at length because you can read what I have to say on the Byron Buxton thread in the Minnesota Twins Talk Forum. But I will say again that I am certain that every Twins employee wants Buck to play center field if that's feasible. I am also certain that every Twins employee tries to make the best decisions possible based on what they know. It is clear that people who are aware of all the facts have concluded that it's not in anyone's best interest to manage Buck differently than what is being done now. And, may I also say to those complaining that he should be managed differently: just give it up already.

This decision to make BB a DH was made months ago and it's becoming more apparent that it's not working out as planned. Even SI headlined an article with the title that BB & CC were hurting the Twins. I didn't bother reading it but I noticed the headline.

The FO wouldn't be doing its job if they didn't at least try to come up with a better plan if the slump persists. The Twins haven't been consistent enough to win against teams that are considered weaker despite good pitching. The FO's decision can also affect the Twins attendance and bottom line as well as their overall win-loss record. If you don't believe that the FO notices the impact of sub-par player performance then think again. Mediocrity can also lead other good players to not want to play for the Twins.

Putting BB on the IL and replacing him temporarily would be better than watching him struggle while the team loses close games that they should be able to win. 

If Buck's injured again (there are people in this thread suggesting he is), then . . . don't know what to say.

We've done everything humanly possible to coddle him this year, to keep him from doing anything which could lead to an injury.   If he's STILL injured after all that . . . then, IMO, it's time to give up on the idea that he can ever stay healthy.

Right now, he's not helping the team.  Now, he's not the only guy not hitting but he's definitely one of them.

IMO, he's only worth the contract if he can play CF 120+ times a year.   Anything less than that & we're overpaying for the performance we're getting.

If Buxton's knee isn't 100% completely healed, then there is some sense to him being the DH. If he's really healthy, there's no reason to keep him at DH full time. He could play CF at least some of the time. We can't go thru the season with MAT as the regular CF. Sure, he can field the position, but his bat is very limited. There are too many holes in this lineup already, without MAT in there. We really have two guys that should be no more than late inning defensive replacements...Mat and Kepler.  

18 hours ago, Tibs said:

On top of all of these points, Byron Buxton is a former Platinum Glove winner at CF. The team and lineup overall are simply worse with Buxton/Taylor locked in at DH/CF

I'm afraid elite defense Buxton only exists in the past now. His knee surgery was obviously not as successful as people hoped.

18 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Sad but true. The situation is very frustrating as a fan. I can’t imagine how frustrating it is for Falvey and Baldelli who would love nothing more than him playing 130 games a season in CF. 

We’re only the first year into the extension and it’s only going to get worse, I’m afraid. 

It would probably be better if they were upfront so fans (who pay a large part of their salaries) were honestly updated so we can set expectations.  Seems most likely he won’t play any position other than DH for the rest of his career.   Or at least be clear on his health (knee injury will heal and when or worse the chance of it healing is xx%).   The fans would or should not have to endure this extreme frustration and move on.  

Pretty much all season Buck hasn't been able to hit a barn with a BB gun that said maybe a couple of games a week in the field will get the bat going🤷‍♂️

I am saddened with Buxton not in center.  Whether it be baseball, football or hockey, I love great D.  And Buxton is as good as it gets.

None of us know the real situation with his knee.  I guess the good news is that getting nailed in the ribs will give the knee a few days of rest.  Other than that, I pray we will see Buck back in center before the season ends.

Byron has been injured for 9 years.  He has rarely if ever been someone to rely on.  What this kid could have done with a healthy body and some physical self control could have been historic.  But after all this time it just comes down to this is who he is.  If he goes to center, or any outfield position he will wildly run into a wall or dive needlessly for a ball that only 22 year old Byron could catch, and that will be that.  His season will end.  We should not be surprised.  It has happened almost every year of his career.  It's too bad.  We all wanted him to be great.  I'm afraid that was only a dream.

If we couldn't replace BB's production at DH, preserving him for that role would be quite important.  However, is it unrealistic to believe one of Wallner/Larnach or Julien could produce equivalently in a DH role.  If Buxton got hurt playing CF, we would put MAT back in a starting role and one of Wallner/Larnach or Julien is the DH.  Buck over MAT is a big upgrade.  Replacing Buck with one of the three mention not such a big downgrade at DH.  Perhaps no downgrade at all.

21 hours ago, High heat said:

The fix in the mean time is the twins need to tell Kepler if he wants to stay on this team he needs to get his at bats in CF.  Kepler and Taylor split time in CF opening RF.

I agree with this. Everyone is clamouring for something to be done about our low end starting right fielder. If Kepler looks in the mirror and admits he is a low end starter at his position, maybe he would realize he could be a good strong side platoon center fielder. His bat would actually be good in that role and he wouldn't have to be so miserable about the damn thing. 

1 hour ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

That’s the hindsight 20/20 thing that I come back to. In what we now know was a lost season, why didn’t they get his knee repaired right away and end his season early last year? Maybe coulda, woulda, shoulda…. He’s 100% and an all star.

I know, we can’t know or speculate, but I can’t help myself, playing on the bum knee last year might have contributed to the extended recover this year.

He was awful playing injured last year and hampered his hitting  ...

He may have changed his approach in batting to compromise his injury and it has effected his swing  ,  maybe he should look at past videos of himself hitting good and videos of him hitting today   ....

When you consider Lewis and his 2 consecutive ACL surgeries, he may be fully healthy and strong for the remainder of his career. The surgeon was quoted as saying you could keep having that surgery over and over as long as the attachment point of the ligament was intact. There may be no other damage in his knee meaning it is fully healthy.

Unfortunately, even with modern technology, there is no real fix for damaged knee cartilage. If there was, there are many ageing, super wealthy athletes that would have extended their careers with it. Kinda like how Ted Danson still has a big bald spot, lol. If there was a cure... When you hear that a knee is being scoped, that is cleaning up damaged cartilage. This can be a chronic condition and may be where Byron is at, sadly. 

I think we will see Buxton on the IL before we see him in CF. 

Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I think the team should have placed him on the IL after he hurt the knee against Boston last season, he may have damaged the knee more by continuing to play on it, as witnessed by the fact he didn't have surgery until November despite being shut down at the end of August. Sano (bad example, I know) returned in about 6 weeks from his surgery, if Buxton would  have had the surgery immediately after the injury, he is back around mid- June/early July.

The team also should have been a little more vocal about him skipping the All-Star game and getting that injection/treatment instead. Personal accolades are fine, but this is a team sport and his team needed him healthy (as much so as possible anyway) for the 2nd half.

I am as big a fan/supporter of Buxton as anybody, but I don't think we'll see him CF any time soon.

44 minutes ago, wabene said:

When you consider Lewis and his 2 consecutive ACL surgeries, he may be fully healthy and strong for the remainder of his career. The surgeon was quoted as saying you could keep having that surgery over and over as long as the attachment point of the ligament was intact. There may be no other damage in his knee meaning it is fully healthy.

Unfortunately, even with modern technology, there is no real fix for damaged knee cartilage. If there was, there are many ageing, super wealthy athletes that would have extended their careers with it. Kinda like how Ted Danson still has a big bald spot, lol. If there was a cure... When you hear that a knee is being scoped, that is cleaning up damaged cartilage. This can be a chronic condition and may be where Byron is at, sadly. 

Last season he was being treated for patellar tendinitis.  It's possible they might have cleaned up some cartilage, but the bigger focus was probably debriding the damaged parts of the patellar tendon.  

The flaw in your argument is that the issue is that Taylor is not a good enough hitter to be the every day CF.  Which may be true.  Perhaps the cure would be to find a better bat to play CF.  File the name Nick Senzel away in your roladex.

Agree.  Agree 100%.  Agree 100% with all of it.  Especially the thought that not having DH at bats for the likes of Correa, Gallo, Polanco may play a role in keeping them healthy.  

You are absolutely right. Put him in CF. Not every day but often enough to get his mind straight. The man is being disrespected when his Gold Glove caliber defense is shut down. He knows that. You know that. I know that. Let Buxton be Buxton. He knows enough at this stage to practice good hygiene when going after balls almost out of his reach. The man needs to be grass fed!