Report From The Fort: From Ks To Praise

Nice.  Thanks for the eyewitness report.  More please.

The strikeouts from Sano are unsettling.

Buxton's catch was scary! I was at the game & we were all worried about his health after that dive.

I'll echo.  Great report and keep them coming.  I love Buxton and that glove, but I visibly cringe every time I see a gapper because you know he zones in on that ball and blocks out EVERYTHING else like a lab after a tennis ball.  And much like a lab, if Buxton ever runs into anything he gets right back up and wants another.  Can you imagine how good of a shortstop he would've made?

Let's not compare players to dogs.

This is Buxton's game, this is how he plays, this is why he's the defender he is. If he is anything less than that he's just like everyone else, or maybe less so if all he does out there is 'be careful.' Yeah, it's scary, but for me in a good way; yeah, he's an injury waiting to happen and I don't want to think about the Twins without him. But this is his game and how he plays it. Asking him to play a different game is as bad as asking hitters and pitchers to adjust to styles of play that make them less than they could be.

I disagree.  Getting injured unnecessarily during practice is just stupid, and the coaches should absolutely forbid it.  He is way, way too valuable to this team's future to throw it all away by flinging yourself into a hard surface.  During a close game or playoff game, sure, go for it.  During spring training?  No, no, no.

This isn't just hypothetical.  He's lost over a year of playing time already.  This recklessness has got to stop.  If you were hiring a driver to transport $100 million dollars, would you tolerate him driving 80 mph through city streets, taking turns on two wheels?  Of course not.  Your primary goal would be to make sure the valuables get there without a crash.  Well, Buxton is worth $100 million, and he treats his body like a disposable tissue.  He has no right to do that with an asset the team and millions of fans have invested so much of their hopes in.   He could and  should be a year and a half farther along than he is.  But instead he does things like run all out straight into another player. 

I admire his work ethic, his dedication, his intensity, his commitment, everything about him.  He's doing exactly what he should do, give his all every second he's on the field.  This is not on him.  It's on the coaches.  They need to rein him in, and mean it. 

I just don't buy the argument that if he doesn't dive for every ball his whole game will go poof and he won't be Byron Buxton.  I think  99.9% of Byron Buxton is just fine.  Especially compared to  zero percent of Byron Buxton, which is what you get if you insist on trying for 100% even during practice.

My lab is like that, it chases so hard after the throwing dummy that she'll try to run thru the garden fence - and bounce off.  Love her enthusiasm but last September she came back limping after trying to grab a bouncing dummy. Her leg wasn't broken but I had to not hunt her for 6 weeks, she got to sit in the kennel while I took the 9 month old pup out. I'm lucky I had a backup dog, but my productivity in the field suffered.

 

I hope the Twins find a good backup for Buxton because its only a matter of time before he'll be called upon.

For better or worse, Twins seem content with OF depth at ML level.  Rosario can play CF.  Santana as well.  Those guys can shuffle around a little bit.  Now, if Buxton suffers a serious injury, that's a whole nuther deal.

Let's not compare players to dogs.

Instead let's call them studs and workhorses and...

Actually, I agree. But the norm seems to be that's it's okay to use non-human descriptors all the time.

IMO there isn't anything very scary about a dive like that. 

He broke a finger diving for a ball in 2014. 

I love Buxton's effort. You can tell he absolutely loves making those tough catches.

If he's doing that in Spring Training, you know you never have to question this kid's heart and effort. A few other guys on the team should take note.

I have to agree, there's a lot to love about playing all out.  I really do like Buxton a lot, and love his effort.  I just miss him when he's injured, that's all. 

And I think he'd be a better player now if he had been playing this whole time. 

Also, he only has so many years of his service time before he costs more than Joe Mauer.  Every month on the bench is a month before he's gone or costing a quarter of the team payroll. 

If it were up to me, Buxton would not even have been in the big leagues yet, so we could afford him two more years in his prime.  And Sano wouldn't be playing either, until he commits to not striking out at record levels.  These guys should both be stars for a long time, and I'd prefer their service time were spent on their star years, not their awkward apprenticeships.  That's precisely what the minor leagues are for. 

If you're in a pennant race, sure, call them up early, if you think they can push you over the top. But not ust to dangle your future stars in front of the fans to keep them from staying home, when you're not winning anyway. That just means they either leave for the Yankees two years earlier, just when you're getting good. Either that or you sign them to mega-contracts two years earlier and have no payroll left to build a team around them.  It's going to be a pretty small window of contention if they peak just before it's time to pay them 9 figures. 

And it's not like watching Sano and Buxton play in 2016 made the Twins a pleasure to watch, or sold a lot of tickets.  All it did was dampen enthusiasm for this year as well. 

Imagine if Buxton and Sano had stayed in the minors for all of 2016, how excited we would be for their debuts in 2017!  And they'd probably be better for it.  Do you see any indication Sano is trying to improve his strikeout rate?  Imagine if that were a condition of reaching the majors--you don't think he'd be a lot farther along, because he knew he wouldn't play until he improved?  What's the downside?  We would have missed watching him play right field? 

I have to agree, there's a lot to love about playing all out. I really do like Buxton a lot, and love his effort. I just miss him when he's injured, that's all.

 

And I think he'd be a better player now if he had been playing this whole time.

 

Also, he only has so many years of his service time before he costs more than Joe Mauer. Every month on the bench is a month before he's gone or costing a quarter of the team payroll.

 

If it were up to me, Buxton would not even have been in the big leagues yet, so we could afford him two more years in his prime. And Sano wouldn't be playing either, until he commits to not striking out at record levels. These guys should both be stars for a long time, and I'd prefer their service time were spent on their star years, not their awkward apprenticeships. That's precisely what the minor leagues are for.

 

If you're in a pennant race, sure, call them up early, if you think they can push you over the top. But not ust to dangle your future stars in front of the fans to keep them from staying home, when you're not winning anyway. That just means they either leave for the Yankees two years earlier, just when you're getting good. Either that or you sign them to mega-contracts two years earlier and have no payroll left to build a team around them. It's going to be a pretty small window of contention if they peak just before it's time to pay them 9 figures.

 

And it's not like watching Sano and Buxton play in 2016 made the Twins a pleasure to watch, or sold a lot of tickets. All it did was dampen enthusiasm for this year as well.

 

Imagine if Buxton and Sano had stayed in the minors for all of 2016, how excited we would be for their debuts in 2017! And they'd probably be better for it. Do you see any indication Sano is trying to improve his strikeout rate? Imagine if that were a condition of reaching the majors--you don't think he'd be a lot farther along, because he knew he wouldn't play until he improved? What's the downside? We would have missed watching him play right field?

There is going to be an adjustment period when a guy comes up, no matter how long you leave him in the minors.

Leaving Sano in the minors another 2 years wouldn't have changed his mlb performance much, aside from pushing everything back 2 years.