Riverbrian

1. Molitor embraced flexibility in the same way that the majority of managers have embraced flexibility. They keep a utility guy on the bench. 2. See the Dodgers... look at how they move players around. That is position flexibility. Molly has not moved these guys all over the place. 3. I have never seen Tyler Austin play OF so I speak of his OF defense. However, he has played more OF than 1B in the minor leagues. At the major league level, the Yankees have a full outfield and an opening at 1B. Also the Yankees haven't been one of the teams to embrace positions flexibility. If you assume that you will see Austin out in the OF, I hope you are right because I'm not sure what Molitor is waiting for. 4. I don't make that assumption, I assume that we won't see Austin in the OF. My assumption is based on Molitor just not being that creative and we have had 4 games with Rosario. During those 4 games, Austin has been the DH 3 times and sat once. 3 of those games were against the Rangers with no playoff implications or playoff integrity to protect. Robbie Grossman played OF 3 times and Johnny Field twice instead. 5. I'm not sure that I'm seeing the benefit of consistency in our IF. It sounds like a smart thing to say but is it really happening in our IF. 6. My personal opinion is that he is walking the line... But it's the wrong line.

I'm not ripping Byron Buxton. I'm ripping the person who played him through migraines, a broken toe and various things to the tune of an 4 OPS+ and still started him 26 out of his 28 games when he was on the active 25 man roster. I'm ripping the same person who played Logan Morrison through what I'm told was a painful hip impingement while he produced a 73 OPS+. Buxton just lost a year of service time and Morrison is going to sign a minor league contract next year and we are out of contention. The strategy of playing through the pain was a complete failure with real world consequences to the team and the players, if anybody wants to claim injuries were the reason. I blame the manager who made out the lineup cards or the front office who told him to do it or the meeting of everyone that reached a consensus of such. We have a 25 and 40 man roster so we had options. The names and past history of the options does not matter to me, they were hand chosen to play in case of injury, poor play or social media gaffes. In Morrison and Buxton we had both injury and poor play and they still kept the every day job while remaining active and producing poorly. I'm not blaming Buxton, I just want the year back.

I'm not defending it yet. I'm not calling it BS either. But I haven't had a few cold ones either.

I agree that Molitor's comments were perfect.

I agree with this without reservation. The way he plays is currently the best thing about his game.

Now that you have revealed your point. In my opinion, you have provided a legitimate alternate direction to the path they chose. Maybe instead.. they just make a bet on Byron Buxton. Byron we are going to place a bet on you right now. We will buy up those arbitration years plus a couple more and then roll the dice. I agree that is a legit course of action. However... We have X factors again. We don't know if they didn't try to extend Byron and were turned down by the agent. It comes down the agent and team agreeing on how much of a bet they are willing to make. You have to remember that the agent and player are also capable of placing a bet on themselves as well and therefore turn down a reasonable offer in order to secure a bigger pay day down the road.

Because we know most of the X factors. Age and a reasonable assumption of cost based on past arbitration cases that pretty much set the standard for future arbitration cases. All dependent on the Big X Factor of course... Will he perform?

The answer isn't simple. I sense you are trying to set me up for the big hammer and I apologize for not co-operating.

If the Twins are dumb enough to watch a crash and burn in 2018 and repeat the process thinking that would never happen again. They deserve everything that comes to them. If Buxton is the future of this franchise... You should be pleased... We just got another year of him.

Depends on a lot of factors. Things like Age and Contract are determining factors. If you are talking about the 6 year free agent deal that he will sign with any of the other 29 teams because he won't sign with us. He will be 29 which is the beginning of the "Decline Phase" and the Yankees out bid the Braves with a 180 million dollar deal over 6 years. If that is what you were asking? His 4 years at maybe 50 Million tops through arbitration during his peak years is going to be WAY MORE valuable than the 6 at 180 million as he ages. If you are asking about value strictly from an on-field production standpoint. According to the tables. Buxton should be at peak performance in year 3 of the 4 years of control we now have. According to the tables... 3 of his 4 most productive years will now be under Twins control. If you are asking something else... I don't understand the question. It's about Value. Ethics are a legitimate argument but like it or not, the Twins have increased his potential value to the Twins, if Byron Buxton is able to increase his personal value by actually performing, is in his best interest to do so... even if he is mad at us.

Alright... This is going too far. They can't guarantee him a starting job to make amends. Are you asking Jake Cave to compete with the mythical what Byron Buxton should be hitting or are you asking Jake Cave to compete with what Byron Buxton actually hit? I get all the injury suggestions but I have been watching all the games and I am looking at the stats that back up what I have been seeing with my eyes. . Both Buxton and Sano were brutal enough in 2018 that neither of them should be handed a starting job in 2019. Both need to battle back and earn the responsibility and both of them should be informed of that right now... so they can get serious in the off-season about what is in front of them. If Buxton is gone in 4 years... he's gone. Right now it's all about value and he is more valuable with 4 years of control than 3 years of control.

Why would a manager reassure a player that a job will be his after reporting to spring training in September before he knows who are the players on the roster actually are?

Hoping may not get the job done. You may need a gun along with a threatening note and a plane ticket to Tampa. The Rays are 73-63 Since opening the door on the opener experiment. They have used a traditional starter maybe 40% of the time. This experiment is taking place during a season that the following players were removed from the roster. Brad Boxberger Evan Longoria Jake Odorizzi Stephen Souza Jr. Corey Dickerson Denard Span Alex Colome Brad Miller Matt Andriese Nathan Eovaldi Chris Archer Nathan Eolvaldi Adeina Hechoverria Andriese, Eovaldi and Archer were 3 of the few pitchers who were making occasional traditional starter appearances so they have been moving them down the road and increasing the need for this new approach. Currently the Rays have a Team ERA of 3.68 which is ranked 3rd in the American League. This is an extremely small sample size and more data needs to be gathered but The Rays are 73-63 with an impressive overall team ERA, in a year that they sold almost all of their talent. Small Sample Size of course. More data is needed but I think teams should be paying attention. Besides... there is still no reason to think they won't be still developing Blake Snell as a starter.

Let's say you are right (You might be) and he never gets over it. I believe it is possible that Byron gets over it but also believe it is possible that his agent remembers. Those guys are good at grabbing leverage whenever they can. It still doesn't matter because it is all about value. If he doesn't repair his value... None of this matters. He becomes a bust and spends his career in Ben Revere land. If he repairs his value and becomes the player that you (and I) believe he can be. Then there are a couple of scenarios. A. We enjoy 3 or 4 years of high quality baseball that helps win three world series titles in a row. Then he signs with the Braves or Yankees for more money than we can afford anyway. We of course offer him a QO and he turns it down and we get an extra draft choice but we got those three world series titles to soften the blow. B. We realize that relationship isn't getting fixed but since he has established himself as one of the top players in the major leagues... we trade him and get an amazing return. It's a business... it's all about value now. If he's pissed, he is here for 4 years or until the Twins say differently. It would be in his best interest to get it together.

I don't understand other humans at all. Collectively... humans are the reason that Ghost Adventures are on the Travel Channel.

This is why I'm against prospects getting rushed to the major leagues, burning service time to struggling in the name of learning.

Hosken, I am sensing that you are not happy with the decision and that's OK. However... you know that I have posted quite a bit on the subject and you disagree with me and that is also OK... But I think you fully understand that I fully understand what this means.

That's a 4 year grudge. He is either an adult dealing with a set back or immature without the ability to deal with things. Every person I have ever met, that had the capability of holding a grudge for 4 years was either: A. Someone who shuts down and refuses to communicate afterwards so the air never gets cleared. B. A person who is so emotionally messed up that they actually like the feeling of being angry. C. A person who never takes responsibility for his own actions and constantly shifts blame to others. Neither A or B or C is the type of person that you want to give a big money free agent contract. Besides... We could have granted him every one of his wishes and he would still be gone if the Yankees outbid us. Buxton needs to outplay the players competing for his job. That's the bottom line. Let him hit triples, dust himself off and point to the executive suite and say "Take that you (Insert expletive of choice)". He needs to realize right now that he is not guaranteed to be Willie Mays. He has to look at himself and take control of his future with both hands. Holding a grudge for 4 years. If he can do that. I don't want him.

Interesting comments from Lavine. Thanks for posting the article. If Buxton is pissed... Hopefully he uses it as motivation and we will find out if he is the type who holds a grudge for 4 years. I've stated multiple times that I'm Ok with him taking September off and I've stated multiple times that the Twins should not go into 2019 without a Buxton safety net. Meaning I'm Ok if he is rostered on opening day but there should be another capable OF on the roster that he (and Kepler and Rosario) need to compete with for playing time. If we end up with 4 capable OF's that is a good problem not a bad problem. We also have an option that can be used and I hope when he says "responsibility to make amends" and "invest in the relationship" and "relationship building" that doesn't mean they won't use that option if necessary. It is all up to Buxton now. He has to get better and improve. I don't want the Twins to trade him at low value. The worst case scenario is to absorb the bad play only to watch him become what he is supposed to be somewhere else. Only two outcomes are OK with me. Help him become the player he is supposed to be or swallow the loss whole. Buxton and the Twins now have 4 years.

I'm going to chalk it up to nerves again. First time seeing him pitch... I'm going to assume that his slider isn't meant to be consistently high in the zone like his was. I'm not sure we saw his best. Whatever his best may be.

I was going to type something similar but how do you grade on future results? How do we look at the organization as a whole? That leaves this year and it didn't work out. The Central was weak, the American League was weak. The Door was open. So yeah... I was going to respond the same way you did but then I thought about it.

This is incredibly harsh and somewhat correct at the same time. I was ready to counter this until I thought about it. You are kinda right.

I believe you are right. I believe the usage numbers are up compared to other teams for two reasons. 1. The Bullpen was pretty healthy. 2. He got very little use out of two bullpen positions by insisting that he saves his long man for long man situations (Magill) which kinda wasted that bullpen spot. Plus he did a fair amount of hiding, Kinley, Hughes, and a couple of the guys on the Rochester shuttle which wasted another position. This increased the pressure on the guys that he used.

I'm Bold

Full disclosure: I am on the players side... I really am. I fully believe that as the current CBA stands. It is the owners who have the greater advantage and leverage for the players is the crux of my issue. Here is why I'm pro players: Teams acquire exclusive rights to players by draft and those exclusive rights according to the CBA could last 12 years before he reaches free agency and the right to control his own fate. This will make the players peak earning power (free agency) collide with the time that he becomes less appealing as he enters a decline phase. I'm on the players side. They get the short end of the stick in my opinion. It's a bad agreement and it needs to be corrected in the bargaining session and I think it is going to get ugly if the last free agency period was a harbinger of things to come and I think it was. However... in fairness... The Players are not an Angels either. The MLBPA represents both the major league and minor league baseball players but... ONLY THE MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS ARE ALLOWED TO VOTE. This leaves the minor league players... the ones who will eventually take their jobs with no representation. So... when the big boys get together to negotiate an agreement... they are both fully aware of service time manipulation. Nobody is pulling the wool over anyone's eyes with all the talk about needing 17 days of additional seasoning in April. The MLBPA isn't concerned about Kris Bryant and Acuna and now Eloy Jimenez because they have done no negotiating to protect them. They addressed service time manipulation with options, super two and veterans consent for the benefit of the voting players to speed the time to free agency along and prevent teams from putting players to sleep. They got together... they reached their agreement which set the rules of the game and the winners will be the ones who understand the rules and use them to their advantage. Together they created the system that rewards teams for manipulating service time. "Good Faith" has done it's job. J.T. Realmuto has two options left. The Marlins are out of it... Why wouldn't they send him down to New Orleans and get another extra year. Good Faith is the only explanation. So... even though I side with the players overall... The agreement was reached, they looked across the table at each other, probably a couple of fists got banged on the table, the lawyers read the documents deep into the night and an agreement was reached. This frees me up to become a fan. Once I'm a fan... I'm looking out for my best interest. As long as I walk this earth... I will be a Twins Fan. And if I'm waiting for bad Buxton to become Good Buxton... I want the extra year to enjoy it. I care more about me that I do about the players but I'm selfish that way. Byron Buxton... simply isn't the player you describe. I love him... I think he is absolutely exciting. I think he will be one of the best when he stops trying to hit 5 run homers to left on outside pitches... But right now... he isn't one of our best players... he was one of our worst. Performance and Health is more than enough justification for a September sit down and yes... let's gain that extra year of service time just in case he eventually becomes the player we want him to be. He can take September off or spend April in Rochester... but I'm getting that year back or the front office is officially not qualified to act on my behalf.