tony&rodney

Byron didn't look very old last season, did he? The injuries may have healed and it is very possible that Buxton has found a way to keep on the field. When I look at the number of prospects who miss a month here and a week there with various injuries, it sure seems like almost everyone is a risk. Years of control and salary then are important. Buxton is not likely to be high on the list for Milwaukee, Kansas City, or Cleveland because of age and injury risk. Unfortunately for those of us that want Buck to remain a Twin, teams that have money can look at Byron for what he can provide next year as compared to others. Teams that need an outfielder will be interested and teams that need a centerfielder will be very interested. So look around MLB and ask yourself a question. Who has the money to risk for an All Star centerfielder who still can run, throw, and hit with just about anyone? I'll say it again, if the Twins trade Byron Buxton they need to make the teams bid it up, up, up. I don't know the price but 5 WAR players are not sitting on the porches in my neighborhood.

Mets fan?

That was for Pablo Lopez, not Joe Ryan. Mike posted it from Fangraphs above.

Nimmo was traded before Thanksgiving.

Cody Christie put up yet another Buxton to NYM post. I'm wondering what people see as his value because the BBTV seems to have people convinced that Buxton has relatively low value, which is reall surprising to me. I guess I'm asking to make sense of the value of a Silver Slugger winning All Star centerfielder who is on a pretty reasonable contract for the next three years.

Detroit is interested and the Dodgers have excess players just hanging out. This has been discussed ad infinatum already today. The Twins won't match the haul San Diego gave up for Juan Soto, but Byron Buxton is worth a load. Shoot high, real high if it is necessary. Buxton looks good in Twins threads if nobody wants to overpay.

That is not even close to the worst one out there. So, for the Twins, that is Bailey Ober, Kaelen Culpepper, and Kendry Rojas for Tarik Skubal. The skeptics cry no way not for just one season. I'm not sure Skubal pushes the Twins over the top but he sure would be huge for teams like the Mets .... or Detroit.

I thought that was a high price as well. I hope the Twins manage to keep Buxton but there should be some really good offers. Teams are so reluctant to trade prospects and then finish the year short a player or two in the playoffs. Detroit and the New York teams will be calling. San Diego did give up quite a haul though. Abrams was 60 with all of Hassell, Gore, and Wood at 55 via MLB. Susanna was a 50. By the end of 2022 Fangraphs had Wood at 60 and #9 as a top global prospect. It was an amazing trade. Preller likes to roll the dice. San Diego has been super competitive and fills the stadium too, drawing 3.43 miilion last year. We might be surprised by what Buxton returns. I just don't have any feel for his value. I do know he has more value than both Wallner and Ober, who are valued higher via BBTV. What do you think Buxton has in the way of value for another team?

In other article on Twins Daily it was stated he reaches the 10-5 with the beginning of the 2027 season. I will admit I don't know the exact date. In any event I hope Buck stays. He may ask for a trade based on what happens with Ryan and/or Lopez. It is a tough time to be a Twins fan.

Dude we have already been through this on previous posts. The Mets should keep McLean in my opinion. What you state as fact is me telling you I won 6 Cy Young awards. Never/always/everyone/no one - word choice matters. My friends in MLB might tell me differently what your friends in MLB tell you. FWIW, I will remind you of my opinion. I don't think the Twins should trade Ryan to the Mets. I can see a Lopez for Tong plus deal as the guy on Fangraphs suggested, but I didn't read that one. I can give you an East Coast Mets fan trade in reverse though just for fun. The Twins trade Trevor Larnach, Kyle DeBarge, and Ricardo Olivar for Nolan McLean. Go to a Mets blog and you see the reverse of this quite a bit. The Mets should keep McLean.

Arizona is looking for pitchers, starters or relief pitchers too. They are floating Jordan Lawler, a once highly rated prospect who has destroyed AAA but has not been able to break into the Dbacks infield at SS or 2B because of the two All stars holding down those positions. Bailey Ober and Cole Sands for Lawler would seem like a decent gamble for each team.

If the trades are what must happen, let it be a Pablo Lopez for Jonah Tong, Carson Benge or Jett Williams deal. Maybe Boston gets excited and trades Jarren Duran for Lopez. That is helpful for both teams. Save Joe Ryan and if they need to trade Ryan, make it for a top prospect type.

There are a bunch of teams interested in Buxton. Where would Byron like to go? The Twins need to demand a haul or keep Buck.

Interesting take but he can only veto this year. Next year Buck could be traded to wherever (he can block 5 teams), so in light of that I doubt he worries about a new contract as much as playing where he wants to play. You could be correct though and he certainly should ask for a little something if he is traded. Something tells me that Buxton has every penny he ever wanted though and he is just looking to be healthy and get a chance to play in the playoffs.

I don't believe people are confusing the two pitchers but it is important to keep Ryan and Lopez as different trade packages. I haven't seen the discussion on Fangraphs (busy, but taking a minute break), but I noted that they think Lopez is worth Tong plus Williams and a throw in (Clifford-?). That seems close. I could support that trade. Maybe Boston counters with Jarren Duran for Pablo Lopez. That would be a mutually beneficial trade. Ryan is worth quite a bit more. I don't think the Mets trade McLean and they shouldn't, but Ryan is worth way more than McLean. I'm holding out for a pile for Ryan.

There cannot be any such thing as too many of any position and a team that bats 9 RH or 9 LH batters or has an entire pitching staff of LH or RH pitchers is not an impediment to winning. Talent plays. Jarren Duran would be a great addition to the Twins team as would Max Clark, I'm hoping Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez flourish in the majors and hopefully this year. Maybe the author screwed up and meant to add that the Twins don't need any more mediocre LH corner outfielders. I can agree with that. In reality, the Twins don't need any more mediocre players at any position.

My thoughts are similar. It is surely a difficult line to draw when a front office looks over the names being discussed and the guys below AA have such unknown qualities and are untested. There are times to target or accept a player from the rookie leagues. I guess one needs to hedge their bets and push hard to make an attempt where it is possible. We have no idea what is possible. Among many ideas for trading Joe Ryan, there are attempts to draw out a preferred (by me) player via adding two players to go with Ryan as a prod to complete a trade. These too could fail spectacularly. Ryan, Rodon, Soto for one of the following: Leodalis De Vries, Max Clark, or Tyler Soderstrom. It seems more likely that we see a trade to the Mets, where I would ask for Nolan McLean plus Clifford but accept Tong, Benge, and Clifford. The Twins can still find ways to improve their roster through many other trades with lesser players. I'm also fine that others feel differently and am always interested to hear their ideas. Different opinions are a good thing.

Have you lived in a communist country? I have. The government is communist, the economy is nearly pure capitalism, much much more than than the U.S. China has half the number of billionaires as the U.S. and they just got started. There is a thriving middle class but competition is really tough. The U.S. has a socialist economy and and an oligarchic government. You get to vote for whomever the oligarchs say is one of your choices at the national level. The last person to run for president as a communist was in 1984, Angela Davis. The last time a person received a significant vote as a socialist was in 1912 and that guy, Eugene Debs, was thrown in jail for suggesting WW1 was a bad idea, which it was. The largest amount of socialist dollars go to corporations. I am an old man and also a retired middle class person. I worked for more than 50 years. My kids are all doing well, own homes, and are enjoying life. It really helps to be born into a good situation. Nobody chooses their parents or place of birth. The human condition, wants and needs are universal. The number of wealthy individuals who inherited their money is staggering. The Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees are all clubs owned by people who inherited their wealth and team. I do think that ownership and players should work together to create a workable system for all but it seems ludicrous to believe ownership has anything but dollars in mind. There will be a new CBA in January of 2027.

There is always a gamble, that is what I'm saying. The teams all know that. Name another available centerfielder that is even remotely close to the Silver Slugger Buxton. Everyone understands the concern about injuries. A full physical would be completed before any trade was completed. Another way to phrase it is to consider some scenarios, which is what every GM will do. If you are a Buxton away from a real good shot at winning the World Series, do you want Walker Jenkins or Byron Buxton playing centerfield in 2026? The teams with money can always sign a free agent but they don't want to wait a couple of years for the prospect when their window is tight. Phillies, New York teams, Detroit, Dodgers and more are calling already. Hey, maybe I'm totally off base and Buxton has the same value across baseball as Bailey Ober and less than Matt Wallner, which is what BBTV says with their numbers. I'm just guessing a few teams (3-4) will pay a high price for Buck. All that said, I hope he remains a Twins for 5 more years and is better every year.

As another old guy, I too rue the dangers of a total rebuild. However, the team we now roster played at a .333 winning clip last August and September. Change happens and I think the roster needs help. The Twins lost 92 games last year with slightly better than average luck as it relates to health. The current roster will have a tough time reaching 75 wins. The more concerning item, for me since I actually watched many of those poor Twins years over the years, is the abysmal style of play. Station to station on the bases, let the ball drop before picking it up and missing the cutoff guy, and swing for the fences. Of course that is a bit of an exaggeration, but the team was pretty unwatchable and I still watched. I'm still hoping for a positive outcome for this offseason.

For those seriously interested in understanding more about MLB' revenues ... https://brewerfanatic.com/forums/topic/46352-mlbs-revenue-sharing-model-has-two-big-problems-how-can-they-be-fixed/#comment-1714609 McKibbin had another article last January. In consideration of the fact that MLB clubs do NOT have open books, which other sports do have, I find it hard to see this as anything but a conversation between owners on how they want to distribute the money. As such the players are a minor player in the room. They get to listen. I guess they could agree to go back to the 1960s. A side benefit to that is we could hire Brooks Lee to paint our garage for a little extra money. Pablo Lopez could spend four hours a day in the offseason shaking hands at a Toyota dealership. Yes, Twins players painted garages and shook hands at dealerships for money in the 1960s. I know of four specific incidents first hand. I understand people feeling a floor and cap are possible but this is not really in the hands of the players. If the owners want to set up a system where the Dodgers $300M is the max/ cap and then have a $240M min/ floor (which is 80%) for teams, the MLBPA says "OK', Should the players buy into a lower percentage? How is MLB going to push the Dodgers/Yankees/Mets/Blue Jays payroll low enough so that Cleveland and West Sacramento can afford to pay 90%? 80%? 70%? 60%? I expect a settlement next January, 2027. Billionaires like making money.

The promise of a 5 WAR player still means something in baseball. Buck was tied with 3 other players as the 2nd fastest runner in MLB last year. The bat speed is still elite. The power is obvious too. While it is true that Byron Buxton has missed a boatload of games in his career due to various ailments and injuries, his body has not overtly shown signs of breaking down. By comparison, one can visually pick up the physical decline in Royce Lewis and it was clear to all that Jorge Polanco played through injuries that put other guys on the IL. Hopefully both of those guys return to excellent full health. The best prospects are more of a risk than Buxton right now. The quandary every GM must face is whether Buxton will produce enough in his three years while staying off the IL versus the promise of a prospect. The decision is closely related to how important it is for a specific team to compete for their division with plans to win the World Series. Buxton is easily a better bet to help a team win than a prospect. So it is a decision of how much a team wants to win now.

I used to read that book again every 15-20 years but I'm overdue. A friend once told me I really needed to learn to read it in the original language, but it has always made me laugh out loud, every single time.

The rate what is going? Exactly what would bat flips, finger pointing, etc. have to do with Doctor Gast's discussing Latin American players in baseball? What is the connection? Or did I just get sucked in by a bot or troll. Us really old folks are easily fooled.

That trade was a disaster, not because of the return but because of what it did not return. I will say that Gabriel Gonzalez improved more in one year than any player in memory.