laloesch

I think it's depressing how many down votes you got for this post. To me it's nearly spot on accurate. Long term Buxton cannot be relied upon to be THE centerfielder for the Twins. He just can't stay healthy in long enough stretches, and he's proven that year after year throughout his career and the Twins have put him up on a pedestal as a cornerstone of this franchise when he's kinda not. Perhaps Jenkins can transition into that role and Buxton can shift to a corner outfield spot, but we'll see. The front office should have called up E-Rod by now. We need to see what this kid brings to the table and hopefully resolve this musical chair outfield we've been seeing. I'm a bit more optimistic about the rotation, but there are still big question marks going forward. What happens to Joe Ryan? The Twins aren't going to extend him, are they? Lopez will take a while to return to form from his second TJ surgery and he's getting older. I like what Abel brings to the table as far as stuff goes, but aside from Taj, there's a whole lot of question marks after that. Festa hasn't proven anything yet and he's had injury issues and was pumped up as a potential big rotation piece before this season. Matthews has done an okay job but he's not more than a 4th or 5th starter. 1st base is still a question mark. Lewis is not gonna stick there and neither is Bell. The Twins need to find a true 1st base prospect that's major league ready or sign one. I don't think this team is more than a 75-82ish win team as it currently stands, and that's before they lose Jeffers to free agency.

I think he just needs to work with coaching staff more. He just needs time to learn a position. His real talent is his bat and you really can't teach that. You either have it or you don't.

I agree with you. But remember this is Minneapolis St. Paul, which is the headquarters for the DSA. They only like law enforcement when they can use it to their benefit.

Or it's not as bad as it looks. Buxton has always been fragile as glass. Let's all be completely honest with each other here. Doesn't mean you don't like him as a player, but he is a fragile player.

Yep I agree. I'm 6'-4" and when I went to college and played intermural sports, I weighed 175-180 pounds, but I was skinny skinny. That first summer and fall I hit the gym hard and started to put on some muscle and got up to 190-195 and within 5-6 years I added another 10 and sat around 205ish for a good 10 years. Bounce forward 25 years, and I'm 46, old, and around 240ish. But this guy is a professional minor league athlete. He's 6'-2", 21 years old and he weighs 240 pounds! He AIN'T ripped that's for sure.

For now.

I always find it hilarious how Twins fans get all defensive about certain players (Lewis, Buxton, Sano, etc.) and any criticism of their slumps magically becomes cherry picking and personal and their rebuttal is to push forward a utility player like Clemens.

If the Twins call up E-Rod on September 1st I'd be thrilled. If Zoll does the unthinkable and brings up Marek Houston too even though he's in AA (it's not going to happen, but I wish), I'd be ecstatic. The Twins have the prospects, just stop the musical chair nonsense in the outfield and call up E-Rod to pair with Jenkins and be done with it.

Good news indeed. The Twins need Lopez badly.

a BIT of movement in the right direction. Jenkins to be called up. E-Rod SHOULD be called up next Tuesday.

Or he's finally put his ego aside and is listening to coaching staff.

Bingo 💯 THIS. They should have traded Ryan Jeffers and Joe Ryan, when they had the chance. Neither is going to stay with the Twins long term (Jeffers is gone at season's end and Ryan by the end of 2027). It's utter foolishness to hang onto players when you have soooo many holes to fill in your lineup and can get large packages of prospects to start plugging them. They also should have sat down with Byron Buxton and talked to him about his future with the Twins and asked him to consider dropping his no trade clause. Buxton is a fantastic player but given how frequently he's injured he's just not a cornerstone you build a franchise around, he's more of a secondary piece or a third leg on the tripod with other star players.

I agree. Yes, this is not the year to go all in, but the Twins should be playing the ready prospects now to get their feet wet for next season (if there is one). Both Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez should both have been called up by now. Luke Keaschall's bat is valuable in the lineup as a DH hitter. Let him continue to work on outfield fundamentals with the coaching staff, but keep his bat in the lineup. This musical chair outfield of Keaschall, Clemens, Roden, Kreidler, and Larnach in the outfield is atrocious.

Unfortunately, their stubborn behavior will cost them potential good prospects. Jeffers and Ryan should have both been traded at the deadline for prospects to load up the farm system. Stubbornly clinging to them both like they did, claiming they were going to go for it and try and make the playoffs was utter foolishness considering how many holes this team has on offense and the bullpen, not to mention being down Lopez in the rotation. Now they will get nothing for Jeffers besides a compensation pick (if they even make him a qualifying offer). Ryan's value also diminishes because they held onto him. He will be a free agent at the end of next season (if there is one) and instead of bringing back a haul of prospects for him they might get a compensation pick for him. Ryan is not resigning with the Twins and neither is Jeffers. Just utter stupidity.

Just call up Jenkins now and try and save this playoff push.