ewen21

Yes, of course. I had Ron Hunt on the brain and thought you actually saw that happen to him!

He was in the National League his whole career. Which team was he on when you saw him? I am "too young" so I only remember his time as an Expo, not as a Cardinal (although he did play there the final 12 games of his career).

My mind went to him immediately. I grew up in upstate NY and watched the Expos play the Mets although I never did go to an Expos game. My brother went to Olympic Stadium and I regret never having gone because I had a couple of chances. Hunt was a Met at the start of his career up until I was still wearing diapers. Then he played for the Expos after years with the Dodgers and GIants. I first started following baseball (older brother and dad) and collecting baseball cards I was aware of him. I am old enough to I remember Jarry Park, saw the Expos on TV with Bob Beetle Bailey, Ken Singleton, Ron Fairly, Tim Foli, etc.. and the notorious John Boccabella (the Expos PA guy loved saying that name). Rusty Staub was a Met by then. Anyway.... Not only did Ron Hunt lead the league in HBPs seven seasons straight (from 1968 all the way through to 1974--as you know) his totals looked like this: 25, 25, 26, 50, 25, 24, 16 IN spite of being hit by 192 pitches, Ron Hunt managed to play 914 games during that time which is precisely 21 games more than Byron Buxton has played in his last ten seasons.

His confidence seems to exceed his common sense. He wants to exude a brash, confident outlook as if the power of positive thinking will get him through. Some may see that as a "positive attitude" because he goes around looking like he's having the time of his life. I do not. This is the major leagues.

No, I do not either.

Everyone already knows, but they got him largely due to "character" and "veteran presence". This team still needs that, but now they want to give a 27 year old his first shot at meaningless September baseball at the major league level.

Listen all y'all, it's a Sabato! His walkup should be Sabotage by the Beastie Boys😂

Nothing here to me is personal, but I do appreciate you for saying this. I have had some of those days over the years myself so thanks for being a real person. Let me apologize also. I could have probably done better myself! That being said, I think this franchise has a problem that cannot be fixed easily. I think that when we won some divisions, had a star player in Joe Mauer and then got the new stadium things completely flipped over to something else. Somehow, some way the franchise seems to believe marketing a star player is most appealing to the fanbase and Buxton became that guy. He has received special treatment since he got here because everyone wanted him to be a superstud and he just isn't that. I do not care how great he looks in streaks because he also has slumps where he looks absolutely awful and he cannot be relied upon to be "an everyday player" as it was with Torii Hunter. I think the ridiculous praise Buxton gets is a big problem for the Twins and there is a segment of the fanbase that actually gets angry when he receives criticism. Buxton really never got any blowback for his tantrum in 2018 when he cleaned out his locker and bolted from Rochester when the Twins didn't call him up in September. Instead of holding him accountable for this extended outburst he was defended here. Even if we assume the Twins were wrong to not call him up September of 2018 (and to me they were not), his behavior never should have been excused (and it was here). The same goes for when he pitched a fit over a fans breaking his chops during the new uniform reveal in November of 2022. He went right on Twitter to confront the minor jabs thrown his way at that was straight up embarrassing. He was actually defended here for firing back and the fans were blamed. It wasn't just here either. Professional athletes taking to Twitter when they are active players to get into it with fans is unprofessional. Period. No way in the world should a player take to Twitter and address something so innocuous and minor the way he did. It shows a lack of professionalism on his part no matter how dumb anyone thought the fan comments were. Even if the comments were dumb, the criticism was FAIR. Predictably (at that time) this place (the majority at least) put the blame on fans being jerks and if anyone commented that Buxton overreacted or lacked professionalism for his "wanna-be fans are clowns" comment they were blasted. The notion being, the fans were "attacking his character" and that made them wrong. That is just insane to me. Finally he has gone on about wanting to be a "Twin for life" and why wouldn't he? This a nice cushy spot for him. No way in the world would just about any other organization tolerate the uncertainty and the puzzle he presents for the organization. We needed to have a "plan B" in place as long as he was our starting CF. I do not recall that being the case for Hunter, Puckett or name any other outfielder who gets the "face of the franchise" tag. The man has 862 hits in a dozen seasons with this organization. Since he was called up in June of 2015 that equates to an average of 72 his per season and that simply is not good enough and we cannot expect this to improve as he comes off hip surgery going into his 33 year old season. I think he's a problem and I do not say this to offend anyone. I would much rather move toward the kind of team that doesn't need to have a someone they put up on a pedestal, but rather a TEAM of players like we had in the early 2000s. I would much rather see a team like the 2001 team (that didn't make the playoffs) than see a team like this one back in like the front office believed they might. That is a long one. If you got this far than thanks for reading

Your concern was the bullpen? That is actually the third most important thing to look at behind their starting staff and lineup. If you mention the bullpen first when the starting staff and lineup (the meat of the team) is not deep enough or good enough to do anything even if they backed into the playoffs.

This is why Buxton wants to be a Twin for life in my mind. He knows the expectations are almost non-existent for him. He's who has been chosen to be "the face of the franchise" and this is largely due to a large section of the fanbase. It almost seems as though since Target Field has opened the Twins and a great number of fans are content with Buxton even though he appears in roughly 60% of the games each season. If this is the player you want to make for your "face of the franchise" then good luck with building a team. Rant over!

Thanks for your response.

Although he isn't in the same atmosphere as far as what has been achieved and is much larger than Johan Santana, Pablo Lopez has a career trajectory that is frighteningly similar.

The "first choice within the Twin's organization" FOR WHAT? What do you even mean with this? The article says we need to "choose a direction". So you're saying Kody Clemens ought to be the first choice in choosing a direction? Far out dude

It started in 2003 when they took us 3-1. Then in 2004 the streak started after Johan shut them down in game one. What was it, 19 playoff losses in a row? I think 16 of those losses to the Yankees? I guess being a "tune up opponent" softens the blow of having to go through the postseason with the Yankees only to see another bloodletting while teams like Cleveland, Detroit (three times) and the Angels and Rangers all take out the Yankees. It's painful to rehash. Sorry I went there

I suppose it is far more expedient and graceful for you to bail out simply by hitting the "disagree" button. I guess do what you are going to do, but you said you wondered why nobody mentions him. You feel him to be more noteworthy. Why not explain why that is? Nothing I said was wrong, but if you disagree with my belief that he should not be part of some turnaround for this organization I would really like you to offer your perspective. That is really what is being talked about. The way forward next year. Clemens is more of a transitional, stop-gap player to me.

Define "long term"

Kody Clemens and his lifetime .279 on base percentage? He's thirty and we were the first team to play him fairly regularly, This isn't to disparage the man, but come on now. His WAR this year at age 30 more than doubles his lifetime WAR prior to this season. Clemens has been a functional player this year. I do not think we can have honest expectations for him to be part of some turnaround for this organization. How's that for leaving him out?

Some very open and blunt criticism is needed. Criticism doesn't reflect frustration, disappointment or anger at this point for me. I just don't give a damn about saying anything that is guarded about certain things anymore. This team cannot draft and raise starting pitching. Period. There is actually no reason to get excited about this ballclub at this point. It has been quite a few years where I experienced the emotions. The article starts right off with Buxton and how great he is....."when healthy". I would argue even when he is healthy he is wildly inconsistent, streaky and really has no situational awareness as a hitter. He has been awful in situations with runners on base and in close and late situations for his entire career. Any year we have been in contention he has been all but AWOL for the most important games and the post season because (for whatever reason) he is incapable of playing a full season. If this is going to be our "face of the franchise" and who people are going to fawn over then we aren't getting anywhere. For some reason, the "face of the franchise" thing is very important here and it didn't used to be. There are a lot of guys who could be slightly better than replacement level on this roster. There isn't any cohesion, nor does there seem to be any team culture. Nevermind the championship teams, that is another lifetime, but simply going back to the early 2000s is a good place to start. There was no "face of the franchise" but there was a group of guys who came up through a system that demanded you post up and play. It was a culture where the player policed themselves. When Mauer arrived that (unfortunately) changed because no one was going to tell him how to play the game. I am not blaming him, but the change occurred as soon as he arrived and started receiving national attention. Players no longer hold themselves accountable in the same way. Baseball is more of a fraternity now where everyone is friends. Even the fans seem to root for players (even on other teams) rather than root for the laundry.

What do we really have to boast as far as pitchers drafted and raised by the Twins? What are we talking about here since Y2K? Perkins (who couldn't start), Garza (gone after a full season), Blackburn, Slowey, Berrios (all three never going deep into games almost ever) and now this little group that is still only a question mark? How is it wrong for a fan who has chatted for well over two decades about this team online to point out all of this and an obvious problem this organization has had. Color me skeptical in the face of articles like this, worded in this way.

So, we shouldn't pump the brakes on this? Is this why you disliked my post, Coach? It's okay if you dislike what I said, but at least be enough of a human to point out where I was wrong and what you disagree with beyond "oh you are just being negative".

Pumping the brakes on this IS giving them a break. They made it to the majors and that is great for them. That is not the bar for the Minnesota Twins and if it is, we must admit Josh Donaldson was right about the culture. For fans of this team we need them to do better soon to be able to say "success" and none of them or too young. Ryan isn't part of this but since I mentioned him he's already 30, Matthews will be 27 next year. Preilipp is 26 next year, so is Morris. What have they done so far to call this is 2022 draft class a "success"? Might they get there? I won't put any money on it, but I hope so

Any analysis of our homegrown pitching for the upcoming season must involve strong consideration based in WHIP and how they pitched when they were truly needed. There were days this season when there were important games in the month of July to give us a reasonable chance to make the postseason (if that even mattered). One cannot discount a game in Chicago just after the all star break when Matthews was just God awful, dispensing hits as if he was conscripted to do so. These games are part of his development arc and he has failed. Then days later in Cleveland Ryan came out and threw gopher ball after gopher ball like you never really see. I have watched baseball games that I can remember since 1972. I don't know if I have ever seen what Ryan did right there and when we were talking about making a run? Are you kidding? You have to post up better than that. These are only two games, but for heaven's sake it was bad and it really was proof for me this team did not have what it takes. There is a mindset that HAS TO be adjusted somehow. You cannot blame just the front office or the guy in the manager's seat. He has been just fine.

This article is about 4 years too soon. There is no way to determine whether 2022 was a successful draft or not. I know we all WANT this to be true but we can't make it true by writing flowery pieces accentuating the positives. In the short term, I see our lineup for next year and I do not think it is going to be better. Middle of the pack is the best we can hope for and the starting pitching for me will ALWAYS be a question mark until I start seeing young pitchers drafted by us, raised by us, pitching at a reasonable high level. It just doesn't even seem possible at this point. If Zebby Matthews and Connor Prielipp are what we bragg on for 2027 then my goodness. And as some already mentioned, this article is pretty timely. We get crushed by the Yankees and then bang zooom....someone has to sell hope. No need for it, actually, although it is kind of charming and cute

Whether you research it on AI or on Fangraphs the result supports the same conclusion: He has not been a good hitter with RISP for his career.

I do know. THe answer is a hard NO. In fact, I would test his desire a couple of weeks before the trade deadline especially if we are sellers next year (and we will be). Baseball is a business. He needs to grow up. It isn't like he's won four rings like Derek Jeter. He as compiled 862 hits over TWELVE seasons. If he wants to play baseball beyond 2028 we ought to be forthright and give him a chance to waive his no trade because his "Twin for life" thing would be cooked.