By Anthony Franco | September 23, 2022 at 5:15pm CDT
Twins star Byron Buxton is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee next week, reports Dan Hayes of the Athletic. It’s a cleanup procedure that is not expected to affect his availability for next Spring Training, but it’ll officially close the book on his 2022 season.
Buxton has spent the last month on the injured list mending a right hip strain. He’s battled soreness in his right knee off and on for much of the season. Buxton generally played through the discomfort, although the Twins did intersperse rest days in an effort to keep him off the IL. That sufficed until Buxton suffered the hip injury that knocked him out of action in late August.
The Twins had held out hope Buxton would be able to make a late-season return to aid their efforts at claiming what had been a tightly-contested AL Central. The club instead has mustered a woeful 6-15 record this month, including losing four of five games to the Guardians last weekend. That killed any playoff chances and has knocked them four games under .500. The Guardians, meanwhile, swept the White Sox this week and can clinch the division as soon as this weekend.
With official elimination from postseason contention on the horizon, the Twins have elected to shut Buxton down and turn their attention to next season. It’s obviously not the end to the year the team or Buxton had envisioned, and he was just one of a number of players sidelined down the stretch. Minnesota has also been without Tyler Mahle, Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco, among others. The injury-decimated roster stumbled, while the Guardians have gone 15-7 this month to seize control of the division and all but officially book a postseason trip.
Buxton concludes his season with 92 games played and 382 plate appearances. It’s the second-highest workload of his MLB career, trailing only a 2017 campaign in which he played 140 games and hit 511 times. Buxton barely played in 2018, and he’s been limited to a hair more than half the team’s games in the past four years.
The recurring injury troubles are all the more frustrating considering Buxton has been one of the sport’s most electrifying players when able to take the field. He’s a top-tier defensive center fielder, and he’s been a well above-average offensive player since the start of the 2018 campaign. That includes this season, when the former second overall pick connected on 28 home runs and posted an overall .224/.306/.526 slash line. Last November, Buxton and the Twins agreed to an incentive-laden contract extension that guaranteed him $100MM and came with massive possible bonuses depending on his plate appearance tallies and MVP finishes over the next six seasons.
Julio Rodriguez will be the next Buxton. Good luck keeping these guys on the field.
Rodriguez already has more plate appearances this year than Buxton has had in any season.
To be fair (and I’m a Buxton guy) Julio already had more PA’s than Buxton has had the past two seasons combined.
I really hope Buxton can get it together and stay on the field for one full season because i would love to see what those numbers would look like
I really hope Buxton can get it together and stay on the field for one full season ================================== Yup. As a BB, I’d love to see a 155-game season. And I would still trade for him. His bWAR/650 PAs over the past 4 seasons is 8.3.
Yeah and Buxton has played in more minor league games up to the same point. I wouldn’t be banking on Julio being me healthy. Time will tell how many games he plays but I’m not confident in either of these guys breaking Ripken’s streak
Sometimes that can be held in check, sometimes not.
It’s far too early to jump to conclusions about a 21 year-old’s future.
Ask Rizzo and Trout about bad backs.
And you will be the next nobody hater lol
Absolutely worst case scenario for the Twins this year, sign Correa to what will amount as a one year deal while giving up a draft pick to do so, be competitive enough not to trade him at the deadline and then fall apart after.
As for Buxton, I’m just surprised he played as many games as he did… the guy is pretty much Mr. Glass.
Pretty sad when 92 games played is his second highest total.
The man just can’t stay healthy. He was very fortunate to get that extension.
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Biggest surprise of the season, a Buxton injury. LOL.
Twins over paid this guy. Always injured and a very low OBP
He played in less than 100 games and posted a 4 WAR, he is “only” guaranteed something like 15 million per season, far from an overpay.
If you want to put things into comparison, DeGrom is a lock to opt out of his contract, he also cannot stay healthy, but is eyeing probably around 35-40 million.
@drasco. Exactly. If you breakdown his 7/100 contract and just for the sake of argument he plays 650 games in 7 years. And he has a similar production rate(again just speculation). That’s 5 “full” seasons of 150 games. 5/100 for 6-7 WAR production per 150 games spread across 7 seasons. Even accounting for age and averaging it to 4-5 is good.
Not a terrible contract at all. Especially if the replacement is just league average.
Wouldn’t say DeGrom can’t stay healthy he’s raked in a couple of Cy Young’s and almost a third. His issue is the type of injury, which requires a significant healing time along with the immense pampering and precaution of the team.
With that said, I too believe he’ll opt out and look for a long term deal in the 40M per ballpark, or take a higher version of Scherzer and look for 47ish for three.
by the time he’s 33, he’s going to have to transform his consciousness into a robot
So many teams are afraid of making the mistake of letting a superstar go, they tend to make a bigger mistake by locking these guys up.
Look at teams like the Rays and A’s – they always trade a guy a year too early instead of a year too late. And yes, they haven’t won championships, but I can say that about a lot of teams… The fact is, both of those teams win pretty consistently with a fraction of the payroll of the big boys. It’s because they sell high, develop well and don’t fall in love with players.
Teams that have done the contrary: 2009-2010 Phillies, 2015-2016 Giants, 2018 Royals, 2021 Cubs. They all fell in love with their championship teams, held onto them too long and had to do an overhaul to recover.
The A’s and Rays’ model also works so well because of their ability to draft, sign, trade for, and develop talent, both throughout the minor leagues and major leagues. To me, the goal of making the playoffs and winning a championship are in and of the same thing. MLB playoffs are such a crapshoot where you rarely see the move that many claim put a player over the top because of how random the playoffs can be. The Dodgers have led their division nearly every season for the last 10 years yet they have one World Series to show for it, in a 60-game sprint. What matters most in October isn’t who has the best team, it’s who has the hottest team.
What you cited is why Terry Francona is the best manager in MLB……
Ever since he came to Cleveland and had a competitive team to work with (at times Cleveland geos into a rebuild or rebuild-on-the-fly), he gets them to peak in September. That’s happening again this year with a group of not just young players, but even first time call-ups that just arrived.
This is what the good FO’s and managers / coaches do in any professional or major college team sport. It’s not an accident or coincidence.
Francoa is a great manager. I’d argue that Cleveland is as good as the Dodgers or Rays when it comes to acquiring and developing talent. They’re ability to put together a highly competent pitching staff year in year out even after trading guys like Kluber, Bauer, Clev, and Carrasco.
As a Mets fan, the Lindor deal worked out well for both, but I believe the Indians, based on dollars spent, are winning this one.
Ronald Acuna and George Springer are about as injury prone as Buxton…his $100M extension will not age well
Acuna’s nowhere near as injury prone as Buxton. Buxton’s made of glass.
Sucks. I’ve always loved Buxton.
Same old story, same old song and dance
Lol, taking away 2020, Buxton averages 78 games a season. Acuna has averaged 115. Not even close.
He’s Aaron Hicks with power and no plate discipline.
The difference is that Aaron Hicks is a bum and stays out way longer than expected whenever he is injured. Buxton’s body is fragile
Buxton also stays out way longer than expected. Hell, this one was a precautionary 10 day IL trip supposedly
Damn, he was on pace to hit 50hrs….. Feel bad for the guy seems like a good guy in interviews….. I got roasted on here when the Phillies didn’t trade for him and I was ecstatic….Still am….4war in 90g or not. Would rather have a 4war guy for 145g….
Lol. From the day that he was called up until this season he’s played in right around 53% of the twins games. 53% of 162 is 86.
Wanna guess how many games he started this year? 86.
But we were all told this ridiculous “rest him every third day” strategy would get him the healthiest he’s ever been for a season
The Minnesota Twins and their Cracked Medical staff of Vets… they have played players for years with injuries… the List is endless… Cost perk the rest of his career… clearly pitching him injured… Playing Sano with a broken leg that required surgery… crazy…stupid
Can’t be good when you go on the IL for one thing and get surgery for another after DHing half your games to stay healthy. Still one of the most exciting players in the league
Even when he was good, it never lasted. Small sample size of “the best player on Earth” turns into a .200 batting average and low OBP. Twins should have traded him.
Buxton is one of those ‘old timers day’ signings. Top pick, willing to stick with one team and take less due to his history of injury, and the team willing to invest because the price for half a season of a ~$25M-30M player they normally wouldn’t be able to attract makes sense. If they get a full year of service, it’s a huge win.
He should start and play every 2/4 games Amd come in the 6th inning the other two. Stay healthy my friend
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