Minnesota Twins: Byron Buxton needs to take steps to ensure health

Byron Buxton is a superstar; that is a given. The Minnesota Twins drafted him out of high school in 2012 with the second overall pick, and there is no doubt that he is an elite baseball player on the plate and in the outfield. Buxton makes the Twins better with a 162-game average WAR of 5.3. The problem is that Buxton has missed considerably much of his career due to injuries.

Minnesota Twins fans have yet to see the full potential of their starting center fielder, Byron Buxton

We all know he is good, but he has only 1,752 plate appearances in 493 games in seven major league seasons. Compared with his new teammate, Carlos Correa (3,223 plate appearances), Buxton’s numbers need some work to assess his greatness better.

Only in 2017, Buxton exceeded more than 100 games played (he had 140 games, to be exact). Since then, he has not even come close to playing a whole season. In the 2021 campaign, Buxton slashed .306/.358/.647 with an OPS of 1.005 with only 254 plate appearances in 61 games. Yet, the Minnesota Twins are still all on him as they extended him in the offseason for seven years and $100 million.

Buxton is above average as an outfielder, covering a huge chunk of the outfield. With his 1% top speed in the majors, he can catch anything. In addition, his defensive highlights are incredible.

But is it worth it?

Buxton has had a combination of injury-prone lousy luck kind of a situation. Since his rookie season in 2015, he has never been active a whole season. As a result, he has experienced multiple strains and fractures, back spasms, migraines, hip contusions and bruises, and a concussion after being hit by a pitch. His injury history is a sight to behold.

In 2019, Buxton collided with an outfield wall, causing a season-ending injury with his shoulder, which needed surgery. He did not even catch the ball that came out of the bat of Nelson Cruz in that instance.

Someone wrap this kid in bubble wrap. The baseball world loves his aggressiveness in the game, but this is costing baseball fans the chance to observe a great ballplayer who has been deprived of the MLB spotlight.

Rocco Baldelli, the Twins manager, has been in this situation as a player. He needs to sit with Buxton to let him know to take it easy … especially now. The Twins are letting him know that they are investing to compete in the already loaded American League Central.

Minnesota was pretty quiet before the lockout. There were a couple of non-substantial minor league pickups. The team also lost a couple of players in free agency, including Alex Colome (RHP), John Gant (RHP), Michael Pineda (RHP), and Andrelton Simmons (SS). They only acquired Dylan Bundy (RHP) before MLB closed their doors.

After the lockout was over, Minnesota just wanted to surprise us all. The Twins bought their way to the conversation after ending last place in the division in 2021 with a 73-89 record.

They made a couple of trades acquiring Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez from the Yankees, sending Josh Donaldson’s contract to New York. This trade opened some cash to take the best free agent available, Carlos Correa. In addition, they sent a couple of prospects to the Reds to get starting pitcher Sonny Gray.

The Carlos Correa signing was a shocking one. He signed a three-year, $105.3 million contract with Minnesota. Well, not necessarily three years. He will have two opt-outs in his contract, so it is more like a one-year deal.

Correa can head to free agency again after 2022, with lesser top-ranking shortstops than this year’s class. He could get the 10-year, $300 million deal that he was looking for with another club. Still, the AAV with the Twins is $35.1M, the highest value for any MLB infielder.

This contract makes total sense for the Twins. They have two top-tier prospects at shortstop, with Royce Lewis and Austin Martin beginning the season in the minors. Correa might be a one-year wonder, but the Twins are giving their fans and Byron Buxton a chance to win big.

Buxton needs a reality check. This season, Minnesota has the most stacked lineup he has been. We all hope that he can play the entire season.

We all saw his grab in spring training against the Braves. He took an extra-base hit from Matt Olson. It was cringing to watch, especially knowing that walls don’t like Byron Buxton.

Just relax, man! It’s spring training and there’s a whole season ahead.