The Twins have recalled Byron Buxton to take the roster spot of fellow outfielder Danny Santana, who’s headed to the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring. Long considered one of the game’s truly elite prospects, Buxton scuffled badly in the early going this year, racking up 24 strikeouts in just 49 plate appearances. He’s been laying waste to Triple-A pitching since his demotion, however, posting a .333/.402/.605 slash with six home runs and four steals over 127 plate appearances. Buxton entered the year with 113 days of service to his credit, and has added another twenty thus far in 2016, so he’d stand to pass one year of service time if he can stick for a reasonable stretch.
Here’s more from the American League:
- Red Sox prospect Sam Travis has suffered a torn left ACL, Boston announced. The first baseman will be out for the rest of the season, though the team says the expectation is he’ll be ready for 2017. Travis looked like a useful depth piece in the near-term, and some had suggested that the young first baseman could factor into the team’s plans next year. While that may still prove to be the case, he’ll miss a big stretch of development and a chance to show that he’s ready. That makes it difficult to imagine Boston altering its spending plans based on the promise that the 22-year-old will be ready for a major role. A second-round pick in 2014, Travis had posted a solid (but hardly dominant) .272/.332/.434 slash in 190 plate appearances at Triple-A.
- The Yankees are playing the long game in optioning prized righty Luis Severino, as Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog reports. After an excellent debut in 2015, the 22-year-old had allowed 29 earned runs and eight long balls in his 35 innings of work to start the year. While the triceps strain that landed Severino on the DL appears to be a blip, the organization has broader concerns and obviously decided that he was due for some further polishing. Skipper Joe Girardi explained: “This is a kid with a lot of talent, and we want, the next time he comes up, to be a finished product. He came up last year — some of it was based on need — and did very well. Sometimes when you enter your second season and people have seen you, you have to make adjustments probably more than you’ve ever had to make, it’s not always so easy. So that’s why I think that he’ll get through this and it’s going to make him a better pitcher.”
- Outfielder Carlos Gomez will be activated tomorrow by the Astros, the team announced. Houston is hoping that the 30-year-old former star can turn things around after a dreadful start. He’ll take the roster spot of third baseman Colin Moran, who’ll be optioned back to Triple-A. Moran, 23, managed only two base hits while striking out six times in his twenty plate appearances, though that represented a limited opportunity in his first taste of the majors.
Buxton is a very interesting player. Highly ranked prospect, absolutely tears up AAA, and is an outstanding fielder wherever he is. But he just can’t hit in the majors. It really baffles me.
He hasn’t had nearly enough time in the majors to really determine what kind of hitter he’ll be. Just give it time.
I completely agree about Buxton. To pass any long-term judgment on such a short sample size would be completely foolish!!
All the tools are there, and I’m betting this go around he will fair much better than last time.
He got sent down to AAA, and he has done nothing but absolutely rake ever since. I think he has ultimately regained his confidence, and in the long run I believe this demotion will serve him well.
Totally misread what I was trying to say… I love Buxton and the Twins. I also never said it ain’t gonna happen. All I meant was I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet. Calm down.
While he has looked absolutely brutal at the plate in the majors, he has only played 63 games across two seasons in the majors so he hasn’t had much time to adjust. I think it would benefit his development if the Twins let him settle in at either AAA (he hasn’t played much at that level either) or the MLB for a prolonged period.
Same type of player as JBJ. Some guys figure it out eventually, and some don’t. It’s a case by case thing. Buxton shows a lot of promise.
Exactly my thoughts, some people were ready to write off JBJ…. Just give him some time and see if he catches on.
So now we are crowning Bradley a hall of famer before he has completed a season without going down to the minor leagues
People on this board often talk about how Red Sox fans over inflate the value of their players and prospects. Yet it seems more often someone like you makes a sarcastic remark and then someone else will attribute that as a claim by a Red Sox fan.
No one in this thread suggested JBJ is a HOFer and in fact you were the first to bring up the HOF at all. What in fact happened was jpo8 made a point about a young top prospect who tore it up in the minors only to struggle in the majors who happens to be doing better in the majors now. He suggested another such prospect, Buxton, who also happens to be struggling in the majors yet tearing it up in the minors might just need time.
So actually read the words people are saying and not whatever strange conjecture you want to make.
Spotted the lead paint chip eater.
Savage
@kingfelix34 Nobody ever said that. I just drew a comparison to Buxton in that they are both plus defensive outfielders that hit well in the minors but struggled to hit in the majors. JBJ seems to have figured it out temporarily, whether or not he can produce at any above average level consistently remains to be seen.
Dom brown 2.0
Lol Dom Brown never had the tools that Buxton has, try again
RYAN MINOR former heir apparent to the O’s 3rd base job after Cal retired.
That was more a fan base trying to replace a legend than anything. The kid has 150 MLB plate appearances and is 22 years old. Trout didn’t do well in his first 150 PA either.
Ricky Ledee?
Sure Girardi….. it will make him better. You know what it will also do? Delay his service time a year. Only have to wait 72 days. I’m sure the organization sees this as a lost season, might as well keep a star pitcher around longer.
Cause I’m sure New York is worried about money.
Of course NY is concerned with money. No one throws it away when they don’t have to.
No, there is a line between sending down a pitcher who has struggled, and a situation such as the Glasnow/ Taillon case. New York is trying to win now, so acting as though New York would prioritize money over development doesn’t have much logic involved. If Severino was pitching well and he was sent down to limit his innings. That would be a situation where money is clearly the factor.
Why option him the day his 15 day disabled list stint is up? They had 30 days to keep him in the minors doing THE SAME THING. Know what the difference is? He can’t get service time if he is optioned. Got it?
You obviously hate the Yankees by reading your posts over several threads, so logic doesn’t work in this situation. I’ll still try however, Severino was rushed through the minors and was brought up late last year to help New York; who after the all star break, struggled to remain respectable. Meanwhile the Blue Jays acquired Price and tore up New York throughout the stretch. Severino ran into trouble this year, like all professionals do, but since he has only thrown 61 innings at triple A and 340 innings total in the minors, he is raw and needs much more seasoning. However you seem to think 60 innings at AAA is enough to learn what it takes to dominate at the majors, or you are lacking in common sense or both. The option is much needed and frankly he should not have been brought up last year since Severino has pitched more MLB innings 97.1 than AAA innings 61.1 Got it?
Sev Dominated AAA. His problem is not going to be worked out against AAA players, it needs to be worked out against mlb players. What will his stint in the minors do, show he can get them out? If they did not promote him last year, the Yankees don’t make the playoffs. He pitched way above his head last year at mlb level. Just look at his FIP from last year.
His stint in the minors will allow him to develop his off speed offerings since starters need to have at least 3 pitches. Also MLB outs are much harder than AAA outs since you have to pitch against Big Papi (who has homered at least 3 times off Sevy) and many other top players, who have analytics departments to prepare them for what you bring. And yes I know New York doesn’t make the playoffs last year without Sevy, but New York will do anything it can to place a respectable team on the field, including bringing up a prospect way too early. I literally don’t think anyone would equate this to a cost saving move. There was plenty of talk by New York, beat writers, and fans about when Severino was going down, just with Sabathia on the DL a couple weeks ago, New York was not going to send Sevy down because they have nothing else in AAA to bring up pitching wise.
You still haven’t answered. Why activate him and option him when they could just keep him on the DL for another 30 days? You know why…. because I am right.
No your not…. After 2 responses explaining why New York would option Severino you refuse to see logic so I will stoop down and answer ignorance with ignorance. If it was about service time, New York would have optioned Severino to the Minors then put him on the DL, thus saving 15 days. But 99.9% of people aren’t ignorant and realise the honorable thing to do is place him on the major league DL since he was hurt in the majors. Now that he is healthy he should be optioned to the minors to develop. No team including New York would give any prospect 15 free days of service time knowing that he needs to be sent down. You are acting like any team would just give away service time and its laughable
Seriously? He was pitching to a 7.46 ERA. I am pretty sure if his ERA was even in the 4.50 range they would have kept him in the bigs. How does getting frustrated every time you pitch because you are getting batted around help? It doesn’t. Send him down, get him straightened out and he can be a quality starter for the long haul. The Yankees already have a few place holder pitchers they need to make him into a winner.
The Yankees had 30 days to keep him in the minors, why activate him and option him?
Right when Marisnick starts to hit, they recall Gomez. smh. the guy is a cancer and is taking away at-bat from players will be here beyond this season.
I would guess the Astros are trying to salvage something from the trade ie. qualifying offer. I never have been a fan of Gomez and his antics, but in a weak free agency class he should be able to sign somewhere if he hits better through the summer.
You have NO idea what you are talking about. The Teammates absolutely LOVES Gomez. Yes he is struggling but you’re just talking nonsense. Btw… Jake is Hitting .169, so “Starting to hit” doesn’t mean much
it does when he’s hitting near .400 in last 10 or so at-bats.
10 at-bats don’t really mean much. His overall body of work matters much more
OMG!!! 10AB’s l, seriously???
Since the “minor league options” topic is one that I am not entirely understanding, I’ll ask: Are the Twins nearing the end of their amount of how many times they can option Buxton? How about Profar? How many more times (without the system completely being abused) can they be sent back down?
Three option years. You can options player as many times as you want in those three option years.
Sometimes, a player will qualify for a 4th option year.
Thanks, ThatGuy. So it looks like Profar is in his potentially last option year and Buxton is in his 2nd.
No profar isn’t on his last option year. Because of his injuries the last two seasons, he had plenty of option time.
Remember the past couple years, Profar has been on the DL, not optioned
Might ask some of the knowledgeable Rangers fans if he was awarded a 4th option also with regards to all of his injuries. It has happened and not all the uncommon if teams apply to the commisioner’s office, tho they usually don’t bother unless it’s an at least fair prospect like Profar.
Only ones generally keep up with are Sox ones of course, but Edwin Escobar was awarded one this past winter (4th) for missing most of last year because of arm injury.
Boston should inquire about Ranger’s Mitch Moreland. They’d probably pay most of his salary for this his last year just to clear a spot to call up Gallo.
He needs a change of scenery to knock him out of his funk.