The Twins won’t be recalling Byron Buxton to the Major League roster, a decision that puts the team in line to gain an extra year of control over the young outfielder. The situation has already created controversy, and there seems to be at least a chance that Buxton and his representatives at Jet Sports Management could look into filing a grievance with the league. In a statement to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required), agency owner B.B. Abbott said “We will examine this against the rights provided to all players under the CBA. Until then, we will let Twins fans form their own opinions about this decision.” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark also commented on Buxton, saying that the union “will review all options with Byron and his representatives.”
Minnesota GM Thad Levine did mention that the team was aware of Buxton’s service time circumstances, and Rosenthal is skeptical about the three larger factors (concerns about the wrist injury that sent Buxton to the DL, a lack of room in the Twins outfield, and “a performance standpoint factor“) that Levine cited as the chief reasons for Buxton remaining in Triple-A. Buxton has not only been healthy enough to play regularly in Triple-A, Rosenthal observes, but the outfielder has also been hitting quite well in recent games. Rosenthal wonders if the Twins’ desire to retain Buxton for an extra season will cost them in the long run, as Buxton may now be soured on signing a longer-term extension to remain in Minnesota beyond 2022.
Here’s more from around baseball on this Labor Day weekend…
- Justin Upton suffered a concussion while avoiding a collision with Angels teammate Andrelton Simmons during Saturday’s game, the outfielder told MLB.com’s Maria Guardado and other reporters. Upton came out of the game and didn’t play on Sunday, as he’ll be out of action until his symptoms fully subside. Upton’s first full season in a Halos uniform has been an impressive one, as the 31-year-old has 26 homers and a .265/.349/.467 slash line over 533 plate appearances.
- The Nationals will activate right-hander Erick Fedde from the 60-day DL to start Tuesday’s game, Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com writes. Fedde has been sidelined with inflammation in his throwing shoulder, the latest in a series of injuries that has set back his young career. Fedde has only 43 1/3 Major League innings to his name over 2017-18, though he’ll get a chance at showcasing himself in September. As Zuckerman notes, the Nationals may use Gio Gonzalez’s former rotation spot to give starts to multiple young arms, including Fedde and possibly Joe Ross, who is on track to make his return from Tommy John surgery sometime this month.
- With the Athletics rolling, John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle wonders why the team hasn’t extended manager Bob Melvin, who is only under contract through the 2019 season. Failing to keep Melvin (or, for that matter, baseball operations head Billy Beane and GM David Forst) from “lame-duck status” in the final year of their deals threatens to undermine the progress that the A’s have made this season, Shea opines. Back in June, the Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reported that there some belief that the team’s upper management wouldn’t retain Beane, Forst, and/or Melvin beyond the end of their current contracts. If this was ownership’s plan, however, one wonders if things have changed in the wake of the Athletics’ hot streak and return to contention.
Because Bob Melvin is a terrible manager and Ryan Christenson is the reason why the A’s are doing well this year, and RC deserves the job, which he will get in 2019.
Lol no
Everyone knows RC is the brains behind this current season and has been groomed for years. He’s led every level of the minors to the playoffs, he’s bought up all of this young home grown core. Melvin is a handicap of a manager, a career .500 manager. A’s need better. Ideally the two would just switch roles and move Melvin to bench coach.
^^^^^^^^this guy^^^^^^
You are correct, now I wont say Melvin is terrible he is decent, but it’s the RC show. The series vs Seattle showed Melvin maybe out of his realm in playoff series. Oh and Brett Anderson’s last start it was obvious he needed pulled much earlier as he was hanging everything. Oh and how he talked up chris Hatcher was nauseating, the only good thing Hatcher did was get Blake to change his grip.
Lay off the drugs.
This is hot garbage.
truth hurts but melvin has literally never been an elite manager and only ever has won because he just happened to have teams given to him that were so good he couldn’t screw it up
You have no idea what your even talking about
So you’re basically talking about every major league manager. The role of the manager is more that of a figurehead. It’s up to front offices to do what is necessary to build a winning team, particularly through a good farm system. That’s the way it’s been done for over 100 years. The Yankees and Red Sox are not dominant right now because of their managers.
While I don’t agree that BoMel is a bad manager, I will say that Ryan Christenson HAS been groomed to take over. The man managed our core of players all the way through the minor league system.
Oh look, an A’s fan who’s actually paying attention. Hat tip to you.
I don’t think anyone takes issue to you being enamored with RC or that he is being groomed to take over as manager. But as the guy you tip your cap to alluded, people do take issue to you calling BoMel a terrible manager. What’s your take on 2012-2014? And what exactly were you expecting after dealing so many guys after 2014?
A manager doesn’t win games, they can only lose them. And with the teams that the A’s have fielded the last few years, Melvin would’ve always been in a position to fail. To say that the posters who disagree with you are wrong without backing it up is incredibly condescending
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You might seriously be the worst roll on this website, you never have any clue what you’re posting about.
Christianson must have made an appearance at the Special Olympics and signed an autograph For this ass clown.
Billy Beane has a stake in the ownership of the A’s so I am not sure how that logic plays out.
The SF Chronicle does whatever it can to criticize and slander the A’s. This isn’t news, it’s speculation. The A’s are in a tricky predicament. If this team competes next year as well Forst will get extended and Billy will stay on in an advisory role. Billy wants to bring a world series championship to Oakland and he’s laid the ground work. Now he can sit back and let David Forst and Billy Owens do the heavy lifting and focus on soccer.
If not, this team needs to be competitive into a new ballpark. There is little room for error on any side of baseball ops, and if they can’t put together a team that can compete consistently like the one from the 2000’s then it’ll be time to look for new heads of baseball ops.
Isn’t Buxton batting around .150 this season? I get that he’s been battling some injuries. However, to question a team for not rushing to bring back a sub-par player is puzzling.
383.
That is Buxton’s OPS over 100 PA’s this year in the majors.
383. Not his OBP. Not his SLG%. That is his OBP + SLG.
94 PA’s, 14H, 42B, 0HR, 3BB, 28K. On pace for a -3.5fWAR season (with 700 PA’s) even with his stellar defense. Makes Chris Davis look like an all-star.
He’s posting a sub 800 OPS in AAA. And he has his injury worries. Good luck proving that Buxton deserves a spot on the team right now Clark.
All that, and we’re sitting here talking about if he’s going to still be mad about this when he signs a five year extension in 2022.
He broke his foot after the 11th game this season and the team made him play on it for a month and sent him to AAA and then shut him down with a AAA injury, not his ML injury. He’s got arguments for a grievance..
Maybe my timeline is wrong but here is what I think happened:
— 4/13 – scratched from lineup (later found out it was due to migraines) – he was hitting 195/233/244 (good for a 26 wRC+) at the time
— 4/23 – while rehabbing for his migraines he fouls a ball off his foot – hairline fracture of his big toe is discovered almost a week later after x-rays of his foot originally showed negative
— He comes back after almost 3 weeks. Regular recovery is 6 weeks but Buxton reports that he is ready to go
— On May 27 he slams into the wall. From his return to the lineup to now he has hit 122/140/163 (-28 wRC+). A brutal 17 game stretch.
— May 30th he returns to the DL for his big toe (which hasn’t healed)
In conclusion … he was terrible before the injury. Like really terrible. His major injury (the toe) came while he was in the minors rehabbing from migraines. He did return early but the team didn’t “make” him. When he returned he was historically terrible. After his injuries, he played better in AAA but certainly not well enough to warrant a grievance for not being called up. The Twins have every right to play it safe with their gifted, but extremely fragile, CFer.
He has ZERO ground to stand on. I’m from MN and have watched this “phenom” have nothing more than 3 months of above Mendoza offense. There’s no question he’s way above average on defense. But he’s barely above Mendoza for 90% of his MLB time on offense. Toss in that he’s injury prone and has NOT improved one ounce in his bunting and pitch recognition in his MLB service.. The Twins are well within their rights to sit him. Let’s see what Cave can do with a couple months of solid playing time and see if he can be our 4th outfielder or possibly our starting Cf. It’s been YEARS they have been hyping Buxton , only to get a few months of above A ball offense out of him. He strikes out way to much , cant bunt and can’t lay off breaking ball 2ft out of reach. His speed means jack squat when he cant get on base .The Twins are going by the rules mr Clark helped negotiate.
I tend to agree about the hyping of Buxton. The new Front Office is finding out for themselves what kind of mess they have to clean up around the organization.
These grievances are getting old quick. Btw, buxton had one good season. Just because he was a top prospect doesn’t mean that he will even still be an mlb caliber player in 2022
One good half a season. He brutal in the first half last year. Like this season brutal.
The most logical assumption with the A’s is that those 3 are looking to jump ship go to another team and another opportunity. Of course the A’s would want to retain them
Very true! The fact it A’s need new owner more than anything!!
Our owner is fine, it was previously our managing partner that couldn’t get it done, and Fremont/Bud Selig helped him not get that done.
Fisher has proven capable of getting projects built multiple times, so it really amazes me when people talk out of their ass.
Do the Angels have ONE… Just ONE… Just ONE player with any toughness and fight? If they do I am missing it. Please try and change my mind.
Yeah man, because concussions have never ever derailed a career or absolutely destroyed quality of life. I get being perturbed about the amount of injuries, but questioning toughness when it comes to concussions is a terrible take/bad look. There’s one thing to touching on a sore ankle, sore knee, etc. but the significance a major injury or concussions come on.
Mike Trout is the greatest player we’ve ever seen how dare you say this crap about him. Worst post ever.
Does HaloShane have ONE… Just ONE… Just ONE comment where it actually makes sense and is positive about the halos? If he does I am missing it. Please try and change my mind.
Players on Angels’ 40-man roster who have not spent any time on the disabled list in majors or minors: Jose Álvarez, Blake Parker, Cam Bedrosian, Noe Ramirez, David Fletcher, Jose Briceno, Jose Fernandez, Eric Young Jr., Jaime Barria, Felix Peña, Justin Anderson, Taylor Cole, Jabari Blash, Deck McGuire, Williams Jerez, Eduardo Paredes. That’s 16 players, which I would believe is more than the “ONE… Just ONE… Just ONE player” you requested. That’s not saying your argument isn’t otherwise flawed.
These service time grievances kill me. Of course teams are going to do what they can to maximize team control. Why are we surprised or upset that in a system where 6.000 is free agency and 5.171 isn’t, and everyone knows it, teams, especially smaller market teams, will do what they can to get the most out of guys while they still can.
And…. Where’s the MLBPA fighting for guys who get demoted solely because someone else is out of options? That’s not fair either. That’s often a case of teams putting player control over performance as well. Where’s the bellyaching?
Confused, so the MLBPA shouldn’t fight the service time thing because it’s expected, but they should fight the demotions because of options, even though that’s expected too. You seem a little mixed up.
The truth is NO MATTER what length of time the service time date is set, there will always be some teams seeking to manipulate it. It is what it is. There are no good options and because of that the system is likely to be unchanged.
Exactly.
Would I, if I were a younger player, hammer the MLBPA to do something about reducing years of team control? Yes, of course. But, the MLBPA has shown it doesn’t give a damn about younger players.
Except in this cases Buxton is bad and wasn’t even good in AAA so his grievance would get tossed immediately.
Demoting a player because another is out of options has nothing to do with service time and everything to do with not wanting to lose the out of options player.
Jake Cave is doing pretty well as the Twins’ third outfielder. I’m okay with the Twins giving him more playing time. He needs to improve defensively, so more practice will be good for him.
Next year, unless Buxton stays healthy and really picks up his game (and, in my opinion, starts slapping line drives and bunting to get on base/then stealing second and third), Byron is looking to me more like a 4th outfielder/late-inning defensive replacement/pinch runner. I hope I’m wrong, but he needs a higher on-base percentage than the Twins need another swing-and-miss guy.
It’s possible that Max Kepler has positioned himself next year as being the Twins’ 4th outfielder. He hasn’t been very good at the plate. (I could see an outfield of Rosario, Cave, with a platoon of Buxton/Kepler depending on who’s pitching).
Basically, every outfielder on the team not named Eddie really needs to improve significantly. Even Eddie needs better concentration than he’s been showing in the field..
Between the four of them, though, I think the team will be set for 2019. I don’t see much room for Robbie Grossman or Johnny Field in the Twins outfield. Although, if Buxton wants to sue about his treatment this final month, then expect him to be traded long before it’s time to work out a real contract with him.
Anyone building a team foundation around Eddie Rosario is in trouble. He has no plate discipline, and his baserunning and outfield play is erratic. He is a piece in a puzzle, not THE player to build a team around. My opinion, of course. Hope he gets better, of course.
Leave it to the SF Chronicle to write another piece of crap article that tries to spin the A’s in a bad light. It’s not really all that surprising at this point. Anyone that isn’t Susan Slusser really has no business writing about the team at all, especially if they’re allowed to give their opinion about a team they really don’t give a damn about.
In any case, few people are trying to look at this from the A’s management’s point of view, because SF Chronicle has already told everyone that A’s management is bad and shouldn’t be trusted. The A’s need to be competitive through to 2023 when the new stadium is supposed to open. That’s the timeline. Forst and Melvin have to earn their jobs, or it’ll be time to look elsewhere. If they want to be involved in the changing times of the Oakland Athletics they need to prove why they deserve to be there.
That hurts to say as a long time A’s fans, but nothing lasts forever. We need to win.
Billy Beane is a tremendous VP, Forst is behind Billy and Melvin is an incredible manager! Those guys make wonders without resources, period! They ought retain them for year to come, period…
If they deserve to be retained they will be. People talk constantly about our “low payroll” but the resources spent over the last two years on personnel to actually run this team have been substantial.
Fisher doesn’t hesitate to invest when it makes sense. Adding a dozen or so executives to manage key areas of the team, purchasing land around the areas the A’s want to build the new ballpark on. Those are things that makes sense to invest in.
If that’s true what your saying in that case why has it taken Mr. Fisher over 10 years of owning the team and still no stadium?? If he has the right executives in place why is MLB finally taking away their revenue sharing money in the the next year or two because they weren’t using it properly? On top of that Mr. Bean has expressed his frustration with owner ship about spending and has stated and got there word they will be spending to keep a competitive team on the field. So let’s see if that will happen this off season? And last Mr. Fisher is near the top as wealthiest families in America!
Because he entrusted the ballpark search to Lew Wolff, who had the resources and contacts to get it done. Neither of them figured that real estate and a ballpark were two completely different ventures and that they wouldn’t be met with the same sort of acceptance. They thought, that with Wolff’s resources, they’d be able to get a stadium done and they’d be in better shape financially. That was a mistake on both of their parts, but Fremont didn’t want it and Bud Selig did us dirty by not siding with his old sorority buddy in our territorial rights dispute.
The last time Billy Beane openly criticized ownership for their inability to spend was when Schott and Hofmann owned the team, and that was understandable frustration as they had absolutely no desire to do anything with the team but wait and sell it later on for more than they bought it for.
Also never use individual net wealth to determine how much someone should spend. That’s an absolutely meaningless number.
Mlbpa has too much power it’s the clubs choice not his or his agents
They have never won a grievance on this.
They lose almost every grievance in general.
Lame duck status doesn’t apply until you’re actually a lame duck. Doesn’t make any sense to talk about it the year before. What are they, lame lame ducks?
Yeah, Tony…I’m sure Twins fans are just broken hearted that they can’t watch a guy hit under .200 playing out the string in a lost season.
This is the system YOU negotiated, Genius. This is what is best for the Twins under the system you agreed to under the most recent CBA so therefore this is what the Twins are doing. If it’s not good for the player, maybe his union should have thought of that ahead of time.
I can’t find a shred of evidence that Clark is good at his job…
Byron Buxton is a bust. Twins should trade him while some of his draft hype is still there. Really would have done it last year. He has all the tools except the most important one… hitting. If you cant hit youre no better than a 4th OFer and thats what he is right now.
42 strikeouts in 140 at bats at AAA is not going to help Buxtons’ case.
Why call up buck for hitting well for a few weeks when guys like Vlad Jr. and Eloy Jimenez have raked all year and neither of them are getting called up? They have a better arguement for a grievance over buck.
While Buxton is fun to watch in the field and he had a brief run in 17 where he looked as he was promised, this kid needs work. Hardly earned the right to complain. If he doesn’t think so he could always watch some video of himself. Don’t get me wrong, I hope he figures it out but the kid was painful to watch in the bigs this year. Take it in stride and get ready for spring. Come back and prove yourself then you’ll get paid