The lead-up to this past trade deadline for the Twins was highlighted by questions about Byron Buxton’s future in the organization. Minnesota discussed a long-term extension with his representatives at Jet Sports Management, but the club’s reported offer of an $80MM guarantee wasn’t enough to get a deal done. The Twins also fielded inquiries about Buxton’s availability in trade, but they ultimately elected to hold onto the star center fielder for the remainder of the season.
With Buxton now set to enter his final year of club control, the Twins are again faced with the question of how to proceed. The front office continues to explore both the possibility of a Buxton trade or renewed efforts at an extension, write Dan Hayes and Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. While the club has remained in contact with Buxton’s camp this offseason, there’s been no progress yet on a deal. The sticking point in extension talks this summer, according to Hayes and Rosenthal, was the front office’s unwillingness to include incentives that could push Buxton’s earning potential around $100MM. Whether that’s still the holdup in talks isn’t clear.
The lack of progress on an extension could point towards a trade being a likelier outcome, but the Athletic writes that Minnesota chairman Jim Pohlad is hesitant to sign off on moving Buxton elsewhere. This summer, Pohlad forcefully pushed back against the notion of the Twins kicking off a long-term rebuild. Between Minnesota’s internal group of talented position players and ample payroll flexibility that should enable the front office to add multiple starting pitchers this winter, a return to competitiveness next season wouldn’t seem to be out of the question. That all adds up to a challenging decision on how the organization should proceed with Buxton, who is one of the game’s most electrifying talents when healthy.
The sport’s former top prospect, Buxton has demonstrated that upside when able to take the field. He’s perhaps the game’s best defensive outfielder, a former Gold Glove winner who has twice appeared on MVP ballots. And Buxton is coming off an equally remarkable offensive showing, hitting .306/.358/.647 with 19 homers and nine steals over 254 plate appearances in 2021. Among players with 250+ plate appearances, only Bryce Harper outhit Buxton by measure of wRC+.
Of course, the health caveat is an important one. Buxton has only once topped 500 plate appearances in a given year (511 in 2017). The 27-year-old landed on the injured list on two separate occasions this past season, losing six weeks to a right hip strain suffered while trying to beat out a ground ball and missing two months after fracturing his left hand on a hit-by-pitch. Buxton has also missed time with left shoulder, right wrist and concussion issues just within the past three years.
While the Twins are keeping all their options open, the team doesn’t have to pick an absolute course of action this winter. Just as they did over the summer, Minnesota could elect to simply hang onto Buxton into 2022. He’s projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a salary in the $7.3MM range in his final year of arbitration. The Twins could enter the 2022 season with Buxton on the roster and reevaluate their long-term options depending on the team’s performance and Buxton’s health over the first half.
That’s obviously a risky course of action itself. There’s always the looming possibility Buxton suffers another injury. Even if he stays healthy and productive, the team might not rebound as hoped. In that instance, the club would be left marketing just a few months of Buxton’s services at next summer’s trade deadline, where their return would likely be inferior to what they could pull in from clubs this winter.
Appropriately valuing a player with Buxton’s combination of raw talent, huge production and lengthy injury history is certainly a challenge — for each of the Twins’ front office, the player’s reps and other teams exploring the possibility of a blockbuster trade. That’s made all the more true by Minnesota’s atypical competitive situation, coming off a last place finish but with a clear desire to compete in 2022. That confluence of factors means Buxton’s future could be one of the bigger storylines of the upcoming winter, even though there’s no guarantee of any sort of resolution this offseason at all.
As a Phillies fan @45yrs, I’ve asked the Buxton question a few times in chats as to why the Phils would want him, being an oft injured stellar talent….
They need a talent who may be “less” than Buxton, but available for 140+ games…..
Nothing against him, but please Phillies….a hard pass due to the crucial tipping point going on in this current playoff push….
There’s no games-played guarantee for any player. Just get the best players possible and let the chips fall where they may.
@ceyhey, as I see you are a frequent poster and a potentially a learned fan…..
Most players that are oft injured early in their career….seriously talented or not…..don’t morph into 140+ game guys……….into their late 20’s…..
And the minor league player return, in a less than good system, plus the potential of an extension….for him….C’mon….
cpdpoet – Starling Marte is available for nothing but money.
Buxton landed on the injured list last year from a hand fracture from a fastball, and the prior year by a fastball to his head. Some injuries are more bad luck than being ‘injury-prone.’ I hope the Twins keep him – he is an incredibly talented player and well- liked for his work ethic by his teammates.
Más hooey! Glad your level of responsibility is not at the upper level of a baseball club.
No, youre exactly correct Cey Hey, but there are some players that just tend to get injured more often than others.
If you happen to be a team that can’t afford to miss on a big trade or big signing, then you might shy away from someone like Buxton who tends to miss alot of time. If you’re a team with a larger payroll and/or a really deep farm system, then it might be less damming to risk signing a player who tends to have his fair share of injuries and you can more afford to take the risk…etc..
You do have to take into account how often a player is hurt, though. He’s been in the league 7 years and has only played more than 92 games once. Another way to put it that factors in the fact that 2020 was only 50 games is that he’s only played more than 57% of his team’s games twice: 2020 (78%) and 2017 (86.4%).
If you’re not considering his injury history and only looking at how good he is when he does play, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment.
If is supposed frailty lowers his trade value, that’s a risk I would take if it means giving up less prospects. If the Twins act like he’s a 162 game playing MVP though, different story.
@ rct;
He got injured quite often in he minors as well.
Got to agree with RCT… bad track record on the injuries, and the dollars just don’t justify it. Spend your money wisely guys. A lot of teams looking for that CF that hits and gloves up… the ones that do bring home the big bucks!
@badco44 In support of that, just look at who the Angels replaced Mike Trout with for a couple of months when he went out: Juan Freaking Lagares.
Billy Hamilton still found work. Expect a Keon Broxton deal any day now.
I find it interesting the Twins were willing to guarantee Buxton $80M but not kick in the extra $20M based on incentives. I would think due to his injury history teams would be willing to pay Buxton handsomely for incentives but not guarantee much money. That way he’s cheap if he doesn’t play. If he becomes expensive it’s a good thing because that means he’s playing often enough to produce. I wouldn’t mind paying Buxton $200M as long as it was all based on incentives he had to earn. He’s worth it when he’s healthy and if he gets hurt he would be virtually free.
It’s because the 80m is already an overpay.
Buxton’s injury history certainly makes him an outlier, but it’s always interesting to me how so many fans are bothered by players getting paid big bucks at the end of a contract when their careers are winding down, yet the same fans rarely mention the fact that players are underpaid significantly during the first six years of their major league careers.
There was never any mention of how many years that $80m was for. There’s a lot of room for opinion until we find out if it was three or seven years.
@gbs42 People do mention it all the time, but usually in the context of how their teams can now afford to sign big time FAs.
@Jack – mentioning it and doing something to address the problem are two vastly different things.
In the summer it was reported to be 7 years.
I hope Buxton can stay healthy the rest of his career. I know that probably is too much to ask, but would be super fun to see him playing well and healthy like he did to start off 2021.
100 million for Buxton? LMAOOOOOOO
If he replicates his 2021 season in 2022 and heads into free agency with that season, he’s easily a $100M player.
You mean playing exceptionally and get injured twice?
Not sure that will help his cause
You can’t fault a guy for missing time from getting hit by a pitch. The hip strain that cost him six weeks is definitely par for conversation though
He played in 61 games this year. No way he’s a $100 million player if he replicates that.
Lol my bad.. I forgot to specify the stat line. He was damn good when on the field. Obviously his health is a majorrrrrr concern with a long term contract.
I love Nash Walker’s take on this. Give him a 7/100 baseline deal with escalators given plate appearances and MVP votes. If he secures an MVP vote, his salary escalates. Securing a MVP, his salary would escalate to a tune of 45 million for a year. Let Buxton bet on himself. If not, a 14 million dollar salary versus a season he had last year, would be worth the cost. If Buck gets hurt than you won’t take more than the 14 million home for that season. If he performs and plays at the level he can when he’s on the field, than that’s a price the Twins should be willing to pay. If the Twins decide to trade him, what’s his worth?
How about a salary solely based on games played? Or how about a team opt out if he misses over half the games in a season?
@iverbure Great ideas, but it only takes one team willing to guarantee money to render that offer an interesting footnote.
iverbure
How about a salary solely based on games played?
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It would probably come out the same. If you pay him per game, He is going to want Trout money, because that’s what his per-game value is at. I’d rather pay him less, because of the injury risk, and hope he exceeds expectations.
Buxton to Boston for Duran Groome and Decker. Only one year of Buxton and a top 100 guy in Buxton with another high upside high risk in Groome
That’s insane
Boston wouldn’t do that for 1 year of Buxton. Decker along with someone like Matthew Lugo could get it done possibly. With that said, Sox have gotta be pretty happy with Hernandez in center and he recently said something along the lines of “the prospects better find another position to play, because I’ve got CF locked down for years” on IG Live.
LMFAO…..NO
I would do Duran for Buxton, but Groome still has some ceiling left.
Buxton will cost a ton of bucks
Renew then trade. Like the NBA
There’s no reason why mlb teams would ever do that. There’s a reason why it never happens in mlb. The reason why it only happens in the nba is because the team who has the player can offer the player more years than the other 29 teams.
You don’t think there is any advantage to either team if the Twins extend him and then trade him?
The argument that something doesn’t happen really does not mean it can’t or shouldn’t happen.
He’s more valuable as a trade chip if he’s signed for more than one year.
You don’t think getting more in trade is a reason?
Or
As for the acquiring team, you don’t think most teams would pay more if he was signed long term?
Your argument for why it happens in the NBA is true but how can you say there isn’t any reason to do it in MLB?
Because you are basically selling a commitment, not an asset. The minute you sign him to the long term deal, his trade value sinks. Its not like they can sign him to a deal that would be sooooo under-market that teams would want to pay him his market value salary AND give up prospects to do it.
It works in the NBA because their is the built in advantage given to the team in control of the player and that condition doesn’t exist in the MLB.
Sure, its possible to sign someone below market and then trade them, but it would be poor negotiating on Buxton’s agent’s part if they left so much money on the table that another team would not only want to pay him that salary but also give up prospect assets (which are cheap and don’t come as a commitment). He might as well wait until free agency because there is no incentive for them to sign an extension that would be under market value just so his team can trade him. At least in free agency he gets to choose where he goes.
Regardless of his issues missing games previously it doesn’t sound like Buxton nor his camp is asking for too much. When he plays, he’s more than worth that money, and if his contract has incentives for him being in the field and protection for the team against a larger salary if he’s hurt, that sounds like a perfectly reasonable deal.
@ bravesfan88;
As a fan I don’t get involved too much in the dollar amounts players get (or statistics.). Mostly I watch to see what a player is doing on the field to help his team win.
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From the article:
“The sticking point in extension talks this summer, according to Hayes and Rosenthal, was the front office’s unwillingness to include incentives that could push Buxton’s earning potential around $100MM.”
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Again, I don’t know about the ultimate dollar amount, but if there is a player in MLB that should be given an incentive-based contract, this is the guy.
Is it the owner or FO that live in fantasyland? Bryan Buxton’s next contract past 2022 is going to be filled with incentives. With his injury history teams have no choice. If he’s on the field and plays as he has the past few years when he was healthy, the man deserves to be in the top 5% salary-wise. But if he misses chunks of time again then it would be irresponsible for any FO to have given him a large guaranteed contract.
No one has ever mentioned how many years these discussions are for. If it’s six or three you can see issues, but at four or five these are all pretty reasonable numbers. The devil is in the details.
I think a few posters have noticed that. $80M/5, plus another $20M, topps off at $20M. If it is only four years, then you are talking $25M per. Just on base salary, there is a fair difference between paying him $20M per or paying him $16M per.
It was 80mil over 7 yrs. Its all over the internet
I would pass on the little hurt
Twins aren’t signing any pitcher to make a difference. Beautiful place , free agents aren’t flocking to go. Not going to compete again next year. Too many holes I. The pitching department.
Buxton to Rangers for Taveras, Ornelas and Hernandez. Do the Twins hang up?
The rangers should after thinking up that dumb idea.
Most clubs are too savvy at this point to overpay for players who just cannot play full seasons bc they’ve proven to be injury prone… talent and upside shouldn’t outweigh lack of reliability… but there’s always that one team that’s willing to pay for the miracle that might happen, but we know never will… I wonder who that team will be with buxton… with my luck, it will be my Mets
If Buxton could stay on the field he would be one of the best players in baseball. However, because he hasn’t been able to play a full season in all but one of his seasons in the Majors how do you justify asking/paying him as such, or in trade asking for a big prospect haul in return? It really is a tough situation with Buxton
Because his potential is greater than anyone you could get in a trade
How about marchaun and Gibson for him ?
Ah-Ha! So it’s the owner that won’t allow a rebuild so they tell the fans that they can comeback quickly.
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“Between Minnesota’s internal group of talented position players and ample payroll flexibility that should enable the front office to add multiple starting pitchers this winter, a return to competitiveness next season wouldn’t seem to be out of the question.”
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If they signed Max Scherzer and Kevin Gausman it’s doubtful they could pass the White Sox, Tigers and Guardians in 2022 unless those teams have major long-term injuries to key people. After those 2 pitch their 380 innings, tell us who pitches the other 1,000.
I’m honestly surprised that people care this much about a guy who barely plays. If I’m the Twins I let everyone know he’s available and take the first offer with decent value, assuming you find someone dumb enough to do that.
Given the fact that they are behind a few teams atleast in their division with a large amount of holes to patch up, I agree.
They should trade anyone with value older than 26, the window for this core ended last April
This was the dumbest comment ive seen on here in a long time
You should watch him play. He makes defensive plays that few others can make. He can steal bases. He hits for power. He can hit for average. He has a strong arm. He’s the Twins MVP by far when he’s healthy. If he’s willing to take an incentive laden contract and about $11-$12 million per year as a base, he would be a steal. If the Twins sign him, other players will want to join the Twins. Some of the recent injuries have been freak accidents.
I agree with most of what you said but what is key is “when he’s healthy”.
Seattle is perfect for him.
Seattle is loaded with OF and prospects. They don’t need him
Seattle doesn’t have a true CF. Kyle Lewis given his own injury issues probably profiles better at a corner now.
yes but if I am Seattle I go after Marte instead of trading prospects at this point. Maybe see about moving Lewis to get some pitching
It makes total sense to do a safer BASE salary since he’s been injured more often than he’s been healthy for the last several years. But I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have incentives that pay him north of 100 million. If he’s healthy, he’s well worth that.
Because if you offer him an 80m base salary, but then need to pay 20m more if he’s good, you’re lowering the potential surplus value that you’d put into that type of risk/reward calculation. It’d be interesting to see if they can work out something for a similar $100m total value, maybe 70m guarantee with 30m incentives, something that’d reduce the risk the Twins face should he continue to be oft injured or bad, but still give Buxton the $100m opportunity if he’s not.
The Twins front office is a joke. Why would you not offer Buxton a contract that would approach 100M if he stays healthy. Heck if he stays healthy for the next 5 years it would b a steal. 6 year deal for 90M, with an out clause after 3 years if he averages over 140 games for three years with incentives to increase pay 5M per year should get it done. But they won’t think outside the box, Signing Buxton should be priority #1, trade Donaldson #2, #3 go get as much pitching as you can get — need at least 3 SP. Otherwise trade Donaldson for prospects, move Buxton to highest bidder and hope to not lose 100 games
If he stays healthy for the next 5 years he says… good lord no wonder casinos make so much money.
If ever there was a player who deserved a ridiculously low base salary with every kind of incentive to push it up ridiculously high, it’s Buxton.
He paced to be worth about 12 WAR in 2021, IF he had played all year. 4.5 WAR in 61 games.
I think Buxton should get a contract along the lines of what the Twins were offering, but with way more incentives: $10M AAV base salary, with an additional $1M for every 10 games played, $1M additional for every 50 plate appearances, $5M bonus if he spends less than X number of days on the IL per season. That would mean that in 2021 he would have been paid $21M for his contributions, which would be about in line with his 4.5 WAR over 61 games and if he had played the entire year he could have made up to $43M, which is the value of the 12 WAR he was pacing for.
Or just say $5M base salary every year and for every .1 WAR you get, you get an additional $300k. That’d have been $18.5M this season and could be over $40M a year if he stayed healthy.
Either way, if he actually can stay healthy and play, he gets his $30M+ per season and if he can’t stay healthy, the Twins or some other club are only out $5-$10M per season on Buxton, which is a reasonable price to pay for his production when he is active.
Minnesota is looking for pitchers. Byron Buxton is so intriguing that he won’t stay put in Minnesota. Someone will take a chance on him. But who?
SDP, PHI, TBR, TOR, LAD, ATL, NYM and NYY is always in play.
Yeah, but what about TEX, LAA, BOS, BAL, OAK, MIA, WAS, CHC, MIL, SFG, SEA, HOU, PIT, CWS, KC, COL, ARI, DET, SFG, STL, CIN, and the Indians? Lots of possibilities……
Buxton is so overrated. He and his reps should count themselves lucky even one organization is willing to extend themselves so far financially to extend him. He should take that 80m and then continue the trend of playing 2 weeks on 1 month off watching the action from the bench but handsomely paid
Reds trade Nick senzel to twins for Buxton. Both have potential but can’t stay healthy. Reds might add a player to sweeten the deal
Lol why would the twins do that. When Buxton has been healthy he’s actually been very good, not just “potential”. He’s a defensive game changer and has seemingly found his bat too
2 years ago maybe, but Senzel’s trade value has drastically dropped. That’s be like saying Scott Kingsley for Buxton. 2 years ago maybe, but now? Not a chance.
Frazier and Andujar for Buxton…mic drop.
Do the Twins and Reds have the same owners?
Such a perfect fit for the Mets. Mets have inexpensive MLB pieces to add to a trade since I don’t see the Twins as a rebuilding team.
Buxton is pretty close to the JJ Watt of baseball (granted Watt has a few more accolades than Buxton) Both are great when they play….WHEN THEY PLAY.
Tallion, German, Hicks and Florial.
This is such a tough call.
I have seen Buxton play out here a handful of times. Straight up & down: I would have a hard time naming 10 players whom had more talent on the diamond than he that I have ever seen. On sheer baseball ability, this is a kid that definitely has MVP season capability.
Yet, as everyone is pointing out, he really struggles to stay on the field. Which, is the cause of all the differing takes.
Bottom line: even with the injury stuff, if I am Brian Cashman, I would be all over Buxton. I’m a sucker for talent & ability though. & this kid certainly has that.
Maybe the highest risk/reward position player ever. Fred Lynn use to be that guy, but Buxton takes it to a new level. His bWAR/650 PAs, over the past three years, is 9.1. I have to assume that is the best in baseball. Trout’s not close at 7.6.
Taking that comparison one step further, Trout’s bWAR from 2019-2021, was 11.5, against Buxton’s 9.6. Do you know how many PAs it took to achieve that 9.6? 684. That’s the equivalent of one full season.
If I were the RS, I’d trade for him and put the $80M/5 + $20M in incentives, and not think twice.
What’s bizarre to me is that teams never account for significant fragility with position players. No one will ever sign Buxton with the understanding that he’s going to be played 3x a week. So of course someone will sign him, at most give him the occasional day off, and we’ll continue to see what we’ve seen with the Twins until his skills are ruined by age 30.
It’d be fascinating to see what Farhan Zaidi would do with him. No one better at keeping old players on the field and producing well.
I think it goes without saying that teams take the injury-risk into the calculation. If Buxton played 160 games each year, he might be a $30M+ player. His bWAR/650 PAs over the past three years is a lot higher than Trout, and probably every other player. Correa probably gets ~ $300M/10, and his bWAR/650 for the last three years is 6.9. Buxton is at 9.1.
So Minny is definitely considering it, as does Buxton with his willingness to sign for $80M + $20M.
The only thing really at play here is assessing how many games he’ll play. If he plays 120 games, I see no way he has anything less than a 4.0 WAR. At 140, he is an AS. At 160, he could be in MVP territory.
Brady gets it.
To me he is one of those “worth the price of admission” guys; a blast to watch.
Pay the man Twins. Quit screwing around
Stay away from Buxton too much money for oft injured,I don’t care what team has interest.
He has a lousy attitude – me first at all times. He’ll always be a player where people wonder “what if”, but that would have required him to work hard and be a team oriented guy.
I don’t see that at all. He has a play hard 100% mentality minus the potential cost to his body.
He turns it on when it’s convenient for him. When it can “benefit” him.
Lol this makes no sense at all. When has he ever shown this kind of an attitude? The only remotely controversial thing that’s happened with him was when the Twins left him in AAA a few years ago in September to delay his free agency. And that was sketchy by the Front Office.
I think it’s clear what you’re really hinting at and it’s just gross.
I think it’s time to move on from the current Front Office if they let Buxton go. After seeing Berrios sign for a below market deal with Toronto when this front office kept suggesting that his demands were too high it’s clear they’re philosophy is simply too stubborn.
The Twins have no chance of acquiring any player with Buxtons talent level in the near future. Buxton missed 101 games or whatever last year and still provided more than $20 million in value to the team.
If he’ll really sign a 7 year extension that would max out around 100 million if he stays healthy, it’s a no brainer to extend him. This team is paying Josh Donaldson 23 million a year, average Max Kepler nearly $10 million… they can absolutely win with Byron Buxton making between $11 and $15 million, even if he misses 75 games a year on average. If he stays healthy you’ve lost a league MVP for what? So you can sign Alex Colome and JA Happ for 15 million for a year?
The front office is getting too cute. Some decisions are simple and they keep acting like it’s such a hard decision. I understand letting Buxton go if he’s asking for something like 20 million a year but if 100 million over 7 years will get it done, it’s ridiculous it isn’t signed already.
It’s saddened me when I saw how little it took for Toronto to extend Berrios. It screamed out to me that
1) Twins ownership/management must be complete jerks to work for
2) Twins ownership/management are overly cheap, greedy, and liars
3) Twins ownership/management do not respect fans
4) Twins ownership/management aren’t very “baseball savvy”
5) all of the above
Buxton is basically Aaron Hicks but talented
I don’t think the Twins are best served to overpay Buxton and I will be the first to admit that I want him to remain a Twin.
I think we trade him for pitching. Could we pry away some controllable starting pitching from the Braves and send Buxton to his home state? Ian Anderson OR Max Fried would be great rotation pieces if we could get one of them and Acuna could move to right field.
The Marlins have many controllable pitching talents. Could we pry away one or two controllable young starters? They want both catching and CF help, which the Twins have the ability to match.
I like the idea of trading Buxton and making a play at Starling Marte who has less upside than Buxton, but the guy has a proven hit tool.
I don’t see the Twins chasing Starling, but wish they would. His brother Ketel Marte would also be a solid replacement through another trade.
Buxton is a high reward and in my opinion higher risk player. His WAR numbers when healthy are incredible. That said he is rarely healthy. If the Twins reach the playoffs the odds of him being healthy for a run are low.
I don’t see any team giving what the value could be for Buxton if healthy. The best option the Twins have is to sign him to an incentive laden contract and hope he stays healthy. The return won’t be anywhere hear his value if for some reason he can.
Sorry to break this to you, but if you have your sights set on a player like Ian Anderson or Max Friend, or equivalent from another team, you’re setting yourself up for massive disappointment. Nobody is giving up a high quality young controllable pitcher with MLB success already for 1 yr of Buxton. The return for Buxton isnt gonna be equivalent to Mookie Betts. If they trade him, you will be disappointed.
You can’t fault a guy for missing time from getting hit by a pitch. The hip strain that cost him six weeks is definitely par for conversation though
Byron may or may not be a complete bust for the Twins. But, if you’re the Twins, I think it’s a gamble you have to take. They will never be able to trade for any value close to what they will get if he can stay on the field. He can sell tickets, wow fans, and blind Minnesota to the fact that Twins ownership/management hasn’t got any starting pitching and they’re okay with that strategy.
Likewise, I think it’s also a gamble that Buxton has to take on himself. He and his agent know that he doesn’t have a good history of staying healthy, but sometimes it’s been bad luck. His play is either to refuse an extension offer at this point, attempt to prove he can stay on the field in 2022 (regardless where he plays), and try for the best contract he can in 2023. __Or__ he signs an incentive-laden contract now, with a low guaranteed base and a high-performance-based ceiling.
Been a Twins fan my whole life. If they trade Buxton I’m burning my Homer Hankies.
When he’s healthy, he’s a top 5 player. Best talent this franchise has seen since the days of fully healthy, peaking Mauer and Morneau. Give him an incentive rich deal. Give him a chance to earn, and the Twins a chance to win.
I completely agree. Buxton has talent that you’ll never replace in any trade
Trade him
So, they paid Donaldson BUKU bucks to hit the DL hard. And Josh had a well doc’d injury history. Buxton is 3x the player Donaldson ever was. What’s the difference?