Thread: Sickels: Current Thoughts on Byron Buxton

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/...t-byron-buxton

Check out the thoughts of Minor League Ball's Byron Buxton. What Grade will he give the Twins top pick?

I'm sure Buxton will succeed for this club, but I find it interesting that Sickles states that there were plenty of skeptics before the draft.

It seemed to me that among the experts, there was little to no skepticism written about him at the time, and any Twins fan who said Buxton was no more of a sure thing than any of the college pitchers got roasted by the rest of the Twins community who pointed to the "consensus" reports about him being the best player available.

People that are not used to his grading system will likely go "hmmmmm".

Nick,
There was plenty of talk about him being the most toolsy, but a lot of 'experts' did say that his weakest too might be his 'hit' tool.

wonder if he has ever seen him play.

Originally Posted by thrylos98

wonder if he has ever seen him play.

this never gets old. Wait a second... It does get old...

I thought he posted that he was a B+. That seems about fair for a draft pick in rookie ball. Same grade he gave Sano last year. Sickels is generally more conservative (especially relative to BA and guys like Law) when it comes to toolsy guys in lower levels with questions about the hit tool.

I think that was a pretty fair write up. Great potential, far from reaching it. I was happy with the pick before we made it and I suspect he'll probably develop similarly to Hicks. Both had very similar scouting reports - great arm/defense, hit tool lagging. On the other hand, Hicks was a switch hitter which might make it longer to develop.

I like Buxton, but I want to see him hitting good pitchers before I jump up and down. Leading up to the draft I was hoping Houston would take him so the Twins wouldn't be tempted. I'm just not a fan of the man-crush on toolsy OF the Twins have.

Any particular reason he's started with the Twins?

Originally Posted by YourHouseIsMyHouse

Any particular reason he's started with the Twins?

He does every year. Twins, Braves, Royals are always the first three.

He is a Twins fan.....

This year's draft was considered to be a weak class, and I seem to remember a number of reservations on Buxton, which is why I'd have preferred going for Gausman, Zimmer, or Appel (though from the sounds of it, the money woudln't have been there, so skipping him made sense). Buxton has the ceiling of a Matt Kemp, but hardly a sure thing and hardly the BPA by far...

That said, we have him now, there's tons of good OF in front of him so he won't be rushed, so here's to hoping he develops quite nicely.