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The Twins are scheduled to take their team photo Tuesday. Max Kepler and Jorge Polanco will be part of it.
Byron Buxton won't.
Credit timing for that — Buxton was demoted to Rochester on Sunday — and the fact that narratives can veer off-script.
Buxton and Miguel Sano were headliners in just about every account trumpeting the Twins farm system. Billed as organizational saviors, 1 and 1A, they were supposed to ride in on white horses and save the day.
Or something like that.
A year ago, I visited the Twins' Class AA affiliate in Chattanooga to chronicle the organization's crop of hotshot prospects. A lot has changed since then.
Kepler and Polanco — and a few others — were treated almost as sidebars in my flawed forecast. High-level prospects in their own right, I surmised, but not in the same class as Buxton-Sano.
Oops.
Buxton's demotion to Rochester after another failed attempt as a big-league hitter reaffirms that nothing should be written in ink when projecting the path of prospects.
Buxton appears lost as a hitter; Sano owns prodigious power but needs to mature in his approach. Kepler looks like a potential fixture in the heart of the order, and Polanco is showing that he belongs in the lineup and needs a position to call home.
"When you're here," Polanco said, "there's always a chance to show something."
That can work the other way, too. In Buxton's case, he's shown that he's not ready to hit pitching above Class AAA. His problems at the plate should be a major concern inside the organization.
I'm not in the group of Twins followers who are ready to classify Buxton as a bust just yet. He's 22 years old and has 356 major league plate appearances.
Duly noted, but he looks overwhelmed as a hitter. Not sure if there are a requisite number of career at-bats before alarm bells blare at Target Field, but anyone not concerned by Buxton's struggles is either incredibly patient or naïve.
In hindsight, the organization's decision to call-up Buxton from Chattanooga last season looks rushed and potentially damaging to his psyche.
Manager Paul Molitor acknowledged that Buxton is struggling with the weight of hype.
"I think some of it has to do with expectation and pressure, and it builds from game to game, at-bat to at-bat, when things aren't going your way," he said.
The flaw in anointing anyone as can't-miss is that those predictions are based on best-case scenarios. Rare talent becomes so intoxicating that we often ignore the possibility that prospects might struggle — a lot, in Buxton's case — before finding their way.
Any issues that have hindered Sano deserve equal blame. The team made an egregious blunder in putting him in right field to start the season. Sano showed immaturity in not losing weight per the team's request and by taking a casual approach to struggles at the plate.
The brushfire last week surrounding Sano allegedly being a candidate for demotion to Rochester came across as a contrived effort to send him a message.
Put Sano at third and let him work through his mistakes, with a day or two each week at designated hitter.
With Sano and Trevor Plouffe sharing third base, Polanco should receive an extended audition at shortstop.
Six weeks ago, Brian Dozier's grip on second base seemed slippery as his offense vanished. Felt like only a matter of time before Polanco replaced him.
Not now. Dozier's about-face at the plate has put him on track for a career season. The Twins can't trade Dozier now. That would be foolish, but that also means Polanco needs a different position.
Polanco's ability to become an everyday shortstop remains a debate within the organization, but he deserves a shot to win the job.
Molitor said he's evaluating Polanco's "ability to finish plays" at shortstop. He handled several challenging plays in a flawless performance in the field Monday in a 3-1 victory over Houston.
Polanco also showed what he does best: hit. He added two more hits and is batting .378 in nine games since his call-up. His offense belongs in the lineup.
Polanco will be out of options next season. It's nearing decision time. The organization has to find a spot for him.
Molitor gushed about Polanco after the game.
"Maybe one of the better games I've ever seen him play at short," he said.
That's a start.
Chip Scoggins • chip.scoggins@startribune.com
