As the trade deadline season approaches, the Twins star Byron Buxton he also looked to dispel early speculation about his presence. Buxton, who has full no-trade rights and said repeatedly last summer that he has no interest in leaving Minnesota, doubled down on that evening.
“I don’t pay attention to—,” Buxton told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes when asked about being in trade rumors. “At the end of the day, nobody’s in my shoes. Nobody can say anything about what I’m going to do. I know what I’m doing. The only way I’m going to get out of here – they’re going to have to come talk to me and tell me something else. Simple as that. … I didn’t say anything about quitting, and I won’t. I’m over it.”
The Twins ended the Rangers’ three-game sweep this afternoon. They’ve snapped four in a row since dropping a season-worst eight games under .500 heading into the weekend. The Twins are back within a game and a half of the AL Wild Card picture where each team is within seven games. Minnesota sits 4.5 points behind the Rangers atop the AL Central, placing them in third place in the division behind Cleveland and the White Sox.
It hasn’t been a great season, but Minnesota has been more competitive than most outside observers might have expected as we approach the halfway point. Buxton was undoubtedly a big factor in keeping them in the hunt. He’s avoided the injured list and has 23 home runs, putting him on pace to surpass last year’s 35 long balls. He is hitting .270/.330/.589 in 288 plate appearances. Only Kyle Schwarber again Jordan Alvarez he had more home runs, while trailing Alvarez once Ben Rice in slugging percentage.
FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each have Buxton as the Twins’ most valuable player this season, slightly above the ace of the staff. Joe Ryan. By FanGraphs WAR average, only Pete Crow-Armstrong having the best season among center fielders. Buxton is fourth in B-Ref WAR behind Crow-Armstrong, Andy Pages again Ceddanne Rafaela. He is in line to start in the All-Star Game, as he was fourth among non-AL players in the final fan vote. Aaron is the judge, Mike Trout again Cody Bellinger they were beyond him. Judge will miss the All-Star Game, and Trout recently went on the injured list with a pulled hamstring.
Buxton is signed through the 2028 season. He makes a base salary of $15MM but can earn up to $2.5MM annually in plate appearance benefits and has a significant MVP bonus. He will earn $8MM if he wins the MVP, $7MM for finishing second, $6MM for third, $5MM for fourth, $4MM for fifth, or $3MM for finishing in the back half of the top ten. Buxton narrowly missed the deadline last year, finishing 11th for his career-highest finish — even though he collected 1 MM2 plate to reach $5. He has a tendency to finish in the top 10 and could be in the top five this season if he stays healthy.
There has been some speculation that Buxton might reconsider his no-trade status if the Twins continue the task of rebuilding a burned country. He will turn 33 in December and has only appeared in four postseason games between injuries and team inconsistencies. Maybe that’s what he was referring to with his comment about being told “more,” but ownership didn’t seem willing to strip the roster until late last winter anyway. They didn’t make much of an effort to compete, entering the season with one of the worst bullpens in the league and a heavy roster. Still, they’re close enough to the picture that they probably don’t see the need to go that route.
It will set up an interesting call for what to do with Joe Ryan and the hunter Ryan Jeffers. The former is subject to arbitration control for one year after this and will command a huge return – roughly the same as when they get two top 100 prospects (Austin Martin again Simeon Woods Richardson) because José Berríos by the 2021 deadline. Jeffers is an upcoming free agent and is the best catcher available. He is on the injured list after hamate surgery last month but could be back before the end of July.
