With rumors of the Twins potentially operating as deadline sellers swirling amid this year’s All-Star break, star center fielder Byron Buxton publicly indicated that he had no desire to waive his full no-trade clause and looked forward to being a Twin for the rest of his career. Minnesota indeed went the route of the seller and did so with far more vigor than anyone might’ve foreseen. The Twins shipped out ten players, including shortstop Carlos Correa (signed through at least 2028) and a quartet of controllable relievers: Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Brock Stewart. Even after their aggressive roster purge, Buxton has doubled down on his full intention to remain in Minnesota.
“Just because we go through these tough roads … it is what it is,” Buxton told reporters two days after the trade deadline (video link via Twins.TV). “We’ll be better once we get on the other end of it and figure things out a little bit more. End of the season, we’ll talk a little bit more, but I ain’t going nowhere.”
Some may latch onto Buxton’s comment about talking “a little bit more” at season’s end, but Buxton was even more emphatic when chatting with Dan Hayes of The Athletic:
“It’s always good to be wanted. Don’t get me wrong. But the only place I want is Minnesota. All of my choices are easy. I ain’t got but one place on my mind. That’s how it’ll be.”
Hayes reports that six or more teams reached out to Buxton’s agent to gauge the outfielder’s willingness to waive his no-trade protection as Minnesota embarked on a far broader-reaching teardown than anyone anticipated heading into the deadline. Both the Braves and the Mets had particularly strong interest, per Hayes. Dennis Lin of The Athletic tweets that the Padres were also among the teams to inquire, as one would expect, given president of baseball operations A.J. Preller’s tendency to check in on virtually every high-profile name that hits the market. Obviously, Buxton was uninterested in pursuing a change of scenery.
Buxton, 31, is in the fourth season of a seven-year, $100MM contract extension that covers the 2022-28 seasons. He’s being paid $15MM annually, though the contract contains up to $8MM of yearly incentives based on MVP voting and a potential $2.5MM of annual bonuses based on plate appearances. Of course, if the talented but oft-injured Buxton were ever to stay healthy for a full season and max out those incentives with an MVP win, he’d still be a bargain even at the inflated $25.5MM in that given season.
The 2025 season is among the best of Buxton’s career to date. He’s hitting .282/.343/.561 with 23 home runs, 14 doubles, four triples, 17 steals (in 17 tries), an 8% walk rate and a 26.6% strikeout rate in 364 plate appearances. By measure of wRC+, he’s been 45% better than league-average from an offensive standpoint, and Statcast’s Outs Above Average (+4) views him as a continually strong defender (though Defensive Runs Saved has a -1 mark on him — the first negative of his career). Statcast measures Buxton’s average sprint speed (30.2 ft/sec) as second best in the game, trailing only Bobby Witt Jr.’s 30.3 ft/sec.
Perhaps down the road, Buxton will eventually soften his stance on that no-trade provision, but even in the wake of seeing nearly 40% of the major league roster traded elsewhere, he sounds intent on staying in the Twin Cities.
It’s still not clear how far the Twins’ roster teardown will span when the offseason rolls around. The Pohlad family, which has owned the team for four decades, is exploring a sale of the franchise. That clearly played a major role in the team’s deadline flurry — particularly in the move to trade away Correa (a move that trimmed more than $70MM off the long-term payroll). If there’s a new owner in place or an agreement to sell the club, perhaps the new group will be willing to spend and make a renewed push for contention next year. If the Pohlads remain in place, it seems plausible that veterans like Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Ryan Jeffers and Bailey Ober could all find themselves on the market with an eye toward further scaling back the financial commitments a new owner would be inheriting.
Weekly Buxton no-trade clause update incoming?
I believe that is a premium feature for Front Office subscribers.
It’s literally why I signed up. Very worth it.
There was a report that ATL inquired about him pre-Deadline after AA wiki’d Buxton’s home state – though talks didn’t go far, I presume.
Being on the IL for the Braves would feel pretty special for him.
His contract ends in 2028. Not much help for their 2029 roster
…or their 2029-2100 rosters either, right?!
You descending into your bunker for 3 years soon?
Buxton must enjoy losing.
Obviously he should reconsider.
Stockholm syndrome?
He might have a lot of ties to Minneapolis and the community, or he enjoys the idea of playing his whole career for one team. Maybe he loves his house and doesn’t want to have to consider selling it. Who knows. Trades uproot someone’s entire life; he might want comfort over competitiveness.
Yeah i get it, was just being facetious
3 kids. 12, 5 and 2.
Men who don’t uproot their family when they don’t have too are good men.
If you first read the headline as “Buxton Still Plans to Waive No-Trade Clause” and got confused like I did, it is time for afternoon coffee to bring it home before the day ends.
Would rather be a Minnesota twins ring of honor inductee instead of potential world champion
I almost said hall of fame but he’s been too injured for that so I don’t blame him for being committed to Minnesota
I rather be loved forever by a city then forgotten about on a WS team.
Deadline is past, dude. You have a couple of months before you have to worry about it again.
People can be traded after July 31; they just have to go through waivers.
I doubt that is happening.
It won’t, because they did away with waiver trades a few years ago
I think that changed a few seasons back. I think now only players who have not been on an MLB roster all season can be traded. Someone correct me if I’m I’m wrong, please?
Close … any player that was on the 40-man roster at any point during the season is not eligible to be traded after the deadline.
Isn’t it time for him to hit the IL?
Thought he was on it as we speak? Lol
@CravenMoorehead: Yup, Rib cage inflammation
Not the best of times of Twins fans.. but that rebuild seemed pretty necessary.
Why not? Zero pressure in the next 3-5 years after the Twins traded 40% of their 26 man roster last week. He can just spend 2-3 months every injured like most of his previous seasons and no one will bat an eye. (no pun intended)
Why would you give an injury prone player a full no trade clause?
Why would a player sign a LT deal at a fraction of their potential value?
Because they know they get injured all the time and can’t get one otherwise. Because they know that performance clauses can pay off huge in those years that go well and the low base keeps him employed in the bad years. Because he wants to stay in one place and the real life, day to day differences between $180m and $240m are pretty small,
Did he do that? He signed it after the 2021 season, at that point he had only played in 100 games or more once. How many offensive players get 100M$ when they play half a season?
Cause 15M a year is a fraction of what his talent his so it’s a trade off to sign there at below market.
Buxton is on track for only his third season with at least 100 games played, and it’s his 11th season. Great player if he can stay on the field but that has been a problem throughout his career and Minnesota affords him the chance to be a star player with minimum expectations. At arouhd $46 million his contract is manageable even for the Twins
Is this dude ever gonna be healthy? Just once?
Nope.
Obviously
I don’t get why people want to criticize this man. I admire someone who has found a situation where he and his family are more than happy to be – and to be getting paid millions of dollars to play a game also!
Sure you might make a different decision if you were in his shoes but you’re not. He’s happy and seems like a genuinely good dude.
I’m also glad the team found a way to structure the money to keep him here for the long term. He wasn’t greedy and they went long with some ways for him to get paid when things all click. A good deal for both sides.
No offense to Twins fans, but his hard line on never approving any trades makes me think he doesn’t care if he ever wins a WS title.
I don’t buy it. Just wait until the offseason when Ryan and Lopez are unloaded, suddenly greener pastures than MN will start looking pretty good. And I, as a lifelong Twins fan, won’t blame him for seeking them.
That may in fact be true..
Why does it really matter if he would waive it or not? Why would any opposing team want his contract? He’s owed 50M$ and only plays in ~80 games a year. Not saying he wouldn’t add to a team, but he can’t be counted on to be in the lineup.
Because he’s a 5+ WAR/162 games player when he can play at a fraction of the current market cost.
I bet he would appreciate not being asked about it for a while now.
There’s a sucker born every minute, if Buxton thinks for one single second that the Twins aren’t thinking of trading him or want to trade him then he’s playing baseball with blinders on. This guy is a star in his own stratosphere
If he wants to play with blinders on, he plays with blinders on while having earned that right. There’s $100M (career earnings) at the finish line waiting for him.
Twins should relocate to Oakland. Then the Rays could move to St. Paul.
Never been a fan of Buston, I mean Buxton. He’s got 3 more years on his contract and I’d be surprised if he plays even one more year.
What an absolute clown. Have fun in Minnesota competing for nothing every year LOL
At some point. MAYBE. MLBTR will realize. not everyone is about just themselves. wanting to stay put should say a lot about who he is, But, that doesn’t make for many posts does it?