1:45PM: The Twins are also listening to offers on righty Kenta Maeda, tweets Heyman. He’s signed through 2023 with an annual base salary of just $3MM, although he can earn an additional $10MM of incentives based on starts and innings pitched each season.
1:36PM: Both Buxton and Josh Donaldson are being shopped by the Twins, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets. Donaldson is in the second season of a four-year, $92MM contract with Minnesota.
12:56PM: The Twins have already traded Nelson Cruz and Jose Berrios, and they’re surely not done for the day, with several other players to shop to contending clubs. Center fielder Byron Buxton’s market has picked up steam since last night, tweets Dan Hayes of The Athletic, although it’s no sure thing he’ll be moved just yet. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Phillies “love” Buxton and are one six or seven teams inquiring with the Twins.
Buxton, 27, is currently on the 10-day injured list with a fractured hand that he sustained when he was hit by a pitch earlier in the summer. He’d only just come off the injured list after missing more than a month due to a strained hip flexor.
The Twins and Buxton have had extension talks as recently as this month, but those negotiations didn’t bring about a contract. Minnesota was reportedly willing to offer upwards of $80MM and include some incentives to boost the contract’s overall value. It’s not the first time the Twins and Buxton have talked extension, but nothing has come of those efforts just yet and Buxton now finds himself 15 months from reaching free agency at the conclusion of the 2022 season. He’s said even after those extension talks broke down that he hopes to remain in Minnesota long-term and is very much open to future talks.
Buxton is one of the toughest players in the game to value either in a trade or on an extension. He’s arguably the best defensive player in all of baseball, at any position, and is among the sport’s five or so fastest players as well. While the former No. 2 overall pick struggled at the plate in his first several seasons, he’s batted .282/.322/.581 with 33 homers, 44 doubles and four triples in his past 540 plate appearances — a star-level offensive output.
Of course, the problem is that those 540 plate appearances have been spread across three seasons. Buxton has been on the Major League injured list a whopping 11 times, and while some have come as the result of freak injuries — the current broken hand, a foot fracture suffered on a foul tip — the lack of durability is an obvious concern both for the Twins and for potential trade partners.
Buxton is nearing a return from the injured list, and his play so far in limited at-bats in 2021 would be MVP-caliber over the course of a full season. He’s batted .369/.409/.767 with 10 homers and 11 doubles in just 110 plate appearances. The Twins figure to set a high asking price, as they did on both Cruz and Berrios. Whether another club will part with impact young talent and take on the health risks associated with Buxton remains to be seen.
Giants bite back by trading for Buxton.
That would be a relative nibble.
What good is Buxton in a body cast? Maybe the Yanks will trade you Voit since he & Buxton are roommates in the same Hospital.
I would love to see the Giants grab him!
Mets should trade dom smith with prospects to get buxton
Do the Twins really want another 1B/LF type? Kirilloff, Rooker, Larnarch.
True
That is how all people should answer questions from the media…regardless of context…”true.”
“Do you prefer ketchup or mustard?”
‘True.”
Does this smack of desperation for the Twinkies & the Yanks? Yanks keep “shopping” Voit. Sounds like a bag of pretzels & a six pack of beer gets you an injured 1st baseman.
Not a bad idea. Smith and Alonso creates a bit of redundancy. Will the Mets trade for an often-injured player though? They have a lot of those. I do think Buxton is the best CF in baseball.
What’s redundant? One is a lefty, the other a righty. One is in the OF while the other is at 1B. One smashes for power while the other is contact based with some pop.
True.
Yeah when he is not on the IL which seems always!
yea so they can get good production for the 55 games Buxton plays per season?
Maeda, Buxton, Donaldson is like a Mets wish list .
It’s got to be insanely difficult to work out extension numbers or trade value for Buxton. He’s so talented but teams have to want to lower their commitment to him because of all of the injuries.
Why would anyone want him? Buxton breaks down more often than a French car.
Lol I love Buxton but these jokes are always good
He breaks more often than a pot head at a red light.
What the hell, I’ll jump in.
He breaks more often than my gf breaks perfect silence.
I’d be so torn on moving Buxton. He absolutely feels like one of those guys that will go somewhere else and never get hurt again – but if the twins keep him, there’s just such a risk he’ll keep on getting paid to be on the IL. It has to be a massive return to be worth it.
If we can unload Donaldson for a fruit basket then I’d be happy upping or offer for him. It’s Minnesota and we can’t attract an FA like him, so we have to take a risk. With a 5 year contract we at least shouldn’t be paying him when he’s too old. I’d say guarantee 90mm with another 10mm in playing time incentives.
I agree. Honestly if the twins keep Donaldson. Leave the money the same and shorten the number of years. Allow him to bet on himself to try to get a massive contract if he can prove over the next few years he can stay healthy
I am with them. If I was a bIg leaguer I wouldn’t wanna live where I don’t feel safe either.
Tough spot for the Twins and their fans. I get the health concerns, but for a player that young I would keep him and hope for the best. By the same token, if I’m a rival GM, I would roll the dice on his talent with a nice trade offer. It’s a chance to dramatically improve your team.
Since you’re a Twins fan (?), I would want the team to hang onto him.
Even if the Phillies, or any other contender, were considering trading for and extending Buxton they should look elsewhere for a stop-gap CF instead. Buxton is immensely talented and inherently fragile at the same time. Teams interested in him would be wiser to seek out a more known commodity even if he has a lower ceiling of performance. Taking on Buxton and banking on his health is a huge risk for any team.
“Pee Wee, the Buxtons are not thieves”
Twins might win the deadline if they can score some more top prospects. Berrios trade was a heist. Martin and simeon woods are studs
Don’t forget, we got the Cardinals to give us TWO guys for JA Happ!!! Starting to think the crew at 1 Twins Way….. maybe.
Braves.
For once, will AA do something big or will he sit and do nothing but get crap bats?
Defin the latter. Story of his tenure.
This is a perfect fit for the Braves. You won’t have Ozuna. Acuna is gone. Just for the fan service and honestly the best for the team, get him.
2022 – LF, Buxton, Acuna outfield.
Just please AA do something!
As a Twins fan, I would hope they keep him and try one last time to sign him to an extension during the off-season. He has been the biggest reason to go to games (and this year he’s been mostly hurt so I haven’t been to many games). I don’t know. Trading him would seem to indicate a full rebuild. I’d rather extend him (perhaps foolishly, perhaps not) and try and keep the Kepler, Polanco, Buxton, Garver core. Pluss Kiliroff and Larnauch have shown some good promise. I think Sano is out of the picture after this year. Donaldson is overpaid but still solid. As always, it is the pitching that evades this team. Maeda, when on, is excellent. But that’s all they really have for next year. Keep Buxton, Twins. Please? And Pitching Gods? Please let it rain down aces on the Twins.
Yeah, Sano is basically a bust at this point. I think the only way a Buxton trade should happen is if the twins pay his entire salary for the next year and a half (since they’re paying him to not play anyway), and make someone give up a near mlb ready top overall prospect. If they aren’t willing to take that risk, just keep him.
It kind of already has – Ryan and Woods-Richardson will be 2/5th’s of their rotation for a long time and both will be viewed favorably when they do.
This one would hurt more than Berrios. When buxton is on the field Twins are an unquestionably better team. I would hate for his injury history to open the window for another team to get a complete stud at a discounted price. In fact, he’s the type of guy teams really should never make available at this stage in his career. I’m hoping 4pm arrives and he’s still a twin.
I would love the Dodgers to land Buxton. They’re deep enough to take the risk and can send real value to the Twins.
I’m pretty sure Yanks are offering Voit and 2 prospects. My guess is the cheatin’ Stros’ get em’
Voit is not a bad rebound prospect, so that wouldn’t be a bad piece at all. But Buxtons ceiling is so high, at least one of those prospects would need to be top tier
Miami?
Man he would make Mets better but EVERY player who comes to Queens has injury problems somehow can’t imagine this glass body.
Would the Angels trade Mike Trout? That is the potential for Buxton if he can catch a break and stay healthy. Do not trade him!!
There isn’t a guy wearing cleats that has Mike Trout potential.
Except Buxton (if healthy, enormous if). And Franco.
Yes, there is. We’re discussing him right now.
Honest to God, I really do want to love Buxton. I’ve stayed high on him when other fans were ready to throw in the towel, but I’ve always disliked that he seems to have no regard for his body / health. The first couple of times I saw him crash hard into the CF wall, I said: “If he keeps doing that, he’s going to have a very short career.”
He’s still pretty young. I’d like to see the Twins give him one more shot before moving on, but we’ll see.
And they said they aren’t rebuilding… I don’t think some of us fans are dumb enough to believe them.. Fire the Dynamic Duo.. they have don’t nothing in their 5 years.. we surely aren’t in a better position then when they took office..
Yeah, they can say what they want. But selling berrios AND Buxton with a year of team control left each is absolutely going into rebuild mode.
BB is the most overrated player in MLB today
Overrated how? Because of injuries? He is the most dynamic player in MLB if he could stay healthy.
That’s a fascinatingly bad take
If he ever stayed healthy, he would be talked about and play in the same way as Trout and company.
Agee with this! If they trade Buxton, they wont survive the 5 year rebuild.
If the Twins trade Buxton they will save soooooo much money on medical supplies. That’s a lot more cash to spend this off-season.
Great! Now they can focus more on social justice. Maybe they can put more criminals names on the outfield fences too!
Would twins do Maeda, Donaldson, cash to help keep Padres below the tax line for Hosmer, Gore, Campusano?
Padres could put Donaldson at 1B. He’d be a nice addition to the lineup.
Where would Frazier and Cronenworth play?
Cronenworth 2B, Frazier super utility rotates through 3B, 2B, 1B, RF, LF possibly ss or put Frazier at 2B and Cronenworth at ss on Tatis Jr days off to give guys days off.
Welcome to Houston
Braves and Buxton is real interesting. Buxton in center, Acuna in right and Waters in left is quite the combo. Center a package around Pache, Bryce Wilson, and Shewmake.
Larry, I believe it would take more, or perhaps better is the word. But, it’s absolutely doable if the Braves organization is prepared to take another (Ozuna) risk.
Seattle could take both and reduce the prospect package with Donaldson contract.
Buxton would look good on the mets IL.
Couldn’t say it better myself!
No, I’m sorry. We have Braves posts that want him on the Braves IL
These two make sense for the Mets, but not sure what the asking price would be, though I’d have to venture it can’t be too crazy if the $$$ from JDs contract comes along in the deal.
Born and raised in MN, is it wrong to want Sano traded before these two?
This has Mets written all over it
I know folks who live out in Minnesota and they equate Buxton to a Roman Quinn with more pop, same fragility.
Angels (Perry): Now is your chance to get quality/affordable/controllable pitching.
GO GET MAEDA!
Maeda to the Giants, last minute