Well Minnesota Twins fans, it happened. Byron Buxton signed a seven year, $100 million extension, keeping him in Minnesota through 2028:
Buxton deal with Twins, per source: Seven years, $100M. Full no-trade clause.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 28, 2021
Fans have been begging for the extension and fearing a trade that would ship away the team’s franchise player for prospects and players that wouldn’t come close to his talent. Byron Buxton openly stated that he wanted to remain with the franchise and owner Jim Pohlad didn’t want to lose him.
Despite all this, the Minnesota Twins front office was wary of giving Buxton the nine figure deal that he wanted, and they weren’t without reason. Buxton has a long history of being unable to stay healthy, and the front office tandem of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were worried about giving him the money.
Byron Buxton’s extension with the Minnesota Twins is a tone-setter.
In the end, they came to realize the same thing that Minnesota Twins fans had been feeling and believing for a while: paying Byron Buxton is a far better option than shipping him off. The fact that the deal got done is awesome, but this deal is an important one in more ways than one.