Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton has made it clear he has no interest in waiving his no-trade clause, but that hasn’t stopped a steady stream of rumors ahead of the trade deadline. It’s hard to fault analysts from prognosticating which teams could use Buxton as one of the best outfielders in baseball, but it’s gotten downright weird in the case of ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Passan released a revised list of his top 100 candidates to be moved ahead of the trade deadline and just like his first edition, Buxton was listed second behind Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. While he added that “some of the players listed are unlikely to be dealt but at least are being discussed in potential deals,” his writeup on Buxton proves he, like a lot of other analysts, isn’t listening to what Buxton is saying.
“Buxton told reporters ‘I’m a Twin’ on June 18 and Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll followed up by saying ‘it’s not something we’re exploring. It’s not something we plan to explore,’” Passan wrote. “So, while we’ve dropped the odds from unlikely (30%) to extremely unlikely (10%), removing Buxton from the board altogether discounts the possibility of a team blowing away Minnesota with an offer that’s too good to refuse.”
Byron Buxton’s comments are being ignored ahead of the trade deadline
Passan’s decision to drop Buxton’s chance of being traded shows he saw the comments and he’s likely hearing there’s a slight chance if he’s willing to throw that in the article. But his write-up shows that he ignored it anyway.
Even if a team somehow finds a way to produce a multi-team blockbuster involving Jacob Misiorowski, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge going to the Twins, it doesn’t matter if Buxton isn’t willing to waive his no-trade clause.
Buxton’s current contract, which expires after the 2028 season, contains a no-trade clause. His service time also makes him a 10-and-5 player, which gives a player the chance to veto any deal if they reach 10 years of service time and five years with their current team. This doesn’t completely eliminate the chance that Buxton will be traded, but his comments make it seem like that’s not happening.
The possibility of Buxton being traded began ahead of last year’s All-Star Game. While he was playing in his home state of Georgia, he declared “I’m a Minnesota Twin for the rest of my life,” shooting down any chance of waiving the clause for the Atlanta Braves or anyone else. When the Twins conducted a trade deadline fire sale a few weeks later, Buxton doubled down on his comments.
“Where I come from, your word means everything,” Buxton said via Dan Hayes of The Athletic. “My track record of how I’m still here and how I got here is different. You’ve gotta have a lot of people behind you. Not just the family, but everybody. Minnesota, they did that. That’s home.”
Rumors popped back up when Passan reported Buxton could be willing to waive his no-trade clause if the team traded Joe Ryan and Pablo López last winter and Buxton expressed frustration with a lack of communication from the front office during Spring Training. Still, when Buxton’s name popped up on Passan’s initial list, he reiterated that he was a Twin and replied “I don’t give a f***” when asked about the latest batch of rumors.
Zoll followed up with his statement that the Twins do not intend to trade Buxton at the deadline and it’s possible he’s speaking the truth as Minnesota remains in playoff contention, albeit in a weak American League landscape.
Passan is not the only guilty party here and it’s sure to not be the only rumor. He also saw Carlos Correa refuse to waive his no-trade clause in the lead-up to last year’s deadline only to waive it when the Twins conducted a full-blown fire sale. Correa also tried to leave Minnesota twice when he was a free agent after the 2022 season before two mega-deals were shot down over long-term health concerns.
If the Twins conduct another sale, it could be enough for Buxton to say enough, but there’s a big difference.
Correa never felt like a Twin when he was in Minnesota. If anything, he was out of place like a Dior belt in the middle of a Fleet Farm. Buxton has repeatedly mentioned his loyalty toward the Twins organization over the past year and yet, fans still hear things like “Well, if the offer’s big enough,” even though Buxton can end all of it with a simple “I’m good,” which is exactly what’s he been trying to say the past 12 months.
It has to be a point of frustration for Twins fans. But until Buxton finally throws in the towel, it’s not worth speculating that he could be on the move, even if everyone else in baseball wishes upon the furthest star.
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