Just about every Twins fan would agree that the 2025 campaign was one of the team's more disappointing seasons in recent memory. Even though FanGraphs gave Minnesota a 55.5% chance to make the playoffs before the season began, the Twins ended the regular season with the second-worst record in the American League (70-92) behind the Chicago White Sox (60-102) after trading nearly 40% of their MLB roster, including almost the entire bullpen and Carlos Correa, at the trade deadline.
However, there was still one significant bright spot in the Twins' poor 2025 season.
Byron Buxton's Silver Slugger nomination gives fans reason to be excited despite Twins' wasted season
In 2025, Buxton earned his second All-Star Game nod, made his first Home Run Derby appearance and hit an outstanding .264/.327/.551 (136 OPS+) with career-highs in homers (35) and RBIs (83) en route to being named a Silver Slugger Award finalist for American League (AL) outfielders. The other AL outfielders named Silver Slugger Award finalists are Cody Bellinger (New York Yankees), Riley Greene (Detroit Tigers), Aaron Judge (New York Yankees), Julio Rodriguez (Seattle Mariners) and George Springer (Toronto Blue Jays). FanSided revealed this year's AL Silver Slugger finalists earlier today after announcing the NL Silver Slugger Award finalists yesterday. The winners for the NL will be revealed on FanSided's "The Baseball Insiders" YouTube show at 5:00 p.m. CST on Nov. 6, with the AL winners being revealed at the same time on Nov. 7.
In addition to having a career year at the plate, Buxton also stole 24 bases, the most of his career except for the 29 bases he stole in 2017, and provided lockdown defense in center field by collecting three outs above average (81st percentile) in 2025.
It's just a shame the Twins couldn't do more with Buxton's outstanding season, in which he posted 4.9 bWAR by excelling offensively and defensively. Buxton's injury history makes the wasted season sting even more, as he appeared in the most games (126) of his career besides 2017, when he played in 140. The star center fielder finally managed to be 100% healthy for the majority of the season, yet his team let him down.