DETROIT — Byron Buxton never needed to invoke his no-trade clause, but his representatives routinely waived off interested clubs in July, including through Thursday’s shocking trade deadline.
Minnesota’s two-time All-Star center fielder confirmed Monday that teams engaged with his agent to gauge Buxton’s interest in waiving his no-trade clause before speaking with the Twins front office. Multiple sources confirmed at least six teams contacted Buxton’s agent, B.B. Abbott, about the possibility, including early in July before it was clear whether the Twins would be buyers or sellers.
One source said the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets showed the most interest in Buxton.
Buxton also confirmed he used last month’s All-Star game press conference to put word out he’s staying with the Twins, who signed him to an incentive-laden seven-year contract worth $100 million in December 2021.
“It’s always good to be wanted,” Buxton said. “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.”
During his All-Star game media session on July 14, Buxton was asked several times about the possibility of being traded if the Twins decided to become sellers. He quickly responded he would remain a Twin for life because of his no-trade clause.
Even so, the interest was constant enough for club president Derek Falvey to ensure Buxton knew the Twins didn’t initiate any of the trade talks when the two spoke over the weekend in Cleveland, according to sources.
Falvey also used the meeting to conduct a wellness check on Buxton after the veteran endured a “heartbreaking” day seeing eight teammates traded on Thursday, including close friend Carlos Correa.
Byron Buxton had no desire to play elsewhere: ‘Where I come from, your word means everything.’ (Harry How / Getty Images)
One reason the Twins want Buxton around is that they believe he’s the club’s “pulse” with his energy and work ethic. Though disappointed to see 10 players in all offloaded, Buxton is excited to see a number of young players receive new opportunities.
“Nobody expected all the moves,” Buxton said. “But for me, I knew I ain’t going nowhere. Even though it’s a lot of chaos, it’s still calm within to know it is what it is. It’s part of the process. Obviously, you don’t want that to be the case, but we’ve got a young group of guys where these last two months will be fun. We’ve just got to come out and play hard and play good baseball and see where it takes us.”
Even as other teammates waived their no-trade clauses, requested to be traded or hoped they’d be dealt, Buxton never wavered. He knew he’d found a home away from home when he first arrived in the majors and again when he signed his extension.
“Where I come from, your word means everything,” Buxton said. “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.”
Behind the Louis Varland deal
If you’re upset about the Louis Varland trade, you’re not alone. Varland is the player most often mentioned by his former teammates when asked who they were most surprised to see go at Thursday’s deadline.
While the impending free agents were destined to be traded, Correa was a salary dump for a team up for sale with an uncertain financial future, and Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax were due big raises in arbitration and netted good returns.
The trades of Varland and Brock Stewart raised a few eyebrows in the clubhouse. Both were on affordable contracts. Though several players acknowledged understanding why the Twins traded Stewart, who features a sordid injury history. Varland’s never been hurt and is flourishing in his first full season in the bullpen. Many believe Varland could take over a high-leverage role soon in a bullpen full of vacancies.
As difficult as the trade was to complete, Falvey and the Twins are ecstatic with the return they received from Toronto. The Twins received outfielder Alan Roden, whom they believe could be a regular, and are more excited about Triple-A left-handed pitcher Kendry Rojas.
“You have a left-handed starting pitcher in Triple A that’s throwing 93 to 98, doesn’t walk guys and gets a ton of swing-and-miss,” Falvey said. “There aren’t many of those guys walking around that have that kind of ability. … If it was an easy (decision), no one would be discussing it. We’ll have to judge that some years from now. We made the decision that upside starting pitching with that kind of talent and a potential everyday position player, or a guy that could contribute here soon, for a guy who we really like, who’s a good reliever, we felt like, was the right kind of trade for us to make.”
Version 1.0 of the 2025 Twins officially died on July 26.
Though a series loss the previous weekend in Colorado pushed the Twins’ front office to the edge of becoming sellers, an ugly 9-3 defeat to the Washington Nationals pushed them over it. While Twins executives leaned toward offloading players, they held out hope of a turnaround as long as they could before the July 31 trade deadline.
Losing a series to two of baseball’s worst teams made the decision easy.
“That kind of solidified a little more of where we thought we were headed,” Falvey said.
Only two weeks earlier, the Twins’ preparation was geared toward buying at the deadline. The group’s belief in the club was bolstered by a 6-3 homestand that included series victories over the Tampa Bay Rays and Chicago Cubs. Falvey and general manager Jeremy Zoll said the front office was ready for the possibility of buying and selling.
“We’re probably going to need to prepare a little bit of both for a little while, and I know that takes a ton of bandwidth for the staff, but let’s just be prepared as best as possible, depending on how we do,” Falvey said of his message.
No rushing the new guys
Though Mick Abel, James Outman and Taj Bradley all played in the majors this season, the Twins opted for the trio to start at Triple-A St. Paul. Pitchers Abel and Bradley both were already at Triple A, but Outman — after spending most of the season at Triple A — played in the majors for 3 1/2 weeks leading up to the deadline.
The Twins wanted their new trio to acclimate to a new organization before bringing them to the majors.
“Those guys we hope are really long-term significant impact players for us,” Falvey said. “ The last thing you want to do is have guys come to the big leagues in a new environment, new staff, new everything and ‘By the way, I’m working on something.’ If you can get some of that work done in Triple A to invest in the long-term future for that guy’s career, it’s usually a little bit better. That was our goal. Get them there to start working on the things we think they need to work on and then find a way to get them up here to see them at this level sooner rather than later.”
Twins happy with their homework
The Twins felt their pre-deadline selling preparation allowed them to act fast and make quick decisions, even as the deadline neared. When it came to assessing the markets for their players with more trade value, the Twins tried to work ahead with teams to have an idea where each would go.
“Our group was unbelievably prepared, with meetings starting last Thursday to level set on our eye levels for different players that teams were expressing interest in and to work through all of the top prospects in each of the relevant systems,” Zoll said.
The Twins thought their prep work paid big dividends in the final hour when the club traded Willi Castro, as well as Jax and Varland. Overall, the Twins engaged with eight different teams.
“When you’re finally in there, you know what your asks are,” Falvey said. “You know what would motivate you to go, and you know what isn’t going to be motivating. If you hear something and you’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s just not going to get to the level,’ maybe you provide a little bit of feedback back around what the deal would need to look like. And if they say, ‘We’re not doing that,’ then you’re good. You put it to bed. You move on to the next team.”
(Photo: Matt Krohn / Getty Images)