Byron Buxton isn’t interested in letting geography do the talking for him.
The Twins star has already made it plain that he does not want to be traded, and he’d like to spend his whole career in Minnesota. That part has been known for a while. What’s been floated just as often, especially with Minnesota struggling the past couple seasons, is the idea that the Atlanta Braves could somehow be the natural landing spot because Buxton is from Georgia.
Buxton shut that down in an interview before the All-Star Game.
"At the end of the day, Atlanta ain't home," Buxton said. "I'm five hours from Atlanta.
People don't get that. I'm from the South.
I'm closer to Savannah. I'm closer to Jacksonville than I am to Atlanta.
That's not home."
Buxton is from Baxley, Georgia, in the southeastern part of the state. He starred at Appling County High School before the Twins made him the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft.
His career has been slowed by injuries, but when Buxton is healthy, he’s been one of the most gifted players in baseball. In recent seasons, he’s also been on the field more often and has had more chances to show it.
There’s clearly a strong sense of loyalty there, too. Buxton has not forgotten that Minnesota believed in him from the beginning and stuck with him through the rough stretches.
That doesn’t mean he’ll never be traded before his career is over. But if Atlanta believed it had some built-in advantage because Buxton is from Georgia, that idea doesn’t hold up.
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