Byron Buxton won’t take the field in Tuesday’s All-Star Game, but the Twins star still has plenty going on in Philadelphia this week - and he made it clear again that his long-term future is where he wants it to be.
Buxton, who was voted an American League starter, will be part of the All-Star festivities, but a right hip strain will keep him out of the game itself. Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami took his place on the roster.
The Twins are expecting Buxton back from the 10-day injured list sometime during their seven-game road trip against the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Guardians after the break.
For Buxton, the All-Star nod still carries real weight.
“It definitely means a lot to be able to get noticed and voted in as a starter,” Buxton said. “That means the world to me.
It’s a lot of hard work, not just by me, but my family, coaches and guys in here. Everybody has got a part into getting me where I am today.
I have the training room, strength coaches, all that. It’s something a little bit bigger than me.”
Buxton is under contract through the 2028 season after signing a seven-year, $100 million extension, and he has been open about how last winter’s trade rumors bothered him. He said at the start of spring training that the Twins should have done more to shut those rumors down.
Still, when Minnesota dealt 11 players at last year’s trade deadline, Buxton stayed put and showed his commitment in a very visible way, organizing a team dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse in Cleveland two days later.
Twins owner Tom Pohlad praised that loyalty and said the organization intends to match it.
“We’re really lucky that a player of his talent is that committed to this team, particularly when in recent years, I don’t know that we fully earned that level of loyalty and commitment,” Twins owner Tom Pohlad said. “We’re going to show him the same level of loyalty and commitment going forward.”
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