Byron Buxton made his stance clear in spring training: center field was home, and he didn’t see himself going anywhere unless somebody faster showed up.
"No, not really," Buxton told KSTP report Alec Ausmus. "I mean, if someone else come here and is faster than me, then I will move over, but until then, I ain't going nowhere. Like … that is home for me."
Nobody faster has arrived to push him out. Walker Jenkins has handled center field for the Twins’ final stretch, but Statcast lists him as a below-average runner - nowhere near Buxton’s 97th percentile sprint speed. Still, if Minnesota is already looking ahead to 2027, the answer in center field may have to be about more than pure speed.
Buxton’s case for staying there is obvious. He has been an All-Star in center field in each of the last two seasons, and when he’s on the field, he still gives the Twins real value defensively.
The alternative is not exactly encouraging either. The last time he tried to move off center, in 2023 when injuries forced the issue, it turned into the roughest season of his career.
That year also is part of the reason the designated hitter question keeps hanging over him. Some players simply do not thrive when they spend long stretches away from the field between at-bats, and Buxton may be one of them even if he has never said it directly. In 2023, he hit .207 with a .311 wOBA, though it’s fair to wonder how much his health dragged that down.
The Twins’ next outfield picture is starting to come into focus, and on Sunday the club lined up Emmanuel Rodriguez in left, Jenkins in center and Luke Keaschall in right for the first time. That trio feels like a real part of the 2027 conversation.
Rodriguez appears headed for the active roster out of spring training because he is out of options. Jenkins could start in the minors, but that would be a surprise unless he has a rough camp. Keaschall is less tied to the outfield in theory, but Minnesota hasn’t shown any interest in moving him back into the infield since June.
There are ways to force a Buxton return to center. Rodriguez could begin as a backup.
Jenkins could open in Triple-A. Keaschall could move back to second base or spend most of his time at DH.
But each of those routes would amount to pushing the decision down the road, and not necessarily in a way that helps the Twins right away, just to accommodate a 33-year-old nearing the end of his contract.
That doesn’t mean Buxton should be ignored in the process. He has earned a major say in how the rest of his career is handled.
But Minnesota has to make the call that best serves the team, and maybe Buxton himself. Taking him out of center could be the smarter health play.
His hip was an issue all through the 2026 season, and the problem got worse in the outfield. On August 21st in San Diego, he made a spectacular diving catch, then was clearly hurting afterward, bent over on the grass for several seconds before slowly heading off.
He stayed in that game, but four days later in Sacramento, he couldn’t bend down to field a rolling ball in the gap. He left the field in obvious pain, and that was the end of his season.
Buxton is scheduled for surgery later this week, and the Twins are hoping it helps finally settle the hip trouble that has followed him for years. Even so, his late-season drop-offs have become a familiar pattern, and if Minnesota really wants to push toward contention next year, it needs him available and effective in August and September.
That’s why the DH spot matters here. It is one of the few openings on next year’s roster, with Josh Bell likely gone in free agency after starting 117 of 149 games there this season. Buxton made 20 DH starts this year, second-most on the team, and he fits the role naturally - especially if the bat he showed before the injury is the version Minnesota can get.
So the Twins are headed for an offseason conversation that will be delicate, but unavoidable. Buxton has earned a voice in how this all plays out. At the same time, the organization has to seriously weigh whether moving him off center field gives him the best chance to stay healthy, stay productive and stay on the field when it matters most.
In Other News...
Twins Deadline Deal Looks Worse As Playoff Race Slips Away
When the Twins went shopping at the deadline, adding Jeff Hoffman from Toronto was supposed to help stabilize the bullpen for a push in the stretch run. Hoffman has done his part since arriving in Minnesota, giving the club the kind of relief work it hoped to buy, while the front office parted with prospects including Dasan Hill to make the deal happen.
The problem is the larger picture around the trade keeps getting less favorable for Minnesota. The Twins are now trailing in the playoff race, while the Blue Jays remain alive, which adds a layer of hindsight to a move that already carried some risk. If Toronto keeps playing into October, the swap could end up feeling even sharper for the Twins, with the added sting of watching a traded arm contribute to a contender while the prospects head the other way. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Ryan Trade Buzz Leaves Twins With One Huge Problem
Joe Ryan has been living in the rumor mill for more than a year, and the talk only picked up after the Twins started moving established players in 2025. Even with all that speculation, Minnesota kept him, and he is now headed into the final year of team control in 2027, which usually means the phone keeps ringing. For a club trying to thread the needle between competing and reworking the roster, Ryan remains one of the most obvious names to monitor.
The problem for the Twins is that a trade path is not nearly as clean as the buzz suggests. Ryans second-half performance has raised questions, his injury status is still unclear, and the possibility of a baseball lockout could change the market in ways that make an offseason deal harder to justify. So while he may keep popping up in conversations, Minnesota has to decide whether the timing is right to move a pitcher who still brings real value, or whether the risk is too high to cash in now. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Prospect C.J. Culpepper Is Forcing A Tough 2025 Decision
C.J. Culpepper is finally getting the kind of uninterrupted season the Twins had been waiting to see since they drafted him in 2022, and the results have made him a more interesting name in the organization. Working out of the bullpen in Double-A and Triple-A, he has settled into a relief role after a long stretch of health setbacks, and the early returns have been encouraging enough to keep him in the conversation as a potential future option.
The move to relief has also asked a different kind of adjustment from Culpepper, especially on the mental side, and he has leaned on veteran teammates to help with that transition. He is carrying a 4.00 ERA while showing promising underlying performance, and the next step is simply to keep stacking good outings as he pushes toward a possible major league opening in 2025. [Read more 🡒]