The Phillies have a clear type of player in mind when they look at Byron Buxton: an outfielder who would fit neatly into what they’re trying to build. The connection makes sense on paper, especially after Philadelphia dealt for Jhoan Duran from the Twins just a year ago.
Minnesota is also one of the teams named in a new ESPN piece on Buxton’s trade market, which only adds to the speculation. But there’s a major catch that keeps hanging over the whole idea.
Buxton does not want out.
"I'm a Twin," he told reporters earlier this season, and not for the first time. He has made it clear he wants to spend his entire career in Minnesota, the organization that drafted him.
That matters, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel made that point in their Monday update on his trade chances. "We've dropped the (trade) odds from unlikely (30%) to extremely unlikely (10%), removing Buxton from the board altogether discounts the possibility of a team blowing away Minnesota with an offer that's too good to refuse," they wrote.
It’s the kind of situation that doesn’t come around often in today’s MLB. Front offices are usually ruthless about the business side, and if a star is the right piece to move for the future, teams usually make the call. Sentiment rarely gets in the way.
Here, though, both sides seem attached to the idea of staying together.
That leaves clubs like the Phillies in a tough spot. In a more ordinary trade scenario, Buxton would be exactly the sort of player Philadelphia could chase by putting together a strong prospect package. Instead, his desire to stay in Minnesota may be the obstacle that keeps this from going anywhere.
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