FORT MYERS, Fla. – Byron Buxton had, by his own account, a “peaceful” offseason. That doesn’t mean it was without its frustrations.
Buxton is in a good place as a new season begins – healthy, excited to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic and ready to help guide a young Twins team as it attempts to get back to the postseason. But in a conversation with reporters on Sunday, he also acknowledged some dissatisfaction with how parts of the offseason went.
Following the Twins’ Trade Deadline selloff last July, Buxton, who has a full no-trade clause, flatly declared that he had no desire to waive that protection. “Nothing’s changed,” he said at that time. “I ain’t going nowhere.”
In light of that declaration of loyalty, Buxton was hoping the club would do the same. Buxton’s name appeared in trade rumors early in the offseason, when the Twins' payroll had not yet been determined and top baseball executives stopped short of saying that none of their core stars would be dealt.
“All it takes is for somebody at the top to go to the media, ‘We're not trading you,’” Buxton said. “Trade rumors stop. Now we don't have those conversations. That's how simple this could get. But as I stated, it's different, it's different.”
And though the front office confirmed in December that it planned to keep Buxton, as well as Joe Ryan and Pablo López, the genie was already out of the bottle. Trade talk had intruded on Buxton’s offseason. And even once the decision to keep the core players had been relayed, there was never the kind of flat, categorical declaration by the club that Buxton made.
Some of that is understandable, of course. No player is actually ever untouchable. And Buxton understood that if the Twins didn’t deal him at the Deadline, the odds were against the club trying to move him after the season. But he still indicated that he would have appreciated something firmer from the front office earlier in the offseason.
That’s not to say Buxton stewed over the matter. Quite the contrary, he said. When the offseason starts, Buxton turns his focus from baseball to home and family, and to matters like a trip to Disney World with his wife and kids.
“[I wasn’t thinking] about anything to do with baseball this offseason,” Buxton said. “Focus more on the family, focus more on what I can do to help somebody get better. … If you know me and you know who I am, I don't like my name being blasted around all the time. So this offseason for me was a little different. Peaceful, but different.”
Besides, Buxton had the World Baseball Classic to look forward to. He was excited to receive the call and the chance to play with “USA” across his chest.
“Means a lot to be able to put your country's jersey on and represent,” Buxton said. "That's an honor. You know, I had a chance when I was younger to go, but stuff didn't line up for me to be able to go to play with Team USA [in previous World Baseball Classics]. So to be able to have an opportunity, to be able to put that jersey on finally, is something special.”
As camp gets rolling, Buxton, Ryan and López are all present, and they are at the core of the club. Along with Bailey Ober and Ryan Jeffers, they also form something of a council of elders, veterans who have taken it on themselves to stay in touch with each other and make sure they’re setting a tone for what is a young team in many areas.
“We know what we're trying to get to,” Buxton said. “We know what we're striving to. And it's going to take us veteran guys to kind of lead these young guys to get to where we want them. We've been here to know how to play baseball the right way, play the game the right way, put in the effort.”