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The Twins almost certainly will have a lower payroll in 2026 than they started with in 2025. But we don’t know how much lower.
We might know the offseason plan soon. Then again, we thought we would know the plan by the end of September. Now it’s late November and the identity of limited partnership groups being brought in to stabilize the team’s financial outlook are still not known.
The Twins might make a reasonable attempt to compete for a playoff spot in 2026. Or they might use the season as a rebuilding and transitional season as MLB heads toward a labor showdown and perhaps a better financial system for mid-market teams like the Twins in 2027 and beyond.
They are a franchise of unknowns and seeming contradictions right now, and nowhere does that show up more urgently than with their best player.
Star Tribune Twins writer Bobby Nightengale returned from the GM Meetings with a wealth of information but very few specifics on the path forward. He joined me on Thursday’s Daily Delivery podcast to break it all down, which included a big question: Is Byron Buxton going to be traded?
Let’s get into the pros and cons of considering a Buxton trade at the start of today’s 10 things to know:
- First, we must acknowledge that Buxton has leverage in the form of a no-trade clause in his contract. But while he has said he wants to remain with the Twins, he also has acknowledged he doesn’t want to go through a pronounced rebuild. Those two desires could be at odds with each other depending on the path the Twins take this offseason.
- From a purely baseball standpoint, there are also competing forces at play when thinking about a trade. Buxton was by far the Twins’ most dynamic and effective player in 2025. He had the health, production and joy that fans have been waiting a decade to see over the course of a full season. He was a main attraction for those who bought tickets. Sometimes it seemed as if he were the only attraction. Attendance was already at a quarter-century low last year. How bad would it get if the Twins traded Buxton?
- Then again, Buxton will be 32 next month. His history suggests last year’s production and health were an anomaly. With three years left on his contract (at $15 million per season), he almost certainly will never have greater trade value than he does right now. If the Twins are closer to a full rebuild than a regroup, dealing Buxton makes sense. Attendance will suffer and so will the Twins’ record, but both will probably be bad regardless.
- If the Twins’ best hope rests with prospects who haven’t even made their debut yet, it’s hard to imagine Buxton’s timeline overlapping with theirs in a meaningful way.
- But he could be a steady veteran presence and a known commodity on a team full of emerging young players.
- Selfishly, it would be great to see him stay and eventually finish his career with the Twins. It would almost feel unfair to say goodbye right after Buxton’s best season. It would also be understandable if he wanted to leave and if the Twins agreed with that assessment.
- If Buxton stays in 2026 and remains healthy, he almost certainly will be playing center field in the middle of a cornfield Aug. 13.
- Jesper Wallstedt won again in net for the Wild on Wednesday night. Minnesota has at least one point in all of his starts this season, and he has been in net for four of the team’s last six games.
- Add another phrase to your J.J. McCarthy bingo card: “rewiring neurological pathways.” My only question is whether “Nine” also needs separate rewiring?
- I’ll have plenty more McCarthy talk on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast featuring SKOR North’s Judd Zulgad.
