After sell-off, Byron Buxton reaffirms desire to be in Minnesota: “I ain’t going nowhere”

CLEVELAND Derek Falvey spent much of Thursday on his phone as the Twins completed seven separate trades and thoroughly reshaped the look of their roster Among the numerous a great number of calls the Twins president of baseball and operations made was one to Byron Buxton one he felt the all-star center fielder deserved He is the core and heartbeat of this unit Falvey declared He s part of this and he s part of our fabric And even as the names on the roster changes around him Buxton will remain the core and heartbeat of the Twins Signed to a contract that includes a no-trade clause and will keep him in Minnesota through the season Buxton is adamant even through this week s roster purge that he would not want to be anywhere else Nothing s changed It s just part of baseball It s the business side of it Just cause we go through these tough roads or whatever it is what it is Buxton reported before the Twins loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday at Progressive Field I ain t going nowhere The longest-tenured Twin Buxton made the trip to Cleveland to be with his teammates even though he is on the injured list with left ribcage inflammation and will not be eligible to return until later on the road trip It was key to him to be with his teammates during a time of such great turnover and turmoil Almost of the Twins -man roster was traded between Monday and Thursday as the front office tried to hit the reset button on an underperforming roster I m just being myself Just want to make sure guys here know that it s good to be happy good to be settled Buxton reported Just want to be normal Obviously it s been a tough couple of days Like everyone else Buxton expected there would be chosen trades but he couldn t have predicted what was coming Ten players were traded in all including shortstop Carlos Correa and closer Jhoan Duran Buxton spent Thursday the day of the transaction deadline at home in Minnesota with his three young sons Brixton Blaze and Baire providing him with various helpful distractions He would put his phone down for a couple hours and every time he picked it up he d see news of another bargain It was heartbreaking Buxton explained It was tough for his wife Lindsey and their kids too After all they had formed their own bonds with the families of the players who were traded spending hours upon hours at ballparks together from city to city across the country At the end of an emotional day he got on a plane to be a rock for his teammates a gesture that was clearly appreciated throughout the clubhouse Having that leader definitely helps right fielder Matt Wallner noted That gives us particular sense of normal If he wasn t here it would be Wow this is different It s obviously different I m just glad Buck is here While he mentioned he still has yet to fully process what happened I don t know who has processed it he announced he spoke with former Twin Justin Morneau who delivered the message that Buxton has an opportunity to kind of change the lifestyle here something which he noted he took to heart He also had a conversation with manager Rocco Baldelli who revealed he owed it to Buxton as the heart and soul of the crew to talk about what just happened why it happened and what the path forward for the gang looks like One which Buxton will be very much a part We ve just got to come up here and play smart baseball play great baseball and everything else will take care of itself Buxton explained Keep picking each other up It s a lot of new faces in here that possibly ain t secure at the moment so it s one of my responsibilities to get it right in here Related Articles Bailey Ober returns to mix results in Twins loss to Cleveland Twins kick off new era of opportunity with loss to Guardians Twins still trying to process deadline moves A lot of guys were shocked Frederick Next time opportunity knocks for the Twins don t slam the door in its face Why did the Twins tear apart their roster We ve got to find a new way to do it