The Philadelphia Phillies could pursue a trade for this two-time All-Star.
The Philadelphia Phillies definitely need to get their outfield situation sorted out this winter. Harrison Bader and Max Kepler are both free agents, Nick Castellanos is on the move and Kyle Tucker doesn't appear to be walking through that door.
With the free-agent market being rather light on quality outfielders, the Phillies will have to consider making a trade, and Matt Gelb of The Athletic has highlighted a notable target for the club: Minnesota Twins star Byron Buxton.
While the Twins don't seem incredibly likely to move Buxton, I don't see why they wouldn't strongly weight the possibility considering Buxton is 31 years old and Minnesota is rather far away from legitimately contending.
Gelb added that the asking price for Buxton would start with top pitching prospect Andrew Painter plus some other farmhands, so he certainly wouldn't come cheap.
The question is, would Buxton actually be worth the cost?
Buxton slashed .264/.237/.551 with 35 home runs and 83 RBI over 542 plate appearances in 2025. He also stole 24 bases without being caught.
That's all well and good, but there is no doubt that the two-time All-Star comes with some red flags.
First of all, Buxton is a massive injury risk. He played in 126 games this past year, his highest mark since 2017. Since entering the bigs in 2015, Buxton has only appeared in 100 contests three times. From 2018 through 2023, he didn't achieve the feat once.
We know that when healthy, Buxton is a terrific player, but that's just the thing: he's rarely healthy, and he also exhibited a significant defensive dropoff in 2025, posting a minus-5 DRS. He had never been in the negatives before and was genuinely an elite outfielder when he was younger, but he registered a plus-2 DRS in 2024, which, at the time, was a career low. Perhaps he is declining?
So Buxton is aging (he turns 32 next month), he is injury prone and his defense may be slipping. Is he really worth such a substantial trade package?
It speaks to how limited Philadelphia's options are this winter. The Phillies would probably be better off just signing Tucker and calling it a day, but it doesn't look like Philadelphia will be able to re-sign Kyle Schwarber while also adding Tucker.
There is no doubt that Buxton is an enticing trade target because of his ceiling, but he may prove too much of a risk for Philly.
The Phillies should explore the rest of the trade market to see what else is available.