Will Buxton fulfill Mauer's legacy as a Twins lifer?
Byron Buxton's name keeps coming up in trade conversations, and nobody gets that quite like Joe Mauer.
The former Twins catcher and 2009 AL MVP played all 15 years of his career in Minnesota, sticking around when the franchise wasn't giving him much reason to.
Mauer recently sat down with DJ Siddiqi of Casino.org at the American Century Championship and talked about what Buxton might be weighing this summer.
"Well, I think Buxton put himself in that position to have some input on it. He's been around for a little while, and I believe he's got a no-trade clause," Mauer said. "Every decision is unique. Every player's got their own things that they prioritize, and that go into a decision like that."
Mauer won three batting titles, made six All-Star teams, and still never got past the Wild Card round.
He retired after 2018, right before the Bomba Squad era took off in 2019, so he never got to see the payoff.
He gets what loyalty to a franchise looks like when the winning doesn't come with it.
Buxton Is Playing Like a Star Again
Buxton has been mashing this year.
Through 45 games, he's slashing .263/.322/.579 with 16 home runs and 26 RBI while posting a .901 OPS and a 148 OPS+.
That's coming off a 2025 season where he stayed on the field for 126 games, hit a career-best 35 homers with an .878 OPS and picked up his first Silver Slugger.
The issue is that the Twins are 27-28 and sitting in third place in the AL Central, and that makes things complicated.
Buxton is putting up numbers that contenders notice, and reports have already connected him to the Atlanta Braves among other teams.
He does hold a full no-trade clause, so the 32-year-old ultimately gets to decide where he goes, if anywhere at all.
"I know Buxton wants to win more than anybody, and I think he wants to win in Minnesota, and that would be something that I would like to see," Mauer said. "But I just wish the best for him. Such a good guy, was a great teammate, and I hope he gets that chance to win. I really do hope it's here in Minnesota."
His Legacy
The comparisons between these two write themselves.
Mauer went No. 1 overall in 2001, signed a massive extension and became the face of the franchise for over a decade.
Buxton went No. 2 in 2012 and signed his own seven-year, $100 million deal before the 2022 season.
Injuries have eaten into both careers at different points, but neither one ever really pushed to leave Minnesota, even when they probably could have.
If Buxton sticks around and the Twins manage to build something around him, he has a chance to become the next great one-franchise Twins player.
Mauer never got his ring, but nobody in Minnesota holds that against him.
Whatever Buxton decides over the next couple months is going to tell everyone a lot about where his priorities really sit.
