Buxton, Twins agree to extension, per reports

MLB Rumors: Byron Buxton and the Minnesota Twins have agreed to a contract extension, per multiple reports. Ken Rosenthal is reporting it is seven years, $100M, with a full no trade clause.

Buxton, 27, was the second overall pick in the 2012 MLB Draft. The righthanded hitting center fielder is a five tool player who has performed at an All Star level when he’s been on the field. Buxton has struggled to stay healthy, however — his career high in plate appearances is 511, in 2017, and the only other time he reached as many as 300 plate appearances in a season was in 2016, when he had 311 plate appearances.

Buxton put up a .306/.358/.647 slash line in 61 games for the Twins in 2021, good for a 4.5 bWAR.

Buxton was slated to become a free agent after the 2022 season, and there were reports that the Twins were gauging interest in him. Instead, it appears that Buxton will be in Minnesota for the foreseeable future.

UPDATE — Per Rosenthal, the deal is for $9 million in 2022, then $15M per year thereafter. Buxton gets a bonus of $3M for any season in which he finished 6th through 10th in the MVP balloting, then increasing by one million for each spot above sixth he finishes, up to an $8 million bonus for a first place finish. There are also bonuses of $500K for hitting plate appearance numbers, starting at 502, that could earn him another $2.5M.