Dang. I mean, get paid and all that, but I was really hoping Byron Buxton would hit free agency next year (if he wasn’t traded sooner). Not saying the Cubs would’ve gotten involved, but you never know. I like to dream on potential superstars.
But this particular potential superstar is sticking with the only team he’s known:
BREAKING: Center fielder Byron Buxton and the Minnesota Twins are in agreement on a long-term, nine-figure contract extension, sources familiar with the deal tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 28, 2021
When he’s been healthy, Buxton has become one of the best players in the game. It’s just that he’s rarely – very, very rarely – been healthy. So a nine-figure deal here is going to come with considerable risk for BOTH sides.
More soon.
UPDATE: It’s seven years and $100 million:
Buxton deal with Twins, per source: Seven years, $100M. Full no-trade clause.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 28, 2021
That’s about what you’d expect for these sides *IF* a deal was going to happen, but you can immediately see the risks. For the Twins, it’s that Buxton is simply never healthy enough to make that value sensible over seven years. For Buxton, it’s that he actually does get healthy, and it’s the biggest steal of a contract in the history of steals, and he doesn’t hit free agency again until his mid-30s.
UPDATE 2: There aren’t too many players where MVP bonuses could make so much sense being this large, but yeah, Buxton is that guy:
More details:
$1M signing bonus.
2022 salary-$9M
2023-28-$15M per seasonMVP bonuses, believed to be unprecedented, for every year of deal.
1st-$8M
2nd-$7M
3rd-$6M
4th-$5M
5th-$4M
6th-through-10th: $3MAlso: $500K each for 502, 533, 567, 600 and 625 plate appearances. https://t.co/leTEjfa4wR
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 28, 2021