Byron Buxton has finally put together the season that Twins fans have been awaiting for over a decade. He’s healthy, he’s raking, and he’s turning in highlight-reel plays on a nightly basis. At his best, Buxton has always looked like an MVP, but in 2025, he’s actually putting up MVP numbers. That should be nothing but joy for Twins Territory, but there are a few reasons why his historic year feels more frustrating than it should.

1. A Painful Reminder of What Could Have Been
Buxton’s .274/.336/.561 slash line, 32 home runs, and a 142 OPS+ entering mid-September are the type of stats Twins fans used to dream about. They’re also the type of numbers that make you wonder what the last eight years could have looked like, if health had ever cooperated. Remember 2017, when he looked like a Gold Glove superstar but never quite put it together at the plate? Or 2021, when his 171 OPS+ had him looking like the best player in baseball before injuries shut him down after just 61 games? 

Buxton joined Kirby Puckett as the second player in team history with 30 home runs and 20 steals in a season. He played in over 100 games for the second consecutive season, another first for his career. This season is the payoff for all those flashes, but it’s also a gut punch. We’re not just watching greatness. We’re watching the version of Buxton we’ve been missing out on all along.

2. A Wasted Performance on a 90-Loss Team
Here’s the kicker: Buxton is finally having the year that puts him among baseball’s elite, and the Twins are stuck in the basement of the AL Central. He ranks among the top-10 in the AL in rWAR (10th), Offensive WAR (5th), SLG (4th), OPS (5th), Adj. OPS+ (5th), and Offensive Win% (3rd). He’s been one of the only reasons to tune in to watch the Twins this season, with a power-speed combination that makes him one of the game’s most exciting players. 

Put the numbers above on a playoff team, and Buxton is in every MVP conversation on national broadcasts. Instead, most of the baseball world has already moved on, and Buxton’s brilliance is happening in relative obscurity. This has happened before in Twins history. Brian Dozier accumulated 5.8 rWAR in 2016 on a Twins team that lost 103 games. Brad Radke was masterful in 1999 (6.5 rWAR) on a 97-loss team. It feels cruel, almost wasted, that the best season of his career is happening on a team barreling toward 90 losses.

3. An Uncertain Future Clouds the Joy
The biggest question lingering over Buxton’s MVP-level year might be this: Will it ever matter? Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez look like rotation anchors, but beyond this duo, the pitching staff is full of question marks. The bullpen carousel continues to spin after a trade deadline sell-off. On the offensive side, the young hitters the Twins have counted on, like Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis, haven’t taken that next step yet. 

The Minnesota farm system is one of baseball’s best, but there is no guarantee that the team’s top prospects will be able to perform at baseball’s highest level. Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and even Luke Keaschall can form the core of the next great Twins teams, but that might be multiple years away. Buxton will be in his mid-30s by that point, and there’s no guarantee that next season (or the one after that) will give him a team worthy of his talent. That cloud of uncertainty makes it hard to soak in what should be pure joy.

Buxton is doing things this year that put him in the conversation with the best players in franchise history. But instead of being remembered as the year he carried the Twins into October, it’s shaping up to be remembered as the season that left us all wondering, “what if?” For Twins fans, that’s the most frustrating part of all.

What’s been the most frustrating part of Buxton’s season? Leave a comment and start the discussion.