ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Tuesday that Byron Buxton is willing to waive his no-trade clause. He and Kiley McDaniel rank Buxton as being the fifth-best player likely to be moved, and figure he’s got about a one-in-three chance of heading to camp wearing a new uniform. This is, naturally, not great news for Twins fans despite the bread crumbs leading us here over the past couple of months. Obviously, the Twins trading their best hitter (by a wide margin) would send very clear signals about their intention to contend in the near future. However, such a move would be a way to further stock an already strong farm system and fully commit to a youth movement.

Now, this list I’m about to reveal is not comprehensive. A player of Buxton’s caliber would make every team better. However, five teams seem like natural fits in terms of need and tradeable commodities. I’ll rank them in order of who I see as the best matches. Of course, none of this means a Buxton trade will happen. He can say no at any time, and if he does desire a trade, his landing spot might be his own choice, as much as the Twins’. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Look, the Dodgers are seemingly always the odds-on favorites for any prestige free agent, so why not for a star slugger coming off a career year and down-ballot MVP votes?

For a team as stacked as the two-time defending champions, the outfield is a rare opportunity to improve. World Series hero Andy Pages is legit at the plate and in center field, but corner outfielder Teoscar Hernández is coming off a down year, as is Tommy Edman. Both are on the wrong side of 30, so it’s entirely possible both are experiencing age-related decline. Edman is also better (defensively) on the dirt, but played about a quarter of his games in the grass out of necessity. Edman is also a question mark for 2026, as he’s coming off ankle surgery. Buxton would be an upgrade in the corners, and would make their lineup that much deadlier. He probably isn’t ready to move out of center field yet, but he has the cachet to prompt them to move Pages to a corner instead, at least temporarily. Beyond that, let’s be honest with ourselves: is there a great player the Dodgers don’t swing hard for?

Further, they also have a strong farm. MLB Pipeline has them ranked first overall, with no fewer than seven top-100 guys and good depth beyond that. Assuming Buxton would net two top-100 prospects in any deal, it would be easy to construct a package that could make sense.

Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies need right-handed power badly, and the Phillies beat writer for The Athletic identified Buxton as a target. The fit is clear, and a lot of boxes are checked. The Twins have recent history with the Phillies as trade partners, and are certainly familiar with their farm system after dealing both Jhoan Duran and Harrison Bader to Philadelphia in July. Bader and old friend Max Kepler are both free agents, and the Phils could lose Kyle Schwarber, as well. Nick Castellanos, the Phillies’ everyday right fielder in 2025, was a brutal defender at the position. As it stands currently, top prospect Justin Crawford is set to crack the Opening Day lineup in the grass. Adding Buxton would allow the Phillies to give Crawford a ramp, rather than hoping he immediately hits. Buxton would fill key gaps for them, and would immediately improve their roster both offensively and defensively.

Working against them: their prospect pool got shallower at the deadline, as the Twins took two of their best prospects. They still have three prospects in the top 100, and all are high-end, but the Phillies’ front office may be loath to deal more from that pool.

Cincinnati Reds
In 2025, the Reds ranked 19th in baseball in OPS. Additionally, they don’t have a single outfielder who’s much more than an average hitter, and all of their outfielders cost the Reds runs compared to average defenders. Noelvi Marte, while still young, has been replacement-level for his career. Austin Hays is a free agent, and TJ Friedl can hit a bit but isn’t special. Buxton would be a clear upgrade in center and would improve their offense by leaps and bounds.

The Reds have the prospect capital to have build a trade package, with six players on Pipeline’s Top-100 list—including a couple of strong shortstop prospects who are a few years out, likely aligning with the Twins’ next true contention window. There is some fairly recent trade history between the two teams, as the Twins traded for both Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle in 2022.

Atlanta
This could be Buxton’s preference, as he is from Baxley, Georgia, a small town three and a half hours away from Truist Park. His parents and extended family still live there, and he spends his offseason months there, as well. I would assume that this would be Buxton’s preferred digs, if he does decide he wants to go.

From a baseball standpoint, Atlanta’s hitting was average-ish in 2025, ranking 13th by OPS. Michael Harris II is a good defender in center, but his bat hasn’t played in a couple of years. Jurickson Profar and Ronald Acuña Jr. man the corners right now, but both are subpar defenders in the grass. However, both hit well enough to spend a lot of time at DH on days when Drake Baldwin is catching, which could be most of the time with Sean Murphy recovering from hip surgery. Trading for Buxton would allow Atlanta to dramatically upgrade their outfield defense and their offense at the same time.

Really, the biggest obstacle for Atlanta is the relative weakness of their farm system, ranked 28th in MLB.com‘s midseason ranking due to their lack of future impact at the top. With just two top-100 players (both pitchers), it could be tough to find a package that would fit, unless the Twins were able to find a match on a challenge trade. However, that doesn’t seem like it would fit their intentions, if they are trying to move Buxton at all. Maybe the Twins would take a couple of pre-arbitration guys and some lower-ranked prospects, but I don’t see the perfect fit. Atlanta does have good young pitchers, too, but many of them have run into injury problems.

New York Mets
The Mets traded their everyday left fielder, Brandon Nimmo, for Marcus Semien last week. They don’t have a clear internal option to replace him. Tyrone Taylor, their incumbent primary center fielder, has been a below-average hitter since 2022. He’s a fine defender, but you know who isn’t? Juan Soto, who logged 157 games in the grass in 2025. He should be a DH. Trading for Buxton could make that a reality for them, probably singlehandedly earning them an extra win or two on defense alone. Further, the Mets are unlikely to be big spenders in free agency, so a trade for a great player at an affordable price could be especially attractive to them.

They have four top-50 prospects, a mix of pitchers, outfielders, and infielders, creating another scenario where the Twins would likely have options to choose from.

Hopefully, a Buxton trade does not come to pass, for a host of reasons, including a lot of stuff like this.

However, knowing that 2026 is seemingly not a competitive season and 2027 could be tough, too, if the Twins are able to at least gain significant value for their homegrown star, the next window could arrive sooner and be likelier to be successful.