Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller recently revealed his ideas for “8 Outrageous Trades to Shake Up the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline” and one intriguing proposal involves the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies.
The fake trade would give the Phillies one of the most injury-prone, yet tantalizing talents of all the centerfielders in the game in exchange for a promising rookie starting pitcher and minor-league catching prospect.
Here’s the full trade proposal from Miller:
– Phillies receive: Byron Buxton
– Twins receive: Mick Abel, Alirio Ferrebus (Single-A prospect, No. 26 in Phillies farm system)
The Bleacher Report scribe notes that the trade may be unlikely, given that Byron Buxton has spent his entire 11-year career with the Twins.
“Since being taken No. 2 overall in the 2012 draft, Buxton has been a cornerstone piece of the Twins franchise. It’d simply be surreal to see him playing anywhere else, even in exchange for a potential budding ace,” Miller wrote.
Phillies Outfield ‘Darn Near the Worst in Baseball’ in 2025
Miller does add that the possible deal would benefit both sides, however.
“Dating back to before this time last year, there has been speculation that the Phillies might trade for an oft-injured center fielder, currently residing in the AL Central, with several years of an AAV north of $15M remaining on his contract. It just might be Byron Buxton instead of Luis Robert Jr., as the latter is virtually untradeable at this point, both presently injured (hamstring) and batting .185 for the year,” he wrote. “Philadelphia’s outfield has been darn near the worst in baseball, the quartet of Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, Max Kepler and Johan Rojas worth a combined negative-0.7 bWAR this season. But Buxton is having a sensational season in Minnesota and could become the Phillies’ primary DH for the three years left on his contract, should they fail to re-sign Kyle Schwarber this offseason. 2020 first-round pick Mick Abel would be a major chip to part with, but the Phillies do have an excess of starting pitching, with Andrew Painter presumably close to ready for his MLB debut and Aaron Nola presumably returning from the IL at some point.”
Miller does point out that Buxton has a full no-trade clause through the 2026 campaign, so that could make things more difficult for Minnesota to move him. With the Twins (40-44) “rapidly falling out of the postseason picture over the past month—with an owner looking to sell the franchise, no less” now might be the time for the 31-year-old to get out, however.
“If he’s willing to relocate, though, Minnesota would A) unload about $50M owed through 2028, B) add a quality 23-year-old arm to a rotation that is currently a hot mess beyond Joe Ryan and C) open up a spot in center for the eventual (albeit, not particularly imminent) arrival of one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Walker Jenkins,” Miller wrote.
Byron Buxton Staying Mostly Healthy, Having Career Year
The Phillies originally signed Alirio Ferrebus to a minor-league contract in January 2023 when the catching prospect was only 17 years old. Ferrebus is currently playing with the organization’s Single-A affiliate in Clearwater, going just 8-for-65 with one home run and two RBI across 18 games.
23-year-old righthander Mick Abel was selected by the Phillies with the 15th overall pick during the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft and was one of the organization’s top prospects leading up to his big-league debut in May. Abel has made five MLB starts, going 2-1 with a 3.47 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 18 strikeouts across 23 1/3 innings pitched.
Buxton debuted in the majors in 2015 and has consistently been marred by injuries and inconsistencies over the last decade. Buxton’s only stayed healthy enough to play over 100 games in a season twice, including 2017 when he set career highs in Wins Above Replacement (WAR) at 5.0, games (140), at-bats (462), runs scored (69), hits (117) and stolen bases (29), among other categories, while capturing his lone Gold Glove award.
The Georgia native made his only All-Star team in 2022, when he hit a career-high 28 home runs, and has been mostly healthy in 2025.
Buxton has suited up for 67 of Minnesota’s 84 games this year — missing time while on the 7-day concussion injured list in May — and has put up some of the best numbers of his career.
He enters Monday’s off day with the fifth-highest WAR of his career (3.3) and on pace to shatter many of his high marks. Buxton has 19 home runs, 51 RBI, 15 stolen bases, 53 runs scored, 72 hits and a .281/.347/.566 slash line through 256 at-bats. Buxton ranks inside the top 10 in the American League in slugging percentage (third), OPS (.914, third), runs scored (tied for third), WAR (fourth), home runs (tied for fourth), stolen bases (tied for fifth) and RBI (tied for sixth).
If the Twins were to ever try to sell high on their oft-injured star, now might be the perfect time to do it.
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