The Philadelphia Phillies couldn't trade for Minnesota Twins All-Star Byron Buxton... or could they?
If the Philadelphia Phillies could wave a magic wand at the trade deadline, they might simply put Byron Buxton on their roster and call it a day.
The Minnesota Twins star center fielder has had a ton of injury concerns throughout his career, but he's always produced when healthy. And he's excelling at the very position the Phillies have struggled most at in 2025.
Of course, there's no magic wand waving here. If the Twins, who are 43-47 this season, decide to sell, there's still a small chance Buxton gets dealt with three remaining years of team control.
Still, that's not stopping one baseball writer from trying to come up with an offer that could lure Buxton to the Phils.
On Tuesday, ESPN's David Schoenfield proposed a hypothetical trade that would swap Buxton for Phillies top pitching prospect Andrew Painter and outfield prospect Justin Crawford.
"Philadelphia has a lot riding on 2025 given the age of its lineup, and executive Dave Dombrowski knows how to go all-in," Schoenfield wrote. "In this case, that would mean parting with one of the top pitching prospects in the game in Painter, plus a promising young outfielder hitting well at Triple-A.
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"But center field has been a soft spot in recent seasons, with the Phillies in the bottom third in the majors in OPS this year, and the team's overall power output has been below average, even with Kyle Schwarber. Adding Buxton adds more pop to the middle of the order."
Buxton, 31, hasn't played more than 102 games in a season since 2017. But he's up to 73 this year already and he's notched 20 home runs, an .879 OPS, and 3.3 bWAR.
The Phillies would still be giving up a heck of a lot in Schoenfield's pitch, and the Twins might thumb their nose at it. But if anything is going to pry Buxton loose from Minnesota, it just might be the idea of Painter anchoring the rotation.
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