Minnesota Twins Add $100 Million Dollar Man To Playoff Roster

With possibly just one game remaining in their season, the Minnesota Twins have activated outfielder Byron Buxton—out for the last two months—in time for Wednesday night's Game 4 of their American League Division Series with the Houston Astros, trailing 2-1 in the best-of-five set.  

BREAKING: Byron Buxton has been added to the #MNTwins playoff roster. He’s an injury replacement for Alex Kirilloff.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) October 11, 2023

It was just five days ago that the Twins announced he hadn't made the roster, and it looked very unlikely that he'd be able to play in this postseason. But an 'injury' to the oft-injured Alex Kirilloff has opened up a roster spot for the oft-injured Buxton. 

What Kirilloff's problem is remains unclear, though one could look at his playoff performance thus far: 0-for-9 plus a misplay of a Yordan Alvarez grounder in the first inning in Game 3, which keyed Houston’s four-run rally to set the tone for the Twins loss.

Buxton has been out for over two months due to a hamstring, and then knee injury. His last game was Aug. 1st. As he pleaded for a spot on the postseason roster last week, he admitted, "It wouldn’t probably be at the speed I want it to be, and that’s one of those where I don’t want to hurt the team.” 

But now, out of necessity, he'll be giving it a go. Due to the bad knee, he had only been DHing this season before going on the IL. During a rehab stint last month, after trying to play in the outfield, he was forced to the sidelines once again.

The 29-year-old appeared in just 85 games this season (.207 avg, 17 HR, .731 OPS) and has only played in 100 or more games in a season once in his 9-year career. He signed a 7-year, $100M contract last winter.

We'll see if he can pull off some postseason heroics to keep the Twins' season alive. 

 Photo: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports