BOSTON — The two Twins who know they'll be Twins in 2027 were happy to welcome a new member to the club on Tuesday.
Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa applaud Twins' contract extension for Pablo López
The Twins stars said the impending four-year deal displays the club's willingness to keep its best players.
April 19, 2023 at 1:03AM
"He's a winner," Byron Buxton, whose contract runs through 2028, said of Pablo López, who sometime this week will sign a four-year, $73.5 million extension to begin next spring. "It definitely feels good [that] the next few years, we've got that ace heading the team."
Carlos Correa, whose deal could extend all the way to 2032, agreed that he's been impressed with the righthander, who was acquired in a trade with Miami in January.
"He's a guy that puts in the work. He takes care of every single facet of what you need to take care of to be great," Correa said. "He's young. He's in his prime. He's just getting better. It was a great addition."
Neither López nor the Twins are ready to comment on the deal, which is not yet official because López has yet to undergo a physical. But Buxton and Correa were happy to credit the Twins with the willingness to pay up to keep the best players around them in Minnesota.
"It's huge. It's huge. You have that and obviously, you build around it," Correa said. "We've got a great farm system [and] we've got a great group of guys here right now. We've got a good team, a team that can get it done."
And if they can't, Correa added, he's confident that "whatever additions we've got to make, I'm sure the front office will make them. Right now, I feel really good about this team."
On-field swings
Four hours before first pitch on Tuesday, Buxton was getting some swings in, which isn't unusual. What made it out of the ordinary was the location: At home plate. On the Fenway Park diamond.
Buxton, who estimated during spring training that he hadn't taken batting practice on the field in more than two years, broke that streak for a pregame workout with Correa, Michael A. Taylor and others.
The reason?
"I needed to take BP outside," he said, "for obvious reasons."
Obvious, if unstated. Yes, Buxton is aware that he entered Tuesday's game having struck out in nine consecutive official at-bats — only a walk on Friday broke the streak. But he doesn't like to dwell on his results, good or bad, which is why his concession to this sudden slump was so unusual.
One person not worried about Buxton's slump: His manager.
"He's in a little bit of a rut right now, but he's going to be fine. I have little concern about Buck," Rocco Baldelli said. "Any time he's not doing what he wants to do, he can get frustrated, and I think that's fine. He uses it to fuel himself."
Etc.
- Joey Gallo rejoined the Twins after going 2-for-12 over three games of a rehab assignment with the Class AAA St. Paul Saints. The Twins plan to activate Gallo, who has missed 10 days with an intercostal muscle strain, on Wednesday. They have yet to announce how they will open a roster spot, but with no other left-handed starting pitchers scheduled for this series, and only two on next week's homestand, Kyle Garlick appears a likely candidate to be returned to St. Paul.
- Second baseman Jorge Polanco and first baseman Alex Kirilloff joined the Saints on Tuesday to continue their own rehab assignments in preparation for activation later this month. Each will play multiple games, with Kirilloff also getting time in the outfield. Polanco went 0-for-4 with a walk and Kirilloff was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored in a 6-0 home victory over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Mark Contreras hit a grand slam and RBI single, and starter Bailey Ober allowed three hits in five innings.
- Baldelli confirmed that Kenta Maeda, whose start was skipped last week in order to give his surgically repaired pitching arm added rest, will pitch the finale of this road trip Thursday afternoon.
The Twins, who have scored more than four runs just once in their last nine games, were shut out for the ninth time this season.
