Byron Buxton rehabbing right hip injury, targeting healthy 2027 return

Byron Buxton is spending his offseason working toward a healthy 2027 season, rehabbing a right hip injury, MLB.com reported. The Minnesota Twins center fielder's focus, per MLB.com, is on the rehabilitation process itself — a posture that will be familiar to anyone who has followed his career with the particular mix of admiration and held breath that Twins fans have perfected over the years.

What happened

MLB.com reported that Buxton is engaged in offseason rehab from a right hip injury and is targeting a healthy return in 2027. The report characterizes him as resolute and focused on the process. No specific timetable was attached to the return target, and no further diagnostic detail was provided. The club has not issued a separate announcement beyond what MLB.com published.

Why it matters

Buxton's availability has always been the central variable in any honest projection of what the Twins can do in a given season. When he plays, the calculus changes. When he doesn't, the club absorbs the absence and adjusts — a process Minnesota has had considerable practice with, though not by choice.

A right hip injury is not a minor footnote. The hip is load-bearing in every meaningful sense for a center fielder whose value is built on elite range and explosive athleticism. The fact that MLB.com frames 2027 as the target — rather than a late-season return in 2026 or a spring-training ramp-up — suggests the club and player are treating this with appropriate seriousness and patience. What the report does not tell us is the nature or severity of the injury, what the rehab program involves, or what benchmarks Buxton would need to clear before being considered ready. Those details remain unreported.

The timing of this report also lands at the tail end of a 2026 season that has been difficult for Minnesota in several respects. The Twins enter the final days of the year at 76-85 (.472), sitting third in the AL Central, 9 games back in the division, and eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race. The postseason conversation ended some time ago. What remains is the longer view — and Buxton's health is very much part of that longer view.

Where the club stands

Minnesota closes out the 2026 regular season on Sunday, September 27, hosting the Texas Rangers at Target Field. Dean Kremer is the probable starter for the Twins, opposed by MacKenzie Gore for Texas. Kremer, who was traded to Minnesota and has posted scoreless starts since joining the club per earlier Posterior Wire reporting, gets the ball for what amounts to a season-finale audition — the kind of start that doubles as an organizational data point heading into the winter.

The Twins sit 76-85 (.472), third in the AL Central, 9 games back of the division leader, and rank 7th in the Wild Card standings at 7.0 relative to the cut line. The club enters Sunday having dropped their most recent game, carrying a one-game losing streak into the final weekend of the regular season. Both the division race and the Wild Card race are closed books.

The broader roster picture around Buxton's situation has been eventful in the final week of the season. Jeff Hoffman was placed on the injured list with forearm inflammation — a significant concern for a pitcher heading into the offseason — per Posterior Wire reporting from earlier this week. The front office itself has been in transition: the Twins parted ways with assistant GM Daniel Adler after his role was reduced following Derek Falvey's departure in January 2026, per reporting from earlier in the week. Catcher Alex Jackson was designated for assignment and subsequently outrighted to Triple-A — a sequence that, per earlier Posterior Wire coverage, had occurred three times this season, which is its own kind of organizational subplot. First baseman Aaron Sabato was called up after a notable Triple-A performance, per that same reporting.

It is, in other words, a franchise in the middle of a genuine reset — and Buxton's health sits at the center of whatever comes next.

What we don't know yet

MLB.com's report does not specify the nature or severity of the right hip injury. No diagnosis has been published. No timetable has been attached to the 2027 return target beyond the year itself. It is not known what stage of rehab Buxton is currently in, what the program involves, or what milestones would mark progress. Whether the club has any internal target for when he might be cleared for baseball activities has not been reported.

The front office situation also adds a layer of uncertainty. With the Twins navigating a transition in their baseball operations structure — Adler's departure following Falvey's earlier exit — the decision-making framework around roster construction and player health management is itself in some flux. How that affects the approach to Buxton's rehab and eventual return is not something the current reporting addresses.

What to watch

### Is there a spring-training timeline for Buxton?

That is the question that will define the early months of the offseason. The 2027 return target is a direction, not a date. As the Twins move through the winter and into spring camp, any update on Buxton's rehab progress — whether he is cleared for baseball activities, whether he is on track for a full spring, whether there are any setbacks — will be the most consequential health news the organization produces.

Beyond Buxton, the Twins' offseason will be shaped by the front office's next moves in rebuilding its baseball operations leadership, the health of Hoffman's forearm heading into the winter, and what the club does with a roster that finished 76-85 and well outside the playoff picture. Dean Kremer's performance down the stretch, including Sunday's start against Texas, will factor into how Minnesota thinks about its rotation going forward.

For now, the most important thing the Twins know about 2027 is that Buxton is working toward it. That is not nothing. It is also, as Twins fans understand better than most, not yet everything.