LAS VEGAS — Derek Falvey wants to begin building up his team’s roster, but if he’s instead forced to dig any deeper, it could come at the cost of Byron Buxton’s loyalty to the Twins.

From the All-Star Game through the end of the regular season, Buxton told anyone who listened he was a Twins player for life and unwilling to waive the no-trade clause in his contract, even after the club dealt 10 players at the trade deadline.

But a major-league source indicated Tuesday that Buxton, who turns 32 next month, wants to play for a winner and may reconsider his stance for certain clubs if the Twins continue breaking up their roster, potentially by trading starting pitchers Joe Ryan or Pablo López. The two-time All-Star center fielder has three years and $45 million remaining on his current deal, one which grants him full no-trade protection through next season, and the ability to block trades to five clubs in 2027 and 2028.

Even though the team’s payroll and general direction remain unclear as Twins are set to add two limited partnerships to their ownership group, Falvey said Tuesday he doesn’t want to further tear apart the club’s roster.

While acknowledging he’s actively listening to all teams’ trade concepts to determine the best direction for his club, the Twins president wants to build around a roster featuring Buxton and fellow All-Stars Ryan and López if he can.

“I remain personally committed to figuring out what are the ways we can add to this group to make it better,” Falvey said from the general managers meetings. “That is my goal. It was my stated goal before and remains my stated goal until I’m told otherwise. … My focus for now is figuring out ways we can add to the group.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise the Twins are still facing questions about their direction as the offseason kicks off this month.

Though the Twins refuse to say the word “rebuild” even after trading away Carlos Correa in a salary dump in late July, as well as most of their bullpen, opposing GMs clearly sense the club is in a precarious state as Falvey and Co. wade through the murky waters created by ownership’s potential cost-cutting measures.

With several holes to fill on the roster, Baseball Prospectus estimates the team’s current payroll at $95 million, a severe drop off from where the Twins resided the previous five seasons. The Twins opened the 2025 season with a $142 million payroll and in 2023 spent a team-record $153.7 million.

But with the voices of two new limited partnership groups being added, the level of payroll Falvey will be given to work with in 2026 is undetermined. Three months after the Pohlad family indicated it wouldn’t sell the club and instead was adding on the limited partnership groups to help pay down the team’s $425 million debt, Falvey acknowledged he hopes to have more clarity on ownership and payroll by the winter meetings in December.

“I don’t think at this stage, the GM meetings, there’s ever a perfect answer to where you’re headed,” Falvey said. “You’re trying to figure out what the market looks like for your players, for the players that are out there to some degree and even team needs. This is where everything kicks off.”

Falvey wants to provide new manager Derek Shelton with an improved roster. The Twins not only restocked their farm system in July, they added a bevy of talented pitchers near or at the major-league level in Taj Bradley, Mick Abel and Kendry Rojas.

Falvey likes the makeup of his current roster and said he’s not currently entertaining the idea of trading away one of Ryan or López.

Still, the windfall of young talent the Twins could receive by trading Ryan, who seems destined for free agency after the 2027 season, may be too tempting to pass up for an organization which has always been dependent on affordable, young players.

Falvey spoke with Buxton in early August about the team’s direction and again at the end of the regular season. In both cases, Buxton made it clear wanted to stay with the Twins.

But if the Twins are to continue their unofficial rebuild, Falvey might need to address Buxton again. This time, it’s possible the player’s answer would change.

“My view is you always want to be transparent and open with your players about where you’re headed and what it looks like just like we were after the deadline,” Falvey said. “I’ve talked to Byron and other players through this offseason already about ways we can get better as a team. With Shelty coming in, you can already tell there’s a little bit of fresh ideas brewing around how do we make the team the best it can be no matter who’s on the roster at that moment in time. My focus will continue to be on ways we can put players around the players that are on our roster and not subtract from it.”

Source: Twins add Grady Sizemore to coaching staff

Another former major-leaguer was added to Shelton’s coaching staff on Tuesday when the Twins hired Grady Sizemore to be their new outfield/base running coach, according to a team source.

Sizemore served as interim manager for the Chicago White Sox in 2024 after the club fired Pedro Grifol, then remained in Chicago as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2025. He played for the Cleveland Guardians when Shelton was the team’s hitting coach.

Sizemore is the second former big-leaguer to be added to Shelton’s coaching staff following the hire of LaTroy Hawkins as bullpen coach last week.