Twins All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton is thinking big when it comes to Minnesota's main objective for the 2023 season.
"Win a ring," Buxton said Sunday, according to Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "That's the only goal you hear around here now. It isn't, 'Oh, we want to make the playoffs. We want to win.' ... Bottom line is to win a ring."
The Twins are expected to compete for the American League Central crown with the reigning champion Cleveland Guardians this season.
Minnesota had a busy offseason. The club retained shortstop Carlos Correa on a six-year, $200-million contract after a saga that included agreements and failed physicals with both the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants.
The Twins also signed catcher Christian Vazquez and outfielder Joey Gallo while making trades for right-hander Pablo Lopez and outfielder Michael A. Taylor.
Minnesota will need a healthy Buxton if the team hopes to achieve its goals in 2023. The 29-year-old appeared in just 92 games last season as he battled a knee injury that eventually required arthroscopic surgery.
The Twins plan to be careful with Buxton as spring training gets underway.
"We'll be cautious as (Buxton) kind of ramps back," Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said Saturday, according to The Athletic's Dan Hayes.
"We're going to take it slow in the early going. What day he's going full tilt, aggressive (batting practices) ... that's TBD. But there's nothing he's coming in with that's an issue."
Buxton has appeared in more than 100 games in a season just once in his career. Despite his injury history, Buxton has developed into one of baseball's most explosive players when healthy. He has 47 home runs across just 153 games over the past two seasons while accruing 8.1 fWAR during that span.