Minnesota Twins outfielder Byron Buxton doesn't care that his name is being mentioned in trade rumors with the Aug. 3 deadline approaching.
"I don't give a f--k," Buxton said, according to The Athletic's Dan Hayes.
"End of the day, nobody's in my shoes. Nobody can say anything about what I'm going to do. I know what I'm doing. The only way I'm getting out of here - they're going to have to come talk to me and tell me something else. Simple as that. … I ain't said nothing about leaving, nor will I. I'm a Twin."
The 32-year-old is drawing trade interest amid a terrific campaign for the Twins, posting a .919 OPS with 26 homers through 64 games.
Minnesota, which traded 10 players at last season's deadline, enters Friday four games below .500 but sits just 1.5 games back of a wild-card spot.
Buxton has repeatedly said he wants to stay with the Twins for his entire career. The veteran, who's owed $15 million annually through 2028, has full no-trade protection this season and can block deals to five teams in each of the next two campaigns.
Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said the front office intends to give the team a chance to compete, noting that trade decisions will come closer to the deadline, as they did last year.
"Most of that action doesn't happen until the final week, final three days," Zoll said. "As it pertains to us, I still think the Twins have a lot of good baseball ahead of us, and there's no reason to make any declarations until we need to. … Especially with the state of things in the AL, most teams are going to ride it out as long as they possibly can."
