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Former Minnesota Twins Outfielder Retires
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- Former Minnesota Twins Outfielder Retires
Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images
It wasn't long ago the Byron Buxton was unable to get through a full season . The Minnesota Twins superstar outfielder has dealt with a myriad of injuries over the course of his career. In order to mitigate his absence, the franchise has signed starting-caliber depth.
Among the best of those outfielders to spell Buxton for Minnesota was Michael A. Taylor. The twelve-year veteran spent this season with the Chicago White Sox. After experiencing that level of futility, he has announced his retirement.
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Michael A. Taylor hangs up his cleats
In 2023 Byron Buxton was limited to designated hitter duties only . Michael A. Taylor signed with Minnesota as depth, but wound up playing 129 games . He was the every day centerfielder, and helped that team end a decades-long postseason drought. After more than 1,200 major league games, he's calling it a career.
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Micheal A. Taylor officially announced his retirement.
— Scott Merkin (@scottmerkin) September 28, 2025
Across 133 games for the Chicago White Sox this season, Taylor posted a .199/.256/.366 slash line. Despite being 34 years old, he still was worth seven DRS (defensive runs saved) and three OAA (outs above average).
During 2023 with the Twins, Taylor owned a 93 OPS+ and had the second-best season of his career. He had a .720 OPS and his 21 home runs were a career-high.
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Minnesota had desires to keep Taylor in 2024, but after paying him $4.5 million the year before, didn't want to bank on another career year or pay the freight for previous performance. Instead he got $4 million from the Pittsburgh Pirates . The Twins then pivoted to a massive mistake in the form of Manuel Margot .
This season Taylor reached 10 years of service time which gives him access to a fully-vested, life-long pension plan. That's a decent consolation prize for sitting through a 59-102 season for the White Sox. He did start the final game of Chicago's season to end his career on the field.
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