The Twins were rumored to be sellers prior to the trade deadline, and I think many expected the club to deal a handful of players.
But no one saw this coming.
The Twins have said goodbye to 10 players, with most of the deals happening on Thursday, including the once untradeable Carlos Correa, who the Twins sent back to Houston.
The other players who have departed or are departing: Harrison Bader, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, Danny Coulombe, Willi Castro, Ty France, Chris Paddack and Jhoan Duran.
As I said before, I could live with most of those deals except for Duran, Jax and Varland. Varland especially. I’ll miss the way he went about his business, which was to work quickly and attack the strike zone. Varland did not mess around.
Perhaps the most shocking thing about these transactions is how little the club has received in the way of star players or star prospects.
MLB.com put it this way:
The Twins received some players with Major League experience, some top prospects, some volume in their Minor League system and a great deal of salary relief in both the short and long term.
That last bit about salary relief is probably the biggest driver of all, particularly if the team, which is for sale, is about to be sold. It could very well be that the prospective buyers are dictating the kind of team they want to have before they pay top dollar for it.
It also sounds like a deal is in the works, according to USA Today.
“I know some things that you don’t know,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said over the All-Star Weekend in Atlanta to USA Today. “I can tell you with a lot of confidence that there will be a transaction there, and it will be consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place. There will be a transaction. We just need to be patient while they rework.”
The Twins received the following players in Thursday’s deals: OF Hendry Mendez, RHP Geremy Villoria, OF James Outman, LHP Garrett Horn, RHP Mike Mikulski, OF Alan Roden, LHP Kendry Rojas, RHP Taj Bradley, RHP Sam Armstrong and RHP Ryan Gallagher, according to MLB.com.
For Duran, the Twins got RHP Mick Abel and catcher Eduardo Tait, and for Paddack, another catching prospect.
Do any of those names get me excited? Not really. In the case of Correa, the Twins received a minor league pitcher and cash. Wow.
Some evaluations of the players the Twins received, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
-Gallagher was a sixth-round pick in the 2024 draft, and he has already reached Double-A Knoxville in his first pro season. Gallagher has a 3.43 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, and 5.9% walk rate over 84 combined innings at the high-A and Double-A levels, with 11 1/3 of those frames coming in Knoxville.
-Armstrong was a 13th-round pick for Chicago in 2023, and he has a 4.62 ERA, 19.3% strikeout rate, and 8.3% walk rate in 89 2/3 innings in Knoxville this season.
-Bradley’s strikeout rate has dropped to a career-low 20.2% as he’s getting fewer swinging strikes. He has upped his ground-ball rate and gotten the longball under control, but his 4.61 ERA across 21 starts is right in line with his career mark.
It’s a whole new ballgame for the Twins.
The club is at Cleveland on Friday. Joe Ryan gets the ball.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are 51-57.
–The Twins traded Chris Paddack to the Tigers and, well, it’s disappointing to see him pitch so well in his Detroit debut.
Paddack allowed a run across six innings with no walks and five strikeouts in a 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
–The Twins lost their series to the Boston Red Sox, losing 13-1 in the finale. Given the state of the new-look Twins, I have a feeling we are going to see a few more lopsided losses before the season is done.
–I was never wowed by Correa’s bat, but the guy can play shortstop and he has an incredibly powerful throw to first base. He will be missed defensively.