The Minnesota Twins made a quick U-turn before the trade deadline, going from buyers to sellers without unloading all players with any value. They have lost five of their last six games, and a sudden change of heart has left them caught in baseball’s middle class — a glut of .500 teams that are unlikely to make the playoffs, but also aren’t bottoming out in order to acquire prospects via trade or the top of the draft.
Minnesota is now 6.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians and 4.5 behind the suddenly surging Kansas City Royals. Cleveland didn’t make any big pickups at the trade deadline, and Kansas City has a lot of important pending free agents they need to sort through, but the Twins are suddenly regressing to the mean and will likely miss out on the playoffs altogether with virtually the same team they had before the trade deadline.
The laundering of Jaime Garcia exemplifies this change in philosophy. He was acquired from the Atlanta Braves on July 24, went 6.2 innings in a win over the Oakland A’s and then was promptly traded to the New York Yankees on July 30.
Garcia joined the Twins in the middle of a four-game losing streak. Minnesota lost to the Detroit Tigers 9-6 the day before he arrived, lost the next three games, won the one he pitched and then lost two more in walk-off fashion to the bottom-feeding Athletics. It was those six losses in seven games that convinced the front office that they had to change course, and unsurprisingly that did not go over well in the clubhouse.
It is interesting that Dozier is upset that the team isn’t adding at the deadline, given that he could have been a trade chip
“That’s frustrating within itself, to not go on a little run,” Brian Dozier told the Star Tribune in reaction to the Garcia trade. “A couple of games could have gone differently. We should be adding [players]. It’s frustrating.
“I know a lot of these guys feel the same way.”
All-Star closer Brandon Kintzler was also dealt, landing with the Washington Nationals.
It is interesting that Dozier is upset that the team isn’t adding at the deadline, given that he could have been a trade chip. He would be justified in demanding a trade to a contender, but he has become the voice of the clubhouse, and hasn’t publicly expressed any desire for that to change. He’s also 30 years old, coming off a 42-home run season and is under team control for another year at $9 million.
Ervin Santana also could have brought in a decent return. He remains a viable top of the rotation starter at age 34 and has one more year at $13 million left on his contract. He would be an instant upgrade to any team looking for a starter who could pitch in the playoffs and provide veteran leadership.
The problem with dealing Santana is that Minnesota would go into the offseason needing… a decently-priced, reliable veteran starter. While the Twins are facing long odds to make the playoffs this year — if they don’t top the reigning AL champs to win the Central, they will have to win a play-in game to participate in a postseason series — they also are not in a place where they can burn it all down and try again.
Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano are already in the majors. So is Jose Berrios, a potential ace, and Max Kepler, who despite his recent slump looks like a reliable everyday outfielder. Taylor Rogers has the potential to become a staple in the bullpen, Adalberto Mejia will be part of the future in the rotation if he can avoid laboring in the middle innings and Eddie Rosario is a wild card with plenty of upside.
Even Joe Mauer, whose $23 million contract and decreased production has upset a sizable portion of the fanbase, owns a respectable .370 on-base percentage while upping his average, decreasing his strikeouts and has played solid defense at first base.
Beyond the individual players, the Twins have had five losing seasons in the past six years and patience has worn thin among the vox populi — as evidenced by the lukewarm reception at the gate when the team still had a winning record.
We don’t know what was offered for Dozier or Santana, but it might not matter. Even if Garcia had been retained and the team got bullpen help, they may have fallen short of the playoffs and gotten no value for Garcia or Kintzler.
Chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and general manager Thad Levine will not be judged on how the team does this year — this team has former GM Terry Ryan’s fingerprints all over it. Paul Molitor may be gone in a year. The roster will likely be overhauled. The entire pitching development staff may be turned over. Falvey and Levine will have to go all-in in the near future, but this year is not the year for that. This team is flawed and overachieving, and its most talented players are still young, under team control and very green.
When they have their manager in place, after they have chosen which players they want to keep and how to supplement them, and when they have hired the people who they want to develop them, that’s when they will be judged. For now, it’s just a matter of seeing how far this bunch can go.
Since the Garcia trade, the Twins acquired Anthony Recker in the Garcia trade with Atlanta, sent catcher John Ryan Murphy to Arizona for lefthander Gabriel Moya, dealt Garcia to the Yankees for two pitching prospects — Zack Littell and Dietrich Enns and got lefty Tyler Watson. They ate the money on Garcia’s contract and received half a million dollars they can spend in international signing bonus money from Washington. They acquired four pitching prospects and a backup catcher, so it’s not like they did nothing.
For the players bummed that the Twins didn’t do more to win now, Molitor has a simple message: “Get over it,” he told the Star Tribune. “That’s the way it works. We are where we are. We’re one good run away from this having a different look. The last 10 days went against us. We’re still playing a lot of teams we need to pursue down the road.”
Rogers becomes the closer. Mejia and Kyle Gibson have an opportunity to prove they deserve a spot in the rotation next year. The rest of the young core can start to generate excitement among the fanbase once again.
“It’s tough because Brandon has helped us save a lot of games,” Mauer told the Star Tribune. “It’s going to be an opportunity for someone else. We still have 59 games left to go.”
These guys feel like they deserved to be treated as a playoff team at the deadline. Now they have the rest of the season to prove that they are.
