The Minnesota Twins came into the trade deadline expecting to be buyers.
With the Twins seeking a right-handed bat and an extra arm in the bullpen, even a marginal move could have helped them become a team that could make a postseason run. But 5 p.m. came and went, and Minnesota didn’t make a move.
It wasn’t long after the deadline passed that angry Twins fans took to social media. Many wondered why the Twins would just accept mediocrity. Others directed their anger toward ownership while another group moved on to football season. Still, they all asked the same thing.
How could the Twins pass up an opportunity to become contenders?
It turns out, the trade deadline was more complicated than you think.
The Twins rolled into the deadline with a one-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians and needed an extra boost. The Kansas City Royals swept them in three games last weekend, taking the wind out of their sails. However, it didn’t relegate them to bottom-feeder status as they were on track for a playoff spot.
President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey acknowledged Minnesota’s position in the standings, but he also noted that circumstances changed not just for his team but the rest of the American League.
“It kind of felt like one of the quieter deadlines,” Falvey told reporters on Tuesday night. “We had some clear…conversations with teams that said, ‘We might be interested in doing a deal. We just need to see what happens over the next four to five days.’”
Anyone who follows baseball knows it wasn’t a quiet deadline. The Chicago White Sox, New York Mets and Cleveland Guardians all became sellers, and the Los Angeles Angels were among several other teams that became buyers at the deadline. But when you look at their situations, it was fairly obvious what they were going to do.
The Mets were expected to be one of the best teams in baseball thanks to their massive payroll. However, floundered under increased expectations. With a group of highly-paid underachievers, the Mets pivoted their attention to the 2025 and 2026 season (per Max Scherzer) and immediately began their youth movement.
While the White Sox didn’t have a massive payroll, they had a group of aging veterans who were buried in fourth place in the AL Central. Chicago’s fire sale began when they traded Lucas Giolito and then moved Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly, Jake Burger, and Keynan Middleton to begin their rebuild.
The Cleveland Guardians were in a different situation because they are the biggest threat to the Twins in the AL Central. When the front office (likely) asked Can this team win a World Series? their answer was Probably not, and they traded Amed Rosario, Josh Bell and Aaron Civale.
Then there were the Angels, who became hell-bent on making the playoffs before Shohei Ohtani potentially leaves in free agency. They acquired Giolito, C.J. Cron, Randal Grichuk, and Dominic Leone in a last-ditch effort to keep the best player in baseball.
While these teams had a clear path to take at the deadline, other teams like the Twins weren’t so lucky. Last year’s addition of a third Wild Card team didn’t result in a quiet deadline. But this year’s playoff situation gave many teams hope that they wouldn’t have five to ten years ago.
Twenty-one teams were within six games of a playoff spot entering Wednesday, and it created a reluctance for most teams to engage in a full-blown rebuild. While there were still players available, it limited the pool, thus complicating Minnesota’s plans as buyers.
“What ultimately happened over those four to five days was…the dynamics changed in their situation,” Falvey explained. “So there were a lot of players that we talked about that were not moving during this deadline that were part of the conversation that we thought might be fits for us. But ultimately, we landed where we did because there wasn’t something that crossed the bar in terms of what we were looking for.”
The American League landscape also changed leading up to the deadline.
The Texas Rangers loaded up, acquiring Scherzer from the Mets. The Houston Astros had their own ace up their sleeve, bringing back Justin Verlander. The Baltimore Orioles acquired Jack Flaherty from the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Angels also catapulted into contender status by deciding not to trade Ohtani.
One week ago, it appeared that the Twins could have held their own against these teams. After the deadline, they appear to be one step behind, which may have altered their goals for this season.
That wasn’t the case one year ago because the Twins were seen as legitimate contenders in the junior circuit. Sitting in first place, the Twins acquired Tyler Mahle, Jorge López and Michael Fulmer at the deadline. One year later, these trades are about as popular as the Herschel Walker or Rudy Gobert deals. Still, the process made sense.
But last year, the Twins thought they had Carlos Correa for one season and were aggressive at the deadline to make it count. When you compare it to this year’s team, the immediate goal is winning the division and ending their 18-game postseason losing streak.
Therefore, things were more complicated as they looked to make a deal. With teams reluctant to sell, the asking price on a player such as Teoscar Hernandez, Ty France or Tommy Pham may have been too high. That could have led the Twins to look at things through a long-term view.
While this group of Twins is disappointing, they have a better case for optimism than they had a year ago. They have Correa signed through 2028, and he could bounce back after struggling at the plate this year. With Edouard Julien, Royce Lewis, and Alex Kirilloff at the major league level, a young nucleus could be forming when Brooks Lee, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Walker Jenkins make their way to Minneapolis in the coming years.
We don’t know exactly how high the price would have been to acquire the players the Twins were targeting. However, it wasn’t going to be worth giving up Lee to add a marginal piece just to win a bad division and a playoff game.
If the Twins were a legitimate title contender, this would be a different conversation. But the current landscape of the team and the American League made things more difficult than expected. It was the right move for a team that is continually stuck in the middle.
