The Minnesota Twins, entering July 2, are 42-46 on the regular season, just 4.5 games out of first place in the AL Central, and 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot.

While the Twins came into the year as a team expected to be near the bottom of the league, they’re actually a fringe postseason contender. With the MLB trade deadline a month away, the Twins will have a tough decision.

But, rather than sell like most would’ve expected coming into the year, David Schoenfield of ESPN believes the Twins should instead look to buy if they’re still within striking distance of the AL Central title, with a focus on a pair of reliever trade targets.

Twins should trade for relief help instead of selling, per ESPN analyst

“Minnesota Twins: Trade for Kirby Yates/Brooks Raley,” Schoenfield writes. “… If the Twins are close in the division race, they should go for it and add.”

While it might be easy to write off the Twins as trade deadline sellers based on the preseason expectations and the sub .500 record, they’re very much in play to go on a run this July and enter the postseason conversation.

If the next month goes well for the Twins, the August 3 trade deadline might not be one where Minnesota conducts a fire sale as they did a year ago.

Of course, there’s a chance that July is terrible, and the Twins wind up selling, parting with stars like Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton to fully commit to a rebuild.

But, if the Twins are hovering around a postseason spot, especially if they’re close to the AL Central lead by the August 3 trade deadline, then Schoenfield want’s the Twins to buy rather than sell.

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If they are buyers, then relief help is a must. Due to their bullpen ranking 29th in ERA, adding a reliever or two would make a lot of sense.

Yates of the Los Angeles Angels and Raley of the New York Mets are decent veteran options on cheap, expiring contracts. The perfect kind of trade target for the Twins.

Schoenfield believes the Twins, a club that’s not likely to win the World Series anytime soon, should look to buy at the 2026 MLB trade deadline.

Selling would, in theory, help out the future of the franchise much more than buying could. If this team were more of a legitimate World Series contender, buying would make sense. 

Still, this deadline projection from Schoenfield is an interesting one, and could throw the rest of baseball for a loop, considering all the clubs interested in Buxton, Ryan, and their other trade chips.

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