The Weekly Nutshell:
Opportunity came knocking, and the Twins flung open the door. As a non-contending team with plenty of useful contending pieces, Minnesota’s front office was in position to take a very active approach at the trade deadline, and they surpassed even the most ambitious expectations by dealing away 10 players before the dust settled. That included Carlos Correa and the entire back end of their bullpen, tearing down the fabric of a team that was built for ongoing continuity and competitiveness.

Their final game before the trade deadline was a 13-1 debacle that, in fairness, gave all the impressions of a team begging to be ripped apart at the seams. That’s exactly what happened, and by the time the Twins showed up in Cleveland on Friday, their roster felt almost unrecognizable, absent so many long-tenured players whose success stories we’ve watched and cherished. In their place: random minor-leaguers and promises of a better future from a front office that created this mess to begin with. 

This was a dark week for the Minnesota Twins, and its implications will shape the franchise’s journey for many years to come. For now, let’s try to get our bearings and catch up on all that just occurred.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 7/28 through Sun, 8/3
***
Record Last Week: 2-4 (Overall: 52-59)
Run Differential Last Week: -15 (Overall: -34)
Standing: 4th Place in AL Central (12.5 GB) 

Last Week’s Game Results:

Game 106 | MIN 5, BOS 4: Lee Delivers Walk-Off Hit in Rain-Delayed Bottom of Ninth

Keirsey Jr.: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI

Game 107 | BOS 8, MIN 5: Two Homers from Lee Not Enough as Ohl Gets Rocked in Debut

Game 108 | BOS 13, MIN 1: Despondent Twins Submit Meekly, Drop Fourth Straight Series

Twins pitchers: 16 H, 4 HR allowed

Game 109 | CLE 3, MIN 2 (10): Williams Outduels Ryan, Lineup Silent Outside Martin’s Three Hits

Twins hitters: 14 K, 2 BB, 0 XBH

Game 110 | CLE 5, MIN 4: Ober Looks Okay in Return to Rotation, Offense Can’t Break Through

Game 111 | MIN 5, CLE 4: Twins Take Early Lead, Hang On for Rare Close Victory in Cleveland

Urena: 4 IP, 2 ER; Ramirez: SV

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NEWS & NOTES

Oh, where to begin. I guess from the start: The Twins made their intentions clear at the very beginning of trade deadline week, sending Chris Paddack to the Detroit Tigers alongside Randy Dobnak on Monday in exchange for a young catching prospect named Enrique Jimenez. 

Two days later the Twins made their first true emphatic “sell” move, shipping Jhoan Durán to the Phillies for a young right-handed pitcher named Mick Abel and another, more highly-touted young catcher in Eduardo Tait.

Then came deadline day on Thursday, and that’s where the floodgates really opened. A quick rundown:

It was one of the most sad and surreal days in franchise history — a deadline purge the likes of which Major League Baseball has rarely seen. A wave of new players were called in to backfill all of these suddenly vacated roster spots, including Roden who joined the active roster immediately following his acquisition from Toronto. Also called up from Triple-A: Austin Martin, Edouard Julien, Ryan Fitzgerald, José Ureña, Erasmo Ramírez, Pierson Ohl and Noah Davis.

Bailey Ober was activated from the injured list to start on Saturday night. Byron Buxton was placed on the IL on Tuesday with his inflamed ribcage not improving quickly enough. Luke Keaschall continued to progress in his Triple-A rehab, and could potentially be activated in the coming week.

HIGHLIGHTS

With the Twins turning their attention fully from the present to the future, the rest of this season will be spent focusing on the development of players who can aid their efforts to retool and return to contention with a reconfigured makeup. We know Matt Wallner can be a pivotal factor in this pursuit, so it was nice to see his bat show some life in a week where he went 6-for-17 with two home runs, a triple, five walks and just four strikeouts in 22 plate appearances. 

 

With Correa now out of the picture, shortstop belongs to Brooks Lee for the time being. His audition in August and September will go a long way toward helping the Twins understand whether they can trust him as their starter at the position in 2026. Lee gave us another burst of impressive production early in the week, delivering a walk-off hit on Monday night and then coming off the bench to homer twice and drive in five on Tuesday, before going 1-for-15 the rest of the week. Consistency and discipline continue to hold Lee back, but Tuesday’s game was a nice reminder of what he is capable of at the plate. 

 

Austin Martin is someone who’s going to have a big chance to reassert himself in the team’s plans here in this second half. He took a promising step in his first game with the Twins this season on Friday night, notching three hits as leadoff man. He figures to see plenty of playing time in the outfield the rest of the way, and it’d be great if he could prove worthy of a role because the team really needs a dependable right-handed bat to balance out all of these lefty-swinging outfielders they keep on amassing. 

LOWLIGHTS

The dismantling of this roster that took place at the trade deadline was nothing short of a disgrace, and a turn of events that makes it harder than ever to have fait in this front office’s leadership and judgment. While the decision to give up on this season and recoup value for players on expiring contracts is unfortunately understandable, the Twins went far beyond the traditional concept of a sell-off by trading away several valuable relievers who were under team control, and leaving the bullpen cupboard bare. 

The idea of being opportunistic or selling high with relief pitchers is logical, but based on the collective returns, it isn’t really clear that Twins got the kinds of overwhelming offers that should have been required to warrant parting ways with these late-inning fixtures. On balance the upgrades to Minnesota’s system don’t feel transformative, and the best player they got back is probably at least three years away. The Varland trade — a breakout hometown bullpen star who isn’t even in arbitration yet — was particularly shocking and confusing, with Bob Nightengale of the USA Today writing that Minnesota’s decision to move Varland for a couple of unspectacular prospects left “Twins players seething and rival GMs dumbfounded.” 

Nothing was quite so shameful as the decision to dump Correa’s contract, unloading one of the team’s most talented players in a stunning admission of failure and commitment to futility. Look, I’ve been as hard on Correa as anyone this season and I honestly believe that no individual deserves a larger share of the blame for what’s happened to this team … But I also recognize that he has the capability to individually uplift the team in a way few others can match. Which is what drew Houston’s interest. 

That interest, combined with Minnesota’s hell-bent directive to shed as much salary as possible, paved way for a trade that sent Correa to the Astros in exchange for essentially nothing — financial relief that realistically will not be reinvested into the Twins roster.

 

In the meantime, we as fans now get to follow and watch his hollowed out roster the rest of the way. Julien is back, not necessarily because the Twins felt he deserved it, but just because they needed a body. (He’s looking pretty much the same as before, by the way, and hitting at the bottom of the order.) The bullpen, now absent all of its most trusted options, is going to be a grind to manage and watch, with plenty of innings to come from Michael Tonkin, Davis, Ureña, Ramírez, and other replacement-level arms with no future potential or upside. Gonna be fun.

TRENDING STORYLINE

I’d like to at least get a look at some more of the young players that the Twins front office sold out half their roster to acquire. Thus far only Alan Roden has joined the Twins, and he hasn’t looked all that impressive out of the gates. Which is not surprising because he had a .589 OPS with the Blue Jays. 

While many prospects the Twins got back in all of these deals are a little further out, there are plenty of guys with big-league experience and readiness who should be able to help now, or very soon. That includes Taj Bradley, who has thrown more than 350 major-league innings with the Rays. While initially assigned to St. Paul, I’m guessing Bradley will be up in the Twins rotation before long. The same should be true for Mick Abel, the 23-year-old righty acquired in the Durán trade. He made six starts for the Phillies this year but his Twins system debut came in Triple-A on Sunday, and Abel pitched very well: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K.

 

The opportunity to see these potential long-term contributors get their first reps in a Twins uniform gives us something to look forward to, at least. I’m also somewhat curious about James Outman, the outfielder who came over from Los Angeles in exchange for Brock Stewart — certainly one of the weirder deals made by Minnesota amid this flurry. The Twins gave up the next two years of Stewart and got back a 28-year-old outfielder who has been mediocre in the majors, and trending downward. Then they sent him to Triple-A? Falvey indicated that the team still feels Outman’s swing needs some work, but again, the guy is 28. He is Trevor Larnach‘s age. He’s not a prospect. 

Anyway, I assume we’ll see a fair amount of roster contortion in the weeks ahead as things shake out following a drastic overhaul. That Minneapolis/St. Paul shuttle is really gonna get the miles in over these next couple months.

LOOKING AHEAD

The Twins will face a tough task against the division leaders in Detroit, not that it really matters anymore. Simeon Woods Richardson had his originally scheduled start pushed back to Wednesday due to stomach issues. As of now, to my knowledge, no starter has been announced for Monday’s series opener in Detroit. (I’ll be there, and am willing if needed.) Facing Paddack on Tuesday should be fun.

I’ll be very curious what kind of turnout and reception the team gets upon returning home to Target Field next weekend. I can’t imagine it will be pretty.

MONDAY, AUGUST 4: TWINS @ TIGERS — TBD v. RHP Casey Mize
TUESDAY, AUGUST 5: TWINS @ TIGERS — RHP Zebby Matthews v. RHP Chris Paddack
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6: TWINS @ TIGERS — RHP Simeon Woods Richardson v. RHP Jack Flaherty
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8: ROYALS @ TWINS — LHP Noah Cameron v. RHP Bailey Ober
SATURDAY, AUGUST 9: ROYALS @ TWINS — RHP Seth Lugo v. RHP Jose Urena
SUNDAY, AUGUST 10: ROYALS @ TWINS — LHP Bailey Falter v. TBD