Get to know 'em

The title of this blog post was the Minnesota Twins slogan back in the early 2000s. It was becoming apparent that the franchise's home grown players like Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, A.J. Pierzynski, Doug Mientkiewicz, Corey Koskie, etc. were finally blooming into bona fide major leaguers. The fact they broke through with an 85-77 record in 2001 after eight consecutive losing seasons made that ad campaign all the more enjoyable. 

In the aftermath of perhaps the largest trade deadline fire sale in Twins history, "Get to know 'em" is taking on a whole new connotation now that nearly 40% of the active MLB roster will need to be replenished. 

The Twins just traded 10 players from their roster (!) this week and shed up to $26M+ from 2025 payroll:

SS Carlos Correa
RP Jhoan Duran
RP Griffin Jax
RP Louie Varland
SP Chris Paddack
UTL Willi Castro
OF Harrison Bader
RP Brock Stewart
RP Danny Coulombe
1B Ty France

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) July 31, 2025

There were six pending free agents on the active roster. The Twins jettisoned five of them (Paddack, Castro, Bader, Coulombe and France). Given all were likely to walk at the end of this season, anything the Twins could get return should be considered a bonus.

I can also justify dumping Stewart since he'll be 34 in October and has had a recent history of arm trouble. In fact, the trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday was held up for a bit due to the routine physical being not so routine. 

Correa was the recipient of the largest free agent contract in Twins history when he inked a 6 year/$200 million pact prior to the 2023 season. However, that was signed only after long-term offers from the San Francisco Giants (13 years) and New York Mets (12 years) were withdrawn after both clubs were  scared off by his surgically repaired right ankle, a procedure that was conducted in 2015. But over the almost three full seasons under his Twins contract, Correa has had plantar fasciitis in each foot and this year has performed barely above replacement level. He'll be 31 next month, but his performance this season has him looking more like 41. Sure, the Twins will have to eat approximately $10 million of Correa's salary over each of the next three seasons, but that also means $20+ million will be freed up over each of those three years. Since the Twins merely netted a low level minor league pitcher with an ERA north of 6.00, this was clearly a salary dump.  

Of all the seasons I've been a Twins fan, I don't recall a pitcher with filthier stuff than Duran. However, if the Twins weren't expecting to contend for a playoff berth this season, then a lights out closer with 2 years of team control is a valuable bargaining chip at the trade deadline. And sure enough, the Twins were able to wrest one of the Philadelphia Phillies' top pitching prospects (Mick Abel) and a solid catching prospect (Eduardo Tait). Since the Twins lacked organizational depth in both those areas, this is a good return. 

Since Duran was dealt, I figured the Twins would insert Jax into the closer role. I mean, he's got electric stuff and was still under team control for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. As Thursday's deadline of 5 PM Central was fast approaching, I figured the Twins were done dealing after trading 7 of their players. But just as I was getting acclimated to that idea, news broke that Jax was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for right handed starting pitcher Taj Bradley. In 67 career starts, Bradley has a 4.70 ERA with nearly 10 strikeouts per 9 IP (though he's only at 7.7 K's this season). Acquiring a 24-year old starter with high octane stuff in exchange for a 30-year old reliever has the potential to end up being a steal for the Twins. 

Finally, we get to Varland. While I can justify moving on from the other nine players, dealing a 27-year old pitcher who has thrived in his first full season as a set up man and has five more years of team control doesn't make a lotta sense on the surface. And since his 2025 salary is less than $1 million, there certainly wasn't any financial benefit to dumping him. However, the Twins were able to extract the Toronto Blue Jays' #5 organizational prospect in Kendry Rojas, a left handed starting pitcher. Again, time will tell on who will ultimately win this trade, but it once again emphasizes how much value contending teams place on high leverage relief pitchers. 

My reaction in the immediate aftermath of Thursday's trade deadline was that it's possible a sale of the team is imminent and thus the Pohlads looked to give a potential new owner a clean slate. While there wasn't much doubt the Twins were looking to trade away players given a playoff berth is (to be charitable) a longshot, getting rid of 10 players felt extreme. But as I've had time to digest the players received in return, the Twins may well be seen as winning the majority of these trades long term. Again, time will tell. But if these moves do nothing else but expedite the Pohlad family's sale of the club, then it'll have been more than worth it. 

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