Last Wednesday-Thursday, the Twins who were only 5.5 games below the 6th seed in the AL Wild Card chase began a historic firesale. Trading away 10 players on their current roster who most were pitchers bullpen pitchers. Although some of what they got back were promising minor league players. The moves just seem like a cap to a saga. The Twins front office and ownership blew up every bit of good relations with the fans. This occurred following the 2023 Postseason. As a 21-year-old, I dealt with the tough 2011-2018 rebuild during my childhood. I have had some thoughts that I want to get off my chest.
Blowing up the bullpen seemed like a move that was almost caused by panic.
Going into the 2025 season, the Twins had a Bullpen that was dubbed to be one of if not the best in MLB. When the deadline rolled around, there were talks that the Twins might trade Griffin Jax. There was also speculation about trading closer Jhoan Duran. They traded both Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran. They also traded all their other high leverage guys: Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, and Danny Coulombe. If they just traded one of Stewart or Coulombe, I wouldn’t be that mad. Trading maybe Jax too wouldn’t be that bad either. But the Duran and Varland trades really tore me. The Twins developed Duran into one of the best closers in the league. He has an awesome entrance theme. This theme makes the experience awesome at Target Field. I do like the return for him which I will get into later but It will hurt watching him run out with his entrance song at Philadelphia. The Varland trade also hurts a lot for multiple reasons. Varland is a home grown kid from Saint Paul, Minnesota and developed into a top reliever of the Twins bullpen. He represented his hometown team while he was here. Contract wise, he was cheap. It just made no sense to let him go.
It should be tough for GM Derek Falvey and Manager Rocco Baldelli to survive this.
If you’re a Twins fan, you know how controversial Baldelli can be. Personally I think Baldelli is smarter than some people give him credit for especially with the accolades he has. However, I have noticed that it feels like this team has overall regressed in these last two seasons. Yes, Baldelli is not the only one to blame. But as the manager, is this season a reflection how he coaches? I don’t know the exact answer but I do think his seat should be hot. Falvey on the other hand, I think it’s a no brainer that his seat should be hot. Yes he brought multiple division titles and the playoff series win since 2002 to the Twins. However, he oversaw a big collapse in September of 2022. The collapse led the Twins to finish 78-84. Additionally, there was the historic collapse last year with a Twins team that was 18 games over .500 in mid August finish 82-80 and miss the postseason. Those two seasons weren’t all his fault as there were key injuries that hampered both seasons. But as the man that put both of those rosters together, Falvey has had a part in this.
Under the right system, this has the ability to work out in the end.
I noted it earlier with the Duran trade, what the Twins got back in most of these trades aren’t bad. Especially in the Duran trade, the Twins received Starting Pitcher Mick Abel. They also acquired a 19-year-old catcher, Eduardo Tait, both were highly ranked in the Phillies system. Then in the Jax trade with Tampa Bay, Minnesota received starting pitcher Taj Bradley who has great stuff. The trade where the Twins sent Carlos Correa back to Houston was shocking. Minnesota didn’t get anything big back. However, it does clear the way for other prospects, especially Brooks Lee who took over the role of shortstop. Minnesota has several top prospects in the arsenal. These players should be getting the call up in the next year or two. This includes 2023 first round pick OF Walker Jenkins and last year’s first round pick SS Kalen Culpepper. The current staff with the Twins needs some retooling. I think this is necessary for these guys to be successful. Despite a very successful rookie season in 2023, 3B Royce Lewis had a strong start. However, he has encountered some challenges in his tenure with the Twins dating back to 2024. The same has happened for other young players, example Lee and the outfield duo of Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach. While the talent is there, a lot of the Twins players have been widely inconsistent. Maybe with fresh voices, the young players can flourish.
Final thoughts
I don’t think the Twins are completely dead as some made it sound. There’s still a lot of young talent here and they got a core to build around. However, as a 21-year-old Twins fan, I witnessed a long rebuild from 2011-2018. The 18-game postseason winless streak dating back to 2004 also happened during most of my life. A postseason like 2023 happened for the first time in my life. It was the same for most people I know. The Twins were a true contender. It felt awesome to dawn the the Twins colors, especially going to a college out of state. It was a real buzzkill when Joe Pohlad that off-season. Immediately announced that the payroll was getting cut, especially with what followed after. With the fallout of this trade deadline, I hope everything sorts itself out with the Twins organization. I hope they are back to playing true championship contending baseball very soon. I don’t know if I have the patience to deal with another multi-year rebuild. Especially with how the 2023 Postseason brought us Twins fans ecstasy. And how the Twins failed to build off of that.
