Complacent Twins Front Office Stands Pat at the Trade Deadline

[Nick Nelson]

The 5:00 PM deadline on Tuesday has come and gone, with the Minnesota Twins completing zero trades to improve their flawed, frustrating, flailing first-place team.

The front office is setting itself up for massive criticism and angst by, once again, essentially shrugging its shoulders at chronically underwhelming product on the field.

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

While they were surely plugging away behind the scenes, the Twins were never openly prominent players at this deadline, appearing in very few publicized trade rumors and none of particular ambition. 

Fans would have been satisfied with even a relatively low-wattage move or two on deadline day to improve upon the club's clear areas of weakness: most notably bullpen depth and right-handed hitting.

They've been the worst team in baseball against lefties, having punctuated their pre-deadline schedule by getting shut down by Ryan Yarbrough for comedic effect. No reinforcements acquired. Their bullpen has shown increasingly concerning signs of wear. No reinforcements acquired, outside of swapping Jorge Lopez for Dylan Floro last week, which itself was an admission of failure on one of last year's big deadline swings.

Making matters worse, it was announced minutes after the deadline passed that Brock Stewart had a setback with his elbow and is going for an MRI. Expect him to miss the rest of the year. With no Stewart, no Lopez, and no Jorge Alcala, the Twins are down three key right-handed arms they might've relied on in the late innings.

Given the chance to offset these high-leverage losses and provide some desperately needed support for Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax, the front office passed on their chances. 

I haven't heard any quotes yet from Derek Falvey or Thad Levine but I don't need to. They'll say the asking prices were too high. They'll say they like the guys they have. They'll say a bunch of other BS that we're all incredibly tired of hearing. The bottom line is that this was an inexcusably passive and complacent way to handle a crucial moment for the franchise. There were plenty of players moved at this deadline, and plenty of bold or at least beneficial additions made by teams with much lower playoff odds, much less at stake.

The Twins are content to watch this same old shoddy product sputter the rest of the way untouched. And content to force us all to do the same.

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[rwilfong86]

After last season, I'm okay with this. 

[BH67]

Trust the prostate.

[dberthia]

Imagine looking at this team and saying "we're good".

[Azviking101]

Either Falvey remains so shell-shocked by his recent trade failures or he's so sure he's keeping his job that he has become this complacent. What an absolute failure especially with Brock Stewart having a setback this past weekend. 

The best overall pitching staff most of us have ever seen on the Twins and a chance to beef up the top heavy pen and potentially add a right handed bat so we don't have to see so much of Gallo, Castro, MAT, Farmer and they just punt the opportunity away just like they did in the offseason.

We all recognize the playoff losing streak and Twins curse. We also recognize this curse most likely stems from terrible pitching staffs in years they make the playoffs and taking advantage of the terrible AL Central which has been the worst division consistently for nearly 2 decades now.

And because they did nothing and haven't cleared a 40 man roster spot they're going to lose Keuchel who did everything they hoped for in AAA and more. How many good players has the duo of Cole Sands and now gone Jake Cave blocked by being on the 40 these last few years?

At least call up some of the minors bullpen help in guys like Funderbunk and Boyle dominating AAA, but they'd rather stick with Moran, Ortega, Sands. 

[ashbury]

Not good enough to invest further resources on.

Not bad enough to sell off as spare parts.

But don't worry.  They "inquired" on any number of players.  And pundits deemed them "good fits" for some others.  Some serious tire-kicking must have occurred, too.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the poster franchise for sustainable, championship-caliber team-building, your 2023 Minnesota Twins!

"The goal here is straight-forward and measurable," Falvey said on Monday. "It's to build a sustainable, championship-caliber team, an organization that Twins fans will be proud of." -- Derek Falvey, November 2016
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/11/07/new-twins-front-office-hits-the-ground-running/93452688/

 

[HokieRif]

What.  The. Hell. 

[Nick Nelson]

6 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

After last season, I'm okay with this. 

Trades involve risk. People beg for them all the time and then act shocked when the downside plays out. That's part of playing the game – doesn't mean you shouldn't play it. 

Sitting on your hands and doing nothing might be easier, but entails risk of its own. (It's also much less interesting!)

[rwilfong86]

1 minute ago, Nick Nelson said:

Trades involve risk. People beg for them all the time and then act shocked when the downside plays out. That's part of playing the game – doesn't mean you shouldn't play it. 

Sitting on your hands and doing nothing might be easier, but entails risk of its own. (It's also much less interesting!)

I agree, I'd just rather see them not overpay for a rental or damaged goods. 

[Aggies7]

10 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Not good enough to invest further resources on.

Not bad enough to sell off as spare parts.

But don't worry.  They "inquired" on any number of players.  And pundits deemed them "good fits" for some others.  Some serious tire-kicking must have occurred, too.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the poster franchise for sustainable, championship-caliber team-building, your 2023 Minnesota Twins!

"The goal here is straight-forward and measurable," Falvey said on Monday. "It's to build a sustainable, championship-caliber team, an organization that Twins fans will be proud of." -- Derek Falvey, November 2016
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/11/07/new-twins-front-office-hits-the-ground-running/93452688/

 

I “inquired” about a Maserati last week, with similar results 

[TNtwins85]

Well, not what I expected but yet maybe it’s what I expected. I thought they’d make at least one deal but this deadline was weird. With Cleveland looking for addition by subtraction I guess the AL central will try to see what the lowest amount of wins can get a team into the playoffs. With that being said we all know how it is around here and even if the Twins won 5 World Series titles in a row we would still be clamoring how someone made a wrong move so I guess at this point we just strap in for the ride. 

[Joey Self]

You can only trade with teams when you're offering something they want, and you are willing to give up what they want.  

Imagine my surprise that the Twins couldn't move Gallo or Kepler or Pagan (who has been better lately, I know) or (insert name of player you'd have liked to see gone) for (insert name of player you wanted to be on the roster).  I didn't like the Lopez deal last year, and I'm not saying that because of how it turned out--he had one hot half a season, and the price was too high for the gamble.  That Baltimore was willing to give him up for prospects told me they thought it was a fluke.   Mahle was a better trade, and it just didn't work--them things happen. 

But the front office should take the tacit advice from 29 GMs--Gallo and Kepler aren't good enough to help their team, and shouldn't be playing on yours.  

JcS (who assumes those two were offered with no takers)

[HokieRif]

[Parfigliano]

14 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Not good enough to invest further resources on.

Not bad enough to sell off as spare parts.

But don't worry.  They "inquired" on any number of players.  And pundits deemed them "good fits" for some others.  Some serious tire-kicking must have occurred, too.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the poster franchise for sustainable, championship-caliber team-building, your 2023 Minnesota Twins!

"The goal here is straight-forward and measurable," Falvey said on Monday. "It's to build a sustainable, championship-caliber team, an organization that Twins fans will be proud of." -- Derek Falvey, November 2016
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2016/11/07/new-twins-front-office-hits-the-ground-running/93452688/

 

If thats the goal they missed the net.

[SteveLV]

At a minimum clear out some of the dead, veteran wood and promote some of the minor league players to see if they can play at the MLB level and possibly provide a spark, ala Julien and Wallner.

Please.

[Sutter50]

Ok 

It's put up or shut up time for the players,the coaching staff, and the front office.  If they don't win the division and at least 1 playoff game The Pohlad's will have to clean house.

[William K Johnson]

Maybe it's for the best, as one of the commentators stated on the MLB program that no team had a worse deadline trading result than the Twins last year with the Lopez and Mahler trades.

[Parfigliano]

10 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

I agree, I'd just rather see them not overpay for a rental or damaged goods. 

I'd like to bare minimum just see Gallo DFA'd.

[Hubie29]

With 5 guys in the starting line-up tonight with an OBA of less than .300, what more do you guys want? I said OBA, not AVG.  Hmmm.

[LastOnePicked]

Takes me back to the Terry Ryan days.  At least Ryan could be occasionally good with adding a helpful piece. Usually at that old second waiver wire deadline.

But as others have mentioned, this FO certainly seemed spooked by their disastrous 2022 deadline trades. Whether it's Gallo whiffing, Pagan sinking high-leverage situations or Baldelli's inability to help the team establish any real momentum, they've decided to stay the course to the bitter end. 

It certainly seems like it will bitter again for us Twins fans. If so, I hope it's finally the end for them.

[Whitey333]

Wow.  This FO keeps failing the Twins faithful.  They didn't have to make a big splash.  But they could have added a bullpen arm and right handed bat.  They just keep panning this off as a good team.  They are 30-39 against teams with a winning record.  That alone tells you we aren't very good.

[LastOnePicked]

7 minutes ago, TNtwins85 said:

With Cleveland looking for addition by subtraction I guess the AL central will try to see what the lowest amount of wins can get a team into the playoffs.

It will be additionally interesting if Cleveland wins this thing again. They seem to be pretty competently run, with a FO eager in finding small angles to improve now while also keeping their stacked farm system running strong. Can't help but envy their fans.

[CRF]

It's exactly what I expected, but it's still a huge disappointment. If you think that things are going to improve the rest of the season, with what we've got...your rose colored glasses need an update. 

[NotAboutWinning]

My hope is that this is indicative of the Pohlads losing faith in Falvey/Baldelli and a fall housecleaning is coming!

[NeverSeenATwinsPlayoffWin]

The market was weird this year, and I wish they had added a Brad Hand/Brent Suter/Andrew Chafin/David Peterson. There was no reason to seriously spend for a bat (especially when the market was so thin this year), but you should always look to add mid-leverage relievers at deadlines if you're competing. Unless they plan on running Duran into the ground the way the '16 Cubs used Chapman.

[Hheimer]

24 minutes ago, rwilfong86 said:

After last season, I'm okay with this. 

I agree, we have talent on this team and we have the talent to compete right now. 

1. DFA Joey Gallo 

2. Move Buxton to the field, I don't care which three spots. 

3. Promote Dallas Keuchel to the rotation. Move Joe Ryan to the pen. 

4. If a certain player is struggling at the plate put them lower in the order or demote them. 

[nicksaviking]

Sorry, but I would NOT have been satisfied with a low wattage move or two. They need an elite bat, that can hit righties and lefties, for the middle of the lineup. 
 

Anything else would just be a band aid necessitated because of a terribly constructed roster aimed at “depth” and defense, sacrificing needed chances for a higher offensive ceiling.

This front office has been very aggressive. This is abnormal for them. My guess is still that ownership told them no, they’ve made enough poor decisions and now they sleep in the bed they made. They’re not giving up the next GM’s equity so these guys can try to fix their own mess.

[MABB1959]

9 minutes ago, Sutter50 said:

Ok 

It's put up or shut up time for the players,the coaching staff, and the front office.  If they don't win the division and at least 1 playoff game The Pohlad's will have to clean house.

I don’t think they give a rats butt. 

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Good question about Dallas Keuchel. I guess we will find out soon enough.

The Brock Stewart thing was always too good to be true. How many guys suddenly add 5 to 6 mph to their fastball? Best to thank him for his contributions than worry about his absence. 

The rotation should still be fine, but are starting to wear down. Clearly they were overachieving in the first half. Odds are good that at least one of them gets hot again as the season winds down. 

And then Correa and Buxton. Shoulder shrug.

Sounds like doing nothing at the deadline was unacceptable to a lot of fans here. Well, I had no idea what they were supposed to do, and neither did they, apparently. 

[MABB1959]

What can they do with Buxton?  Let him go in as a DH occasionally?   Put him in CF and if he can’t hack it figure out something.  He is hurting this team as a DH.  But most of the lineup up is inconsistent or just bad.