Did The Twins Miss Out on a Key Piece in Carlos Correa Trade?

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins stunned their fanbase and the baseball world when they shipped Carlos Correa back to the Houston Astros ahead of the 2025 trade deadline. It was the final signal that the club is rebuilding its core. This was a decision underscored by the minimal return in the deal,  a 26-year-old low-minors hopeful named Matt Mikulski, and $33 million in retained salary. But as we’re now learning, the trade could have looked much different.

According to a report from Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Minnesota originally floated the name of veteran first baseman Christian Walker in talks with Houston. The Astros declined. He has two years, $40 million remaining on the free agent contract he signed last winter. It’s a clear sign that the Twins were trying to find ways to be competitive in the short term, even with Correa out of the picture. 

It’s a missed opportunity. And while there are understandable reasons for the current ownership group to balk at that price tag, it raises uncomfortable questions about the direction and competitiveness of the team moving forward.

A Costly Decline in Value
On paper, the Astros' refusal to part ways with Walker makes sense. Walker is 34 and amid a down season. His .237 average and .711 OPS are both below his career norms, and though he has hit 14 home runs and driven in 56 runs, his overall production has declined in 2025. There is hope he can turn it around, and Houston had enough faith in him this winter to give him a significant contract.

From the Twins' perspective, the team is reportedly carrying over $400 million in debt and has already shed tens of millions in salary. In that light, avoiding another significant commitment during the early stages of a rebuild makes fiscal sense. The Twins do not need another aging veteran on a multi-year deal, especially one with a declining bat and limited versatility.

But the bigger picture might be getting lost in the accounting.

A Position of Need
The Twins' first base situation is shaky at best. Kody Clemens has provided some short-term pop since arriving in Minnesota, but his overall profile as a career 82 wRC+ hitter suggests that the surge is unlikely to last. Other internal options like Edouard Julien and Jose Miranda have spent much of the year in Triple-A due to poor performance.

Walker, even in decline, would have instantly been the team’s best and most reliable first baseman. A three-time Gold Glove winner, he brings defensive stability that Clemens cannot match. While his 2025 numbers are underwhelming, he’s rebounded nicely in recent weeks, posting a .288 average with six home runs in his last 45 games. That version of Walker could have brought both value and leadership to a young roster now stripped of veterans like Correa, Willi Castro, and Harrison Bader.

The Bigger Question
By missing out on Walker, the Twins' narrative becomes that financial flexibility was the sole focus for the 2025 trade deadline. It’s important to note that the front office was at least attempting to stabilize key positions or fielding a more competitive roster in 2026. First base has been a revolving door for the Twins, and Walker could have stopped that rotation for the life of his contract. In the long run, it might be best that the Twins missed out on him, especially if they believe a rebuild will take multiple years and Walker would be past his prime by the time it concludes.

But it is fair for fans to wonder what, exactly, the long-term plan looks like. With Correa, Duran, Castro, and Griffin Jax gone, there are more holes than answers. Walker may not have been a long-term cornerstone, but he could have bridged the gap and provided mentorship to young hitters trying to find their place.

A Second Chance?
Nightengale noted that the Astros are likely to shop Walker this winter, especially with Isaac Paredes poised to take over first base in 2026. There may still be an opportunity for the Twins to circle back, particularly if Houston is willing to eat part of the contract. However, waiting until the offseason may invite competition from other clubs and reduce Minnesota’s leverage.

Missing out on Walker may end up being just a footnote in a summer of transition. Still, it could also come to symbolize a turning point, where the front office doubled down on cost-cutting and flexibility at the expense of short-term improvement and stability.

If the goal is to build a competitive core for 2027 and beyond, that path must start taking shape soon. For now, it remains unclear if missing out on Walker will be remembered as prudent or problematic. Either way, it was a choice the Astros made instead of the Twins, and that may be the most frustrating part of all.

Should the Twins have pushed harder to get Walker? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

 

 

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[bunsen82]

Twins missed out on Painter 🤣.  You don't miss out when the other team isn't willing to trade you that asset. 

Also the one thing we may be getting out of this final 2 months is seeing if Clemens can legitimately be our 1st baseman going into next year.  Unlike Julien or Martin with constant mental errors,  he always seems to be aware of what is going on.  Instead of "errors"  he realizes the bunt is available to get a run across.  The bat also appears to be solid and getting better. He has never been given consistent regular bats like he is receiving right now in Minnesota so basing on previous stats might not be an apples to apples comparison.  He has 50% more at bats right now than any other year of play.    If he can be a .240 average or higher with 25-30 home runs,  that is a very good 1st baseman that is close to what we got out of Santana last year.  Also go look at the stats year by year,  he has been improving his ops on average .080  every year (22-.500, 23 - .640, 24 -.706, 25-.796) That is a very good player that continues to show improvement and you are paying him minimal salary,  not Walker's salary.  

There is a strong possibility the Twins already have their answer for 1st base.  

[Bodie]

6 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Twins missed out on Painter 🤣.  You don't miss out when the other team isn't willing to trade you that asset. 

Also the one thing we may be getting out of this final 2 months is seeing if Clemens can legitimately be our 1st baseman going into next year.  Unlike Julien or Martin with constant mental errors,  he always seems to be aware of what is going on.  Instead of "errors"  he realizes the bunt is available to get a run across.  The bat also appears to be solid and getting better. He has never been given consistent regular bats like he is receiving right now in Minnesota so basing on previous stats might not be an apples to apples comparison.  He has 50% more at bats right now than any other year of play.    If he can be a .240 average or higher with 25-30 home runs,  that is a very good 1st baseman that is close to what we got out of Santana last year.  That is a very good player and you are paying minimal salary,  not Walker's salary.  

There is a strong possibility the Twins already have their answer for 1st base.  

I think you are probably overly optimistic about Clemens, you're correct about his actual position in the Twins 1B hierarchy.  He is the best of the lot, now.  Both as production in the next game, and going forward. 

 

No more "he can't play anywhere else, so..." DHs playing every day!

[Doctor Wu]

Walker might have been an interesting piece, certainly better than the career single A player that we got in return for Correa, but it's nothing to feel any angst about. The object of that deal was to shed salary and that was achieved. Anything else is gravy. 

[bunsen82]

1 minute ago, Bodie said:

I think you are probably overly optimistic about Clemens, you're correct about his actual position in the Twins 1B hierarchy.  He is the best of the lot, now.  Both as production in the next game, and going forward. 

 

No more "he can't play anywhere else, so..." DHs playing every day!

He gets better every year. 

               OPS

2022      .505

2023      .644

2024      .706

2025      .796 (.817 Twins)

I'm not saying he can't play anywhere else.  What I am saying is in limited run he looks really good at 1st base.  What I have seen is he has been a key player in both of our 2 wins after the trade deadline.  I will say his stats have been carried by 2 months so far May and 5 games of August.   So yes I do realize his stats may not continue.  He has 2 more months to show if he can play himself into that spot.  

 

[shimrod]

I expect the Twins offered significantly less cash in return for taking on that salary. If the player is worth having Houston knows they can shed that salary in a separate trade.

 

[jmlease1]

Feels like Christian Walker might have been part of a deal when the Astros were trying to get the Twins to eat half of Correa's salary. "Oh, you want us to eat money on this? How about you give us a contract back you don't want with a player that we might find useful" Once the Astros came down off their financial demands to a level the Pohlads found acceptable, Walker probably exited the Twins lexicon. It certainly would have looked better to add Walker's contract back and get a player that might actually be able to play instead of it being a pure salary dump with dead money on the books, but these are your Pohlad Twins

It might be for the best; Clemens might actually be a better option at 1B than Walker, especially in the Age of Austerity we will be in until the team is sold. If his power production increase is for real and not just a small sample size/one-year fluke, he could be a solid and relatively cheap option for several seasons.

In conclusion, Eff the Pohlads and Sell the Team!

[Charleo]

35 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Twins missed out on Painter 🤣.  You don't miss out when the other team isn't willing to trade you that asset. 

Also the one thing we may be getting out of this final 2 months is seeing if Clemens can legitimately be our 1st baseman going into next year.  Unlike Julien or Martin with constant mental errors,  he always seems to be aware of what is going on.  Instead of "errors"  he realizes the bunt is available to get a run across.  The bat also appears to be solid and getting better. He has never been given consistent regular bats like he is receiving right now in Minnesota so basing on previous stats might not be an apples to apples comparison.  He has 50% more at bats right now than any other year of play.    If he can be a .240 average or higher with 25-30 home runs,  that is a very good 1st baseman that is close to what we got out of Santana last year.  Also go look at the stats year by year,  he has been improving his ops on average .080  every year (22-.500, 23 - .640, 24 -.706, 25-.796) That is a very good player that continues to show improvement and you are paying him minimal salary,  not Walker's salary.  

There is a strong possibility the Twins already have their answer for 1st base.  

Using your argument, we didn't miss out on Painter either, as Philly wouldn't budge on him.

[Eris]

The Twins missed a great opportunity in the Brock Stewart trade.  The Twins inquired about Shohei Ohtani as part of the trade and the Dodgers responded that Shohei wasn’t available for any combination of Twins players or for any other player in baseball. 
 

I feel that some of the recent articles on Twins Daily border on click bait. There are however probably interesting discussions that took place with Houston over Carlos Correa and I love to read about that in its entirety. For example, I have read that Houston originally asked for a major league outfielder plus salary relief as part of the package to which the Twins said “no.” In which case Houston missed a great opportunity to acquire Larnach, Wallner, Bader or possibly even Buxton. 

[thelanges5]

Twins aren’t taking on payroll unless they are sold and the new owners want to kick some money in. We have a couple in house options.

The aforementioned Clemens - seems to be auditioning well to keep his roster spot. 
 

We have a guy masquerading as a corner OF named Trevor Larnach. Get him a mitt this offseason and let him learn. 

[JBK]

Complete salary dump.

Fire Rocco next!!

 

[AceWrigley]

The power Clemens has shown this year is completely in line with his 2023-24 minor league stats.

[bunsen82]

27 minutes ago, Charleo said:

Using your argument, we didn't miss out on Painter either, as Philly wouldn't budge on him.

Spot on.  There are still at least 5-10 people or more on this site who think we failed at the deadline because we did not get "full value"  and did not get Painter even though Philly said he was an untradeable asset.   

[Road trip]

I'm trying to figure out a scenario where the Twins would actually want Walker for the next 2 years.  He's 34.  He's expensive for the production (20 million a year for a -.5 WAR this year and the next two). 

Why would an obviously retooling franchise want an old and likely declining player who is expensive?  Just to maintain "appearances"?  By next year that contract could look worse than the one the Twins gave Vazquez.

I'm tepid on Clemens as any kind of long term solution at 1B, but I'm pretty sure I'd rather give Clemens a chance for pennies than Walker for $20 million next year.

[shimrod]

8 minutes ago, Road trip said:

Why would an obviously retooling franchise want an old and likely declining player who is expensive?

They don't. I expect the tradeoff for taking on Walker's salary was sending much less cash back to Houston.  Which is why Houston said no.

[NYCTK]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

Also the one thing we may be getting out of this final 2 months is seeing if Clemens can legitimately be our 1st baseman going into next year.

I think it's fine keeping him around for 2026. But fans have to really reset their expectations for the guy. He had a great 3 week stretch, and in the 150+ trips to the plate since returned to being Kody Clemens, which is a sub 700 OPS guy but, like you mention, with pretty good intangibles and baseball IQ. 

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

If he can be a .240 average or higher with 25-30 home runs

I think his best case scenario is something like .240 / .290 / .430 with 20 HR which is fine, especially if paired with good defense and baserunning, but let's just pump the brakes on throwing him into the Twins longterm plans. 

54 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

We have a guy masquerading as a corner OF named Trevor Larnach. Get him a mitt this offseason and let him learn. 

Two actually. Both Wallner and Larnach should be removed from the OF. If that means one of them is no longer a Twin next season, so be it. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

26 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Spot on.  There are still at least 5-10 people or more on this site who think we failed at the deadline because we did not get "full value"  and did not get Painter even though Philly said he was an untradeable asset.   

By the way, everyone realizes that Andrew Painter had TJ surgery in 2023, missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and is 3-6 with a 4.75 ERA in 19 starts in AAA this year, right? Instead we got Mick Abel, who is 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA in AAA this year in 14 starts. Who will be better going forward? Who the hell knows long term, but we do know Abel is better in the short term. Can we get of the "we should have gotten Painter for Duran" kick?    

[Doctor Gast]

What I don't like about the Correa trade is that Correa's trade value was rock bottom. Trade him in the offseason, not now. The player they got in return was ridiculous. That signaled that this was a salary dump & Twins had no intention to be relevant this year or years to come; that triggered the sell-off. HOU had no intention to give to MN anything they thought might help them this season. They thought that Correa could help them so they got him. Good for them for seeing their need & going for it. Twins have no idea where their real problems are at & certainly don't know how to go about it to fix it.

[madtowntwin]

3 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

By the way, everyone realizes that Andrew Painter had TJ surgery in 2023, missed the 2023 and 2024 seasons, and is 3-6 with a 4.75 ERA in 19 starts in AAA this year, right? Instead we got Mick Abel, who is 7-2 with a 2.13 ERA in AAA this year in 14 starts. Who will be better going forward? Who the hell knows long term, but we do know Abel is better in the short term. Can we get of the "we should have gotten Painter for Duran" kick?    

Mentioned all of those things on the initial trade page to the sound of crickets...Not really sure why the bullpen game today. Detroit is a quick flight away. Why not put one of the new guys on the mound?? It's not like the bullpen has the same talent level as a week ago. Head scratcher....

[madtowntwin]

8 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

I think it's fine keeping him around for 2026. But fans have to really reset their expectations for the guy. He had a great 3 week stretch, and in the 150+ trips to the plate since returned to being Kody Clemens, which is a sub 700 OPS guy but, like you mention, with pretty good intangibles and baseball IQ. 

I think his best case scenario is something like .240 / .290 / .430 with 20 HR which is fine, especially if paired with good defense and baserunning, but let's just pump the brakes on throwing him into the Twins longterm plans. 

Two actually. Both Wallner and Larnach should be removed from the OF. If that means one of them is no longer a Twin next season, so be it. 

Hmmmm....Both are hitting pretty well right now. Let's continue the last two months of the season audition before we jump to your Wallner / Larnach conclusion....

[Mike Sixel]

This is a mind bogglingly stupid article. Sorry, but really? They dumped his salary. They weren't getting anything back. 

[In My La Z boy]

24 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

This is a mind bogglingly stupid article. Sorry, but really? They dumped his salary. They weren't getting anything back. 

The one un-stupid thing about it was the Twins effort to take back $40M in salary instead of giving the Astro's a $33M discount on Correa, meaning we would have got Walker for $7M, which was never going to happen. Ok, stupid article I guess.

[bunsen82]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

I think it's fine keeping him around for 2026. But fans have to really reset their expectations for the guy. He had a great 3 week stretch, and in the 150+ trips to the plate since returned to being Kody Clemens, which is a sub 700 OPS guy but, like you mention, with pretty good intangibles and baseball IQ. 

I think his best case scenario is something like .240 / .290 / .430 with 20 HR which is fine, especially if paired with good defense and baserunning, but let's just pump the brakes on throwing him into the Twins longterm plans. 

Two actually. Both Wallner and Larnach should be removed from the OF. If that means one of them is no longer a Twin next season, so be it. 

Fair enough.  How about this though,  its early and generally I would wait until September to make more of a statement like this.  My bet is Clemens does well down the stretch and is our first baseman.  So far of our AAAA players he appears to be one that is taking full advantage of his opportunity  and becoming the 1st baseman.   Yes he had 1 great month, followed by 1 poor month which average out,  but since July 1st he has .8367 OPS.  he hasn't turned into the pumpkin you think and I would suggest an OPS of .720 is light. I think an average OPS for the year of .800 is about spot on all things considered.    

Splits

               OPS

May       .985

June       .625

July        .805

August   .926   (5 games,  but also no homers)   

[In My La Z boy]

9 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Fair enough.  How about this though,  its early and generally I would wait until September to make more of a statement like this.  My bet is Clemens does well down the stretch and is our first baseman.  So far of our AAAA players he appears to be one that is taking full advantage of his opportunity  and becoming the 1st baseman.   Yes he had 1 great month, followed by 1 poor month which average out,  but since July 1st he has .8367 OPS.  he hasn't turned into the pumpkin you think and I would suggest an OPS of .720 is light. I think an average OPS for the year of .800 is about spot on all things considered.    

Splits

               OPS

May       .985

June       .625

July        .805

August   .926   (5 games,  but also no homers)   

I with you. He has a lot to prove with that last name. He has a good instinct for the game. He hustles, and he's been clutch. You can't coach clutch.

[NYCTK]

6 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Fair enough.  How about this though,  its early and generally I would wait until September to make more of a statement like this.  My bet is Clemens does well down the stretch and is our first baseman.  So far of our AAAA players he appears to be one that is taking full advantage of his opportunity  and becoming the 1st baseman.   Yes he had 1 great month, followed by 1 poor month which average out,  but since July 1st he has .8367 OPS.  he hasn't turned into the pumpkin you think and I would suggest an OPS of .720 is light. I think is average OPS for the year of .800 is about spot on all things considered.    

Splits

               OPS

May       .985

June       .625

July        .805

August   .926   (5 games,  but also no homers)   

We agree, he can stick around for another year but only because there's literally no one else. He can either be penciled in, or viewed as a backup, not really any difference. He's arbitration eligible, and likely due, what, $2 million next year? Yeah, that can be rostered. 

But Kody Clemens is a known quantity. There's no upside there. He was never a hot prospect, never performed well for long stretches. He's a fine player. He's not going to suddenly become a hot commodity next season, in his age 30 season. I remind you, we're all thinking Correa is on a downward trend at that age. 

 

[NYCTK]

57 minutes ago, madtowntwin said:

Hmmmm....Both are hitting pretty well right now. Let's continue the last two months of the season audition before we jump to your Wallner / Larnach conclusion....

We know exactly who Larnach is, a 105-115 OPS+ guy with bad defense. That's not useful. 

Wallner, there's still a little bit of hope his bat is good enough to play at DH. But not all that exciting. 

[jmlease1]

11 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

We know exactly who Larnach is, a 105-115 OPS+ guy with bad defense. That's not useful. 

Wallner, there's still a little bit of hope his bat is good enough to play at DH. But not all that exciting. 

Larnach is a decent platoon bat who can hit RHP, but is mostly helpless against LHP. That's useful but limited.

You drastically underestimate Wallner, who even in a down season is putting up an OPS+ of 119 and whose arm strength in RF has value. Notably, a 119 OPS+ would tie for 59th in MLB if Wallner had enough PA's to qualify; if he gets back to his career average of 132, it puts him at 29th. Wallner had a cold streak in June when the team needed him the most, and had an unfortunate injury this season, but he's a quality player.

[bunsen82]

21 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

We agree, he can stick around for another year but only because there's literally no one else. He can either be penciled in, or viewed as a backup, not really any difference. He's arbitration eligible, and likely due, what, $2 million next year? Yeah, that can be rostered. 

But Kody Clemens is a known quantity. There's no upside there. He was never a hot prospect, never performed well for long stretches. He's a fine player. He's not going to suddenly become a hot commodity next season, in his age 30 season. I remind you, we're all thinking Correa is on a downward trend at that age. 

 

Players age differently.   There is also a massive difference between Correa at SS  and Clemens at 1st.   1st base is the one position spot where you can grow into with age and a little less athleticism.  Correa's body is failing him in my opinion.  2 hours every day to stretch his back and feet.  The ankle issue.  Yuck.  

Dozier started flashing in his age 27 season.  You have had Bautista, Ibanez, Ortiz,  Nelson Cruz, Justin Turner and Rooker (28) -  who all flashed after age 28.  Its not unheard of but still unlikely.  

[AceWrigley]

It's almost funny that we're discussing the value of Kody Clemens at this point in the season. I think most of us thought he'd be here for 2 weeks and then one of our "better players" would come off the disabled list and he'd be gone. I am one fan he has won over as a player who has performed quite well in all facets of the game. And kudos to Rocco for putting him in the lineup regularly now because he's earned it. Granted having a "real" first baseman or first base prospect might change that, but maybe we're just starting to see who Kody Clemens can be as a major league player.

[USAFChief]

54 minutes ago, In My La Z boy said:

The one un-stupid thing about it was the Twins effort to take back $40M in salary instead of giving the Astro's a $33M discount on Correa, meaning we would have got Walker for $7M, which was never going to happen. Ok, stupid article I guess.

Spot on.