Rotten to the Core: Did the Twins Really Shake Up Their Core at the Trade Deadline?

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

When the dust settled on this year’s trade deadline, the Minnesota Twins looked like a team in transition, but not necessarily one that had been truly overhauled. On the surface, dealing 10 players from the 26-man roster sounds like a seismic shake-up, but most of those moves involved expiring contracts, bullpen arms, and one high-priced veteran who had long since failed to live up to his contract.

Relievers often burn bright and fast, and then (just as quickly) flame out. We’ve seen this before in Minnesota. Tyler Duffey was an indispensable piece of Rocco Baldelli’s bullpen for a short stretch, before he became expendable. Taylor Rogers rose to All-Star status, only to be dealt when the shine wore off. It’s the cycle of relief pitching, with high volatility and short shelf lives. The Twins cashed in on most of their current crop while they still had value.

The headliner, of course, was moving on from Carlos Correa. It’s difficult to frame it as anything but a salary dump. Correa seemed relatively healthy this season, with a chance to match his superstar paycheck. Instead, he turned in another year of inconsistency and nagging health issues. From a roster-construction standpoint, the Twins are probably better for reallocating those dollars.

But does that really constitute shaking up the “core?” Not exactly.

The Real Core Problem
If Minnesota truly wants to change its long-term trajectory, the team can’t stop at moving veterans and relievers. The elephant in the room remains a group of once-promising, now-underperforming position players: Royce Lewis, Edouard Julien, Jose Miranda, and Trevor Larnach. All are still in their mid- to late 20s. All have flashed stretches of MLB productivity. And yet, none have proven they can be cornerstone-caliber players over a 162-game season.

The Twins have banked heavily on these players to fill everyday roles, but the return has been wildly inconsistent. Larnach’s power has always been enticing, but his approach leaves too many empty at-bats. Miranda has contact skills, but too often puts pitchers’ pitches in play, and now is stuck at Triple-A, even in a lost season. Julien’s bat is supposed to carry him, but holes in his defense and streaky offense leave questions about his long-term fit. And Lewis, who still flashes the tools of a star, has struggled to live up to his numbers from earlier in his career.

Some of the career numbers below are sufficient, but all four of these players are trending in the wrong direction. Lewis has an 83 OPS+ in 2025, Julien and Miranda have a negative WAR, and Larnach is going to cost even more through the arbitration process. At this point, none look like long-term core pieces. 

Player	OPS+	WAR	WPA
Royce Lewis	112	3.9	-0.05
Edouard Julien	99	1.6	-1.37
Jose Miranda	101	2.0	-2.80
Trevor Larnach	101	3.2	-2.08

A Developmental Reckoning
All of this leads to a larger question: can the Twins actually develop their top young players once they reach the majors?

Prospects are drafted because of raw tools and potential. But turning tools into production requires consistent coaching, development, and refinement at the big-league level. This has long been a weak point for Minnesota. When Derek Falvey arrived from Cleveland, his reputation was as a pitching guru, someone who could spot and develop talent as well as anyone in baseball. The Twins have, indeed, made strides in pitching depth, from drafting college arms to maximizing trade acquisitions.

But the organization’s track record with position players leaves plenty to be desired. The list of recent homegrown hitters who turned into actual core pieces is short, and the jury remains out on whether this current crop will ever get there. Matt Wallner and Luke Keaschall have shown promising signs, but there is a long way to go before either can be considered a star, rather than another promising bat—in an environment where that promise feels a lot like a threat.

What Comes Next
So, did the Twins really shake up their core at the trade deadline? Not yet. They shed bad contracts, moved relievers at peak value, and cleared a few short-term veterans off the books. Those were necessary steps, but they weren’t revolutionary.

The actual test of this front office’s vision will be whether they stick by Lewis, Julien, Miranda, and Larnach or finally decide to move on from players who may never reach the heights once expected of them. There is little to no value left in these players, so the front office may have to trade them for underwhelming returns. Until that happens, the so-called “core” of the Twins remains essentially unchanged.

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Do you believe the Twins shook up their core at the trade deadline? Which player's leaving would signal a true shake-up? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[Doc Lenz]

Starts with hiring a Manager and staff that makes players better and can manage games correctly.

[ashbury]

Quote

Did the Twins Really Shake Up Their Core at the Trade Deadline?

No.

As usual, Betteridge's law of headlines applies here.

[JBK]

I'm not convinced that a lot of thought was put into who would be on the field when the FO moved 40% of the roster at the trade deadline.  I think it was focused on $$ and not who was going to play the final 60 games of the season.  So now we have to develop players while actually putting all of the pressure on them to perform and, oh by the way, win baseball games with no one to teach and guide them like the veterans would be expected to do. 

BTW, if you want to dump some more salary, start with Rocco.  No way is Mickey Gasper the backup catcher on any other team in this league!

[MileHighTwinsFan]

Best post-mortem on trade deadline to date.  The team still has a talented, but underperforming core. The deadline positioned the team to truly find out what they have with these players. Some combination of the current players on the roster and the promising prospects in the minors will be the core of this team for the foreseeable future. Many are mourning what was lost at the deadline, with good reason. But the excitement is in what lies ahead. We should look forward to seeing who emerges from the young core as the key pieces of a future playoff run and judging the FO on whether they will build the pieces necessary around those players into a playoff team. I, for one, am here for It.

[Blyleven2011]

Development  ....

Development seems to stop with Rocco once the player reaches the show ....

I've stated many times that the Development is important in all steps of the minor leagues to the major leagues and once in the major leagues the hardest level should not stop , you keep developing  , you take the promising talented prospect and develop that talent to be a better player in major leagues  , in my opinion Rocco is not a teacher and it's quite obvious with our prospects struggling at the major league level , does he instruct our many many many coaches to tackle the players  advancement , i dont know ....

I do know the game is mental and physical and the players are failing on both accounts  , HOW MANY OF OUR PROFESSIONAL SCAPEGOAT COACHES WILL BE FIRED THIS OFF SEASON  ...

help the players see the light at this level and keep developing them so they can succeed at the top level form   ....

 

[Autist75]

     It's obvious to just about everyone Rocco needs to go.  Do not count on that happening as long as Falvey and the Pohlads are in charge.

[rdehring]

You probably should have included Wallner in this discussion as he hasn't performed any better than Larnach.  Yes, he hits a few really long home runs and is a local kid.  But look at the number of runs he's driven in.  Just plain disappointing considering how many home runs he has hit.

Also don't think you should have included Miranda as he has been out of the Twins picture for at the last year.  Expect both Miranda and Julien will be gone in some manner this off-season.  Also expect they will move on from one of Larnach or Wallner.  Considering there is still a bit more hope with Wallner, expect it will be Larnach.  That will give Wallner and Lewis one more year to prove they merit being part of the Twins future plans.

But yes, great look at the sad state of the TWins.

 

[sweetmusicviola16]

As far as Lewis goes he will not be discarded or moved for an underwhelming return. The organization has too much invested at this point. The return will be significant or Lewis will remain. As for Royce, if he would let his play do his talking and learn to play for the team his play might improve significantly. 

[HarmonK03]

I think Lewis has been better than he has been given credit for.  Mackey tweeted a stat showing he has the third best OPS since June.  Yes he brings some of the criticism on himself but I think he dug himself a huge hole earlier in the year and it is hard to get out of.  See what he can do next year.

Julien is not in the plans, if he was he would be starting ahead of Clemens.  He has had a longer sustained stretch of success in the major leagues than Clemens but yet he starts a couple of times a week.  Clemens is a good bench player but not a starter.  And flipping your bat when you are in a 4 for 40 stretch is just unnecessary.

As others have said, Falvey and Rocco need to go.  At a minimum there needs to be a complete unbiased organizational review of what is working and not working.  Because there is a lot not working and this next batch of prospects need to be put in a position to succeed, then if they don't maybe they weren't good enough.  But I doubt this will happen without a change in ownership.  But something is wrong in this organization and you would think they would want to figure it out.

[yeahyabetcha]

I will be surprised if Julien , Miranda and Larnach don’t leave the 40 man roster during this offseason.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I think this constitutes a small shake up of the core with the rest coming in the offseason. Larnach is gone in the off season, IMHO. Miranda does not fit in the long term plans. They are trying to see if Julien or Outman can be the guy he was in 2023 and, if they can't, their a bench player or gone. The new "core" is Keaschall, Lee, Lewis, Buxton, and Wallner, with Clemens a possibility and Outman maybe sticking around in a bench role. They need a couple more guys and 1B and LF are open, the 2 easiest spots to fill. They're looking for relief pitchers and #4/5 starters. There's tryout camp going, with Matthews and Hatch looking like pieces so far. Expect a tryout camp through September for the rest of the spots. This is your chance if you're Outman, Martin, Clemens, Julien, SWR, Abel, Bradley, Festa, and Ohl. I fully expect that the Opening day 26 man roster in 2026 will have at least 10-12 different faces than the Opening Day 26 man roster in 2025. 

[T.O.]

34 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

As for Royce, if he would let his play do his talking and learn to play for the team his play might improve significantly. 

Ay, there's the rub.
There's a difference between being a cheerleader and being a team player.

[Glorybound]

The lack of development of bats goes down below the major league level. Austin Martin, Julien,  and Larnach were all high level college bats going into Twins system. I realize there are no guarantees but it has gotten ridiculous.

 

  Miranda is a case unto itself but where are the success stories? Royce even admits to being confused by the system.  Brent Rooker was given up on and is now an all star.

[Mike Sixel]

No . They did not. 

[Maybe Next Year]

1 hour ago, Doc Lenz said:

Starts with hiring a Manager and staff that makes players better and can manage games correctly.

I couldn’t agree more. How many position players have come up from the minors and actually panned out during Baldelli’s 7 years? Name just one.  Baldelli cannot develop players, period. 

[Parfigliano]

50 minutes ago, rdehring said:

You probably should have included Wallner in this discussion as he hasn't performed any better than Larnach.  Yes, he hits a few really long home runs and is a local kid.  But look at the number of runs he's driven in.  Just plain disappointing considering how many home runs he has hit.

Also don't think you should have included Miranda as he has been out of the Twins picture for at the last year.  Expect both Miranda and Julien will be gone in some manner this off-season.  Also expect they will move on from one of Larnach or Wallner.  Considering there is still a bit more hope with Wallner, expect it will be Larnach.  That will give Wallner and Lewis one more year to prove they merit being part of the Twins future plans.

But yes, great look at the sad state of the TWins.

 

When gone I fully expect either Julian, Miranda, or Larnach to blossom into an everyday MLB player in a different organization.  All should be actively seeking a way out of this clown show organization.  

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Not only did they not get rid of any of the members of the core, most of the returns from the trades of their bullpen strength are also pitchers.  Last time I checked, the pitching was outplaying the defense and the offense by a pretty healthy margin.  If you are trading from a strength, you should address a weakness rather than trading for a bunch of decent looking random prospects.   

[GNess]

Well presented article for sure, but I would suggest that the central problem with the core may not be development as appears to be the main thrust of most comments.

The player evaluation process has to be questioned in a big way when this many so-called raw talents are failing - perhaps this collection of players were mis-evaluated and simply aren't as good as they were projected to be?

 

[Reptevia]

I would expect Julien, Larnach, Miranda, Outman, Gasper, and Martin will be gone for obvious reasons. Probably Lewis and SWR too. I expect Ryan and Pablo to be traded for obvious reasons 🙄. This front office and management staff should be nowhere near this rebuild, or we will find ourselves here again in 5 years. A roster full of hyped prospects that can’t perform once in the bigs. 

[Doctor Gast]

What's rotten to the core is the core of Falvey & Co.'s hitting philosophy, bad fundamentals & positional placement. The last 2 seasons of blanket hitting approach, bad fundamentals & poor positional placement has greatly handicapped this team in every aspect of the game. I considered Gray, Duran, Castro, Jax, with Varland establishing himself as part of the core & Correa as the team captain; all gone. So to say that the core wasn't shaken up is grossly understating the situation. I never considered Julien, Miranda & Larnach as part of the core, although Miranda could have been if managed correctly. Now he's broken like Sano. Who's left from the core? Buxton, Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Lewis & I consider Wallner as core but expendable in rebranding the team. 

 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Glorybound said:

The lack of development of bats goes down below the major league level. Austin Martin, Julien,  and Larnach were all high level college bats going into Twins system. I realize there are no guarantees but it has gotten ridiculous.

Julien is one of the only players drafted that low to even make the major leagues. He has over performed compared to expectations on draft day.

[HerbieFan]

All of this leads to a larger question: can the Twins actually develop their top young players once they reach the majors?

I believe the evidence almost universally says NO

[Nshore]

The Twins are now one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball, and I don't think Falvey-Baldelli know what it is they're trying to do.  Most likely it's simply managing the operation to a budgetary figure, rather than to any kind of performance standard.  They are a AAAA development team.

[tony&rodney]

The "core" (my definition is MLB players expected to be in the lineup regularly and perform year to year) was cut in half when Carlos Correa was traded to Houston. That leaves Byron Buxton. We should also include Ryan Jeffers as part of a catching duo. After that it is a scramble and we are witnessing this as the White Sox play the Twins.

Until the front office goes (which would include the manager) it is hard to see any change. The best hope is for a few other teams to approach the Twins and suggest trades that not only benefit their teams but also help the Twins. Can that occur?

[gman]

Buxton                         3.295

Jeffers                         1,797

Larnach                       1,561

Lewis                             884

Wallner                          887

Lee.                                 598

 Miranda                        1,100

Julian                               852

Martin                              382

Above is the list of major league plate appearances by player for time with the Twins. If the often heard statement that you don't know what kind of hitter you have until he has reached at least 1500 plate appearances, there are only 3 players who qualify. There are others with much less experience.

I think instead of saying rotten to the core, you should focus on the inexperienced roster instead. How many years has it taken Buxton to reach a level that people always seemed to think he was at. Has he ever had that marvelous breakout year? Jeffers is just reaching that level of 4 years experience but he seems to have been on the club for ten years. Larnach has just reached 3 years. These guys just don't have that much service time as only 3 have 3 years in game experience. Everyone else is well below that level. Time sitting on the bench with injuries doesn't count as in game experience.

People just need to chill out or scream in frustration if it makes them happy. But game experience means just that. Look at the best teams they sign "veteran" free agents, thus upping the in game experience of the overall roster. The Twins obviously are not going to do that.

 

 

 

 

 

[Wedman13]

3 hours ago, rdehring said:

You probably should have included Wallner in this discussion as he hasn't performed any better than Larnach.  Yes, he hits a few really long home runs and is a local kid.  But look at the number of runs he's driven in.  Just plain disappointing considering how many home runs he has hit.

Also don't think you should have included Miranda as he has been out of the Twins picture for at the last year.  Expect both Miranda and Julien will be gone in some manner this off-season.  Also expect they will move on from one of Larnach or Wallner.  Considering there is still a bit more hope with Wallner, expect it will be Larnach.  That will give Wallner and Lewis one more year to prove they merit being part of the Twins future plans.

But yes, great look at the sad state of the TWins.

 

Cody is such a good writer but how Wallner escaped the 'once promising yet under delivering' and found himself in the the group, along with Keaschall(????), of being a potential star.  That's a huge stretch for the hometown kid.

Cleanout both left handed underperforming OF'ers, count on nothing from Julien and Miranda and give Royce 1 more year.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

10 minutes ago, gman said:

Buxton                         3.295

Jeffers                         1,797

Larnach                       1,561

Lewis                             884

Wallner                          887

Lee.                                 598

 Miranda                        1,100

Julian                               852

Martin                              382

Above is the list of major league plate appearances by player for time with the Twins. If the often heard statement that you don't know what kind of hitter you have until he has reached at least 1500 plate appearances, there are only 3 players who qualify. There are others with much less experience.

I think instead of saying rotten to the core, you should focus on the inexperienced roster instead. How many years has it taken Buxton to reach a level that people always seemed to think he was at. Has he ever had that marvelous breakout year? Jeffers is just reaching that level of 4 years experience but he seems to have been on the club for ten years. Larnach has just reached 3 years. These guys just don't have that much service time as only 3 have 3 years in game experience. Everyone else is well below that level. Time sitting on the bench with injuries doesn't count as in game experience.

People just need to chill out or scream in frustration if it makes them happy. But game experience means just that. Look at the best teams they sign "veteran" free agents, thus upping the in game experience of the overall roster. The Twins obviously are not going to do that.

 

 

 

 

 

I have generally heard 1000 plate appearances, but your point is very well taken.  I was surprised that Wallner and Lewis were under 900.  I'm of the opinion that Larnach has had too many at this point, but the jury is still out on some of the less experienced guys.  It's time though.  Now would be a good time to get it going or get passed up by prospects.  

 

[Craig Arko]

Shake it up? Maybe more like Twist and Shout. 

[Wedman13]

2 hours ago, Maybe Next Year said:

I couldn’t agree more. How many position players have come up from the minors and actually panned out during Baldelli’s 7 years? Name just one.  Baldelli cannot develop players, period. 

Rooker, there's 1