Week in Review: Buying Time

The Weekly Nutshell:
No shortage of action or excitement in the final week before the trade deadline. On the field, the Twins battled through a string of tightly contested ballgames — including one of the most thrilling and improbable victories in franchise history — to finish with a 3-3 record, while the front office made multiple significant trades to shake up its increasingly depleted pitching staff. 

The trade deadline looms on Monday, and the Twins find themselves in a fascinating position, teetering on the brink of contention with dueling motivations to buy and sell. Let's break it all down heading into a pivotal week for the organization and its newly embedded leadership structure.

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 7/27 through Sun, 8/2
***
Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 56-57)
Run Differential Last Week: +1 (Overall: -29)
Standing: 3rd Place in AL Central (4.0 GB); 1.0 games out of WC

Latest Game Results

Game 108 | MIN 3, KC 2: Lewis Delivers Clutch Walk-Off Hit with Two Outs in the Ninth

• Bradley: 6 IP, 2 ER, 3 H, 3 BB, 10 K

Game 109 | KC 4, MIN 0: Dobnak Outpitches Ryan as Slumping Offense Can't Find Life

• Twins offense: 5-32, 1 XBH

Game 110 | MIN 4, KC 3: Clemens Caps Stunning 9th-Inning Rally with Walk-Off Grand Slam

• Clemens: 1-4, HR, 4 RBI

Game 111 | MIN 5, SEA 3: Another Late Burst from Offense Leads to Series-Opening Victory

• Keaschall: 2-3, RBI

Game 112 | SEA 4, MIN 3: Close Game Ends in M's Walk-Off on Lewis Braine Freeze at First

• Prielipp: 5.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 H, 4 BB, 5 K

Game 113 | SEA 7, MIN 6: Another Late Comeback Falls Short as Emerson Walks Off Gómez

• Gómez: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, L

NEWS & NOTES

The Twins got their deadline shopping started in early July with a relatively minor trade to acquire Tommy Nance from the Blue Jays. Last week, Minnesota's front office made its first real splashes, trading two prospects to the Mets in exchange for veteran lefty reliever A.J. Minter, and then following by sending a teenaged outfielder to Baltimore for starter Dean Kremer.

The Minter trade came first, on Thursday night. Described by Jeff Passan as "one of the top relievers on the market," Minter is a legit addition to the late-inning mix, with plenty of experience in high leverage and in the postseason. He serves as an apt replacement for Anthony Banda, who went down with a season-ending injury at the end of June. Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani, the two minor-leaguers given up by Minnesota in the deal, are solid prospects but not ones ranking near the top tier of the system. A fairly emphatic, yet responsible, buy move.

The Kremer trade was a bit less straightforward, and a bit less favorable on the surface. The right-hander is much more of a floor-raising addition versus a ceiling-lifter. He's the definition of a back-end starter: 30 years old, 4.37 career ERA, generally worth about 1.5 fWAR per season. He missed most of the first half this year with an injury and has struggled to a 6.50 ERA when on the mound, so it's a little surprising the Twins had to give up a prospect as interesting as Jhomnardo Reyes, but ultimately the team decided the price of a low-minors lotto ticket was worth adding veteran stability to their staff, which has been thinned out substantially. I get it. Kremer is under team control for 2027 as well.

Interestingly, it was Zebby Matthews optioned to the minors to make room. He hasn't pitched all that well this year, with a 5.22 ERA in 14 starts, but still I would expect it's a temporary arrangement. Shifting him into a bullpen role might help unlock his greatest impact, if the team is willing to accept the starting depth trade-off.

Between the Minter and Kremer trades, Minnesota's front office added some reinforcements to their pitching group with maybe more to come. But one pitcher who will not be helping their cause down the stretch is Cole Sands. He made one extremely rough appearance off the injured list, then went back on the IL, and now will miss the rest of the season following arthroscopic elbow surgery. 

It'll go down as a lost year for the right-hander, who had a real opportunity to assert himself within a wide-open bullpen mix, but now he'll hope to come back healthy next year and get his career on track. Jack Anderson rejoined the bullpen in place of Sands, pitching one shutout inning before being swapped out to make room for Kremer.

Byron Buxton also landed back on the IL after a brief return to action in which he never looked quite right. Buxton went 4-for-25 (.160) with no extra-base hits before exiting Tuesday's game with another flare-up of his chronic hip issue. He received an injection that the Twins are hoping can provide lasting relief, but it's really hard to feel confident in his availability — at least at anything resembling 100% — for the rest of this season. For now, infielder Tristan Gray is back on the roster to fill Buxton's vacancy.

Rounding out the roster churn: Mike Paredes went on the 60-day IL, ending his season. Cody Laweryson was designated for assignment. Garrett Acton was activated from the injured list and optioned to Triple-A.

HIGHLIGHTS

What a run it's been for Kody Clemens with the Twins. In 210 games since being acquired as essentially a waiver claim in April of 2025, Clemens has hit 38 homers and driven in 105 runs. He's had a lot of big hits and big moments, delivering plenty of value with his consistent power, defensive versatility and clubhouse vibe. 

His Twins career reached a new pinnacle on Thursday, when Clemens capped one of the most improbable comebacks in franchise history with a walk-off grand slam against the Royals. The Twins had been no-hit through six innings, and were down 3-0 with two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the ninth before scratching together three baserunners to set up Clemens' surreal game-winning blast. He was down to his last strike, trailing 0-2 in the count against a left-handed reliever, when he got a hanging breaking ball and drove it over the wall in right field to turn one of the worst losses of the season into the most exhilarating win. Matt Strahm would love to have that pitch back.

Two days earlier, Royce Lewis came through with a clutch highlight of his own, grasping victory from the jaws of defeat with a two-run triple off the wall in the right center. This one also came with the Twins down to their last out, flipping the outcome on a game that was ready to go down as one of the season's most disappointing. On Sunday, Lewis ripped a three-run homer to fuel a comeback that fell just short in the finale at T-Mobile Park. He's been sporadic, but the big-moment theatrics are certainly here.

In what might have been his final week as a Twin, Ryan Jeffers was customarily very good, notching five hits including a homer in 18 at-bats, with two walks and just one strikeout. Since coming back from injury, he's done everything he can to prop up his value in the eyes of trade suitors ... but also to the Twins, who are routinely using him as their No. 2 or 3 hitter. Trading Jeffers while trying to get better and make a push would be a tricky needle to thread.

For the front office, the primary area of focus in trades has been supplementing the bullpen. They've said as much openly, and they've also made it clear through their actions, acquiring Nance and Minter with seemingly at least one more move yet to come. The bullpen is a logical area to target for improvement, in the big picture, but also an ironic one considering that relief pitching has — at times — been the biggest strength of this team.

That was the case this past week. Those dramatic walk-off wins at home don't happen if the bullpen isn't nearly flawless to keep Kansas City's leads from expanding. Twins relievers combined for nine shutout innings against the Royals. The Minnesota bullpen was also mostly nails in Seattle, holding the Mariners scoreless over four innings in Friday's two-run win and only surrendering the walk-off on a defensive miscue in the ninth on Saturday. The unit finally showed some cracks on Sunday, but before that it was nearly a perfect week.

Really strong performance all around on the relief front. Kody Funderburk tossed three hitless innings with one walk and four strikeouts. He has a 0.75 ERA and 12-to-3 K/BB ratio in 12 innings since the start of July. Minter recorded an out on one pitch in his Twins debut on Saturday, then fired a scoreless frame on Sunday. Taylor Rogers, Travis Adams and Nance all appeared multiple times without allowing a run. 

The relievers haven't been effective overall this season, but you've gotta give the Minnesota bullpen credit for largely coming through when it counts. They've climbed up near the middle of the pack in Win Probability Added (17th in MLB) despite ranking 26th in ERA, thanks to finishing fourth among all teams in WPA in the month of July. The role of the relief corps in keeping this season afloat and putting the Twins in position to buy should not be overlooked.

LOWLIGHTS

What also shouldn't be overlooked, in light of the thrilling finishes to Tuesday's and Thursday's games, is how bad the offense been, putting Minnesota on the verge of deflating losses in those games before Lewis and Clemens came through with heroic swings. The Twins were held to one run with out remaining in the series opener against Kansas City. They were shut out on Wednesday behind seven scoreless innings from Randy Dobnak. And on Thursday the Twins were on their way to another shutout loss before their miraculous surge with two outs in the ninth.

All of the bullpen additions in the world aren't going to make a difference if this lineup can't rediscover some life. That's easier said than done. Their best hitter, Buxton, is down again indefinitely. Who knows what we can expect from him the rest of the way. The team's two best healthy hitters, Jeffers and Trevor Larnach, are both generating buzz as trade candidates. (Larnach was reportedly very close to being shipped to Houston, in a deal that was nixed by Astros owner Jim Crane at the last minute.)

Meanwhile, Alan Roden continues to spin his wheels — he went 2-for-9 last week and is still searching for his first extra-base hit. Victor Caratini is off to an 0-for-5 start in August after posting a .526 OPS in July. Josh Bell had four singles and a double in 19 at-bats and is experiencing a power outage, with no homers since July 4th.

An offense carried by All-Star production from Buxton was one of the strengths that put Minnesota in a meaningful spot entering this deadline window. Can they count on that in the final two months? It's unclear. And unfortunately this uncertainty also applies to their other All-Star, Joe Ryan, whose shakiness atop the rotation leaves that unit in some doubt.

After giving up six home runs in one of his worst starts ever the previous week, Ryan took a few extra days of rest in between turns, complaining of arm fatigue. He took the mound again on Wednesday against the Royals and looked better, but still not himself. The righty allowed four earned runs on eight hits over six innings, striking out only four against a team he has thoroughly dominated throughout his career.

It was far from a disastrous performance, differentiating it from the one before, but Ryan's post-game quotes hardly inspired confidence that he's feeling right or figuring things out. Without Buxton and Ryan on top of their games in August and September, does anything else matter?

TRENDING STORYLINE

The trade deadline falls at 5:00 PM CT on Monday, and the Twins are expected to be actively involved up until the clock strikes. That was the case last year too, but then, the front office was busy conducting an all-out firesale. They weren't buying. This time around, they've already begun trekking down the buyer aisle, yet the coming day could bring anything as the team navigates unique circumstances.

• Larnach has been the regular leadoff hitter in a lineup that's scuffling of late. Trading him seems an odd choice through that lens, but the Twins have made clear they are willing to do so in the right deal. It would potentially open the door for someone like Walker Jenkins to enter the fold for the stretch run.
• Jeffers, too, seems a strange trade candidate as Minnesota's best healthy hitter, but the logic in trying to recoup value for an impending free agent can't be ignored. The Yankees are among clubs known to be in hot pursuit of MLB's best-hitting catcher.
• The likelihood of a Ryan trade has dropped sharply as he battles through physical issues and grapples with a history of second half drop-offs, but you can't rule out the possibility that an ambitious contender comes at the Twins with an offer they can't refuse, especially with top prize Tarik Skubal now off the market.
• Of course, while the three bullets above wouldn't indicate it, the Twins do fancy themselves buyers, and we can't rule out an additive move that is bolder than any of the above. Tom Pohlad is looking to put his stamp on this operation and give something fans to believe in. He's already taken baby steps by green-lighting a rare level of salary intake. Will he take things a step further? I'm intrigued to see what goes down on Monday.

LOOKING AHEAD

Following Monday's trade deadline, the Twins will head to Kansas City for a quick-turn rematch against the Royals. Assuming Ryan is still here, he's in line for another match-up against Dobnak as the lineup looks to redeem itself against him and Noah Cameron (who no-hit them through six innings on Thursday). Next weekend will feature one of the toughest remaining series on the schedule: three games in Milwaukee against a Brewers team that is neck-and-neck with Los Angeles for the best record in baseball, and 16 games above .500 in their home park. The Twins are slated to face phenom Jacob Misiorowski in Game 1 of that series.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4: TWINS @ ROYALS — RHP Joe Ryan v. RHP Randy Dobnak
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5: TWINS @ ROYALS — RHP Bailey Ober v. LHP Noah Cameron
THURSDAY, AUGUST 6: TWINS @ ROYALS — RHP Zebby Matthews v. RHP Michael Wacha
FRIDAY, AUGUST 7: TWINS @ BREWERS — LHP Connor Prielipp v. RHP Jacob Misiorowski
SATURDAY, AUGUST 8: TWINS @ BREWERS — RHP Taj Bradley v. RHP Brandon Sproat
SUNDAY, AUGUST 9: TWINS @ BREWERS — RHP Joe Ryan v. RHP Logan Henderson

View our top trade candidates list, up to nearly 70 names and updated regularly!