Are the Twins Going to FINALLY Be Buyers?
- Matteo Montermini
- Jul 6
- 5 min read
Entering the 2026 MLB season I was certainly not thinking that come July, the Twins would be a competitive team, and potentially looking to buy at the Trade Deadline. Although that date is not for an entire month (August 3rd), the Twins are coming off yet another impressive weekend, that just happened to result in their first series win at Yankee Stadium since 2014. The Twins offense is cooking, their starting pitchers have been able to provide excellent starts, and (perhaps the most shocking) their weak bullpen hasn't blown too many leads as of late. Whether this stretch means anything or not, the point is this, the Twins are actually on the verge of a playoff spot and with the trade deadline coming up soon, they have put themselves in a situation where the Polads will be forced to potentially buy, come August.
Of course one could make the case that the Twins do not have enough to make a deep playoff run, and should take advantage in selling high on some of their players that are having career years. However I say, take advantage of these players to attempt to make a postseason run that nobody saw coming.
Sure, you might need to use a select few of the players to upgrade your team. However, there is no way the Polad family should even be considering yet another fire sale like the one we saw last July. As of Monday July 6th, the Minnesota Twins are sitting at a record of 44-47, which is good enough for 4 games behind the White Sox in the AL Central, and a shocking 1.5 games behind the Texas Rangers for the last AL Wild Card position.
Obviously, this team is far from perfect, but that's the whole reason why we are even talking about the Twins buying at the deadline. Who could they target? Who should they be willing to give you? Well this blog will only cover one potential trade option, but tomorrow on my podcast we will fully dive into my top 5 favorite trade targets for the Minnesota Twins one month away from the trade deadline.
The Twins Biggest Need (and why)
When we are analyzing this team over the years, there has consistently been one particular weakness that almost never seems to be fixed. The Bullpen.
Even just taking a look at this year's bullpen stats, the Twins rank in last place in almost every single stat, which is certainly a massive issue. The simple logic is this: if a team doesn't have at least an average bullpen, they will not succeed especially come playoff time. So as simple as it sounds, if the Twins truly believe they are capable of winning a series this October you must fix it. If I am being completely honest, I don't see why the Polads wouldn't attempt to fix this set of arms, because this current bullpen is not good enough to compete in October.
The Move
You might ask 'are there relief pitchers on the trade block that are capable of changing the bullpen for this year?' To that I would say there are most certainly options available if the Twins would like to try to bring them to Minnesota. While I will only mention 1 team today, let me reassure you that there could be 5-8 teams that the Twins could potentially talk to, in order to fix this awful bullpen.
Now, the Boston Red Sox find themselves in a intriguing situation as they are not completely out of a playoff run, but they have one hundred percent not had the season anyone expected them to have by all means. At this point the Red Sox are sitting at 40-48, but they have dealt with an unmeasurable amount of injuries to key pieces throughout the season. Key pitchers like Garrett Crochet and Johan Oviedo have battled injuries that have sidelined them for months, while Star Outfielder Jarren Duran has greatly struggled, only hitting .197 this season. While this team is built like a championship contender that has not been the reality for Boston who could be sellers at this years deadline and one of the players they could be moving on from is closer Aroldis Chapman, who has been one of the games greatest closer's for the last decade.
Now Chapman is an expiring contract and has not been performing exceptionally well which could help the Twins landing him for possibly a bit of a cheaper price, compared to previous years. Chapman could definitely provide experience, talent, and simply a veteran closer in the Twins bullpen. I personally think he would also be able to mentor the other young relievers in the Twins bullpen, similar to what guys like Mike Conley and Joe Ingles have done for the Minnesota Timberwolves over that past few seasons.
A Familiar Face
Now I chose to write about the Red Sox option because I do believe there could be one more piece coming back to Minnesota. A few years ago the Minnesota Twins traded away beloved veteran pitcher Sonny Gray to the St. Louis Cardinals in a move that all Twins fans felt strongly against. Now Gray, at 36, is still performing at a high level in the Red Sox rotation and I thought why not boast up your rotation, that has proven to be a little shaky at times, by re-aqcuring a fan favorite.
Of course the Twins would have to give up their share but I think that is actually the easiest part of the trade.
The Return
For the longest time, Ryan Jeffers has been rumored to be on the move come August 3rd, and more recently ESPN's Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan ranked him as the best catcher on the trade block and the overall 21st best player that could be on the move. (Chapman and Gray were ranked 10 and 11) Jeffers, who is currently recovering from a hand injury in AAA with the St. Paul Saints, was having his best season ever prior to getting hurt. He is hitting .295 with 7 homers and 26 RBIs while also providing excellent catching and smart ABS challenges that he has rarely lost.
The Red Sox have been looking for a catcher for the last few seasons and Jeffers gives them just that with the opportunity to extend him after this season for probably a great team friendly deal. Jeffers is in the middle of his prime and would be a great addition to the Red Sox squad.
Now if the Twins were to offer Jeffers for Chapman and Gray, that would almost certainly get rejected right away so the Twins would likely need to add veteran Josh Bell, who is a great expiring 1st Basemen/ DH who has been blasting homers all season. Also added to this deal would probably need to be 2 prospects that the Twins would be content to part ways with. Guys like 23-year-old corner infielder Billy Amick and utilityman Bill Ross are both towards the bottom of the Twins' top 30 prospects according to MLB Pipeline, but they could raise the value for a Red Sox team that might want prospects in return for what they would be giving up.
Whether the Twins make this type of move or don't do anything at all, it is crazy that this team has given us the chance to talk about these potential moves that could elevate this team from on the edge to comfortably in the playoff picture which is something we certainly were not expecting.
Now we wait and see what happens and I can officially say this to you: welcome to trade season Twins fans!
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