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Latest On Pablo Lopez

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Pablo Lopez suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right teres major muscle in early June, and the Twins right-hander has now missed a little over 10 weeks of action.  This puts him within the projected 8-to-12 week timeline initially attached to his recovery, and Lopez has steadily been taking steps towards a September return, including five bullpen sessions and a simulated inning.  The next step comes tomorrow, as Lopez told reporters (including Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Minneapolis Star Tribune) that he’ll face live hitters for the first time over two simulated innings.

Should all go well on Friday, Lopez will advance to a Spring Training-esque schedule of an additional inning every five or six days.  It can be assumed a minor league rehab assignment will be part of this plan given how much time Lopez has missed, but is aiming to be back in Minnesota’s rotation by early September.

Since the Twins had a virtual fire sale of their roster at the trade deadline and only faintly remain in wild card contention, it isn’t likely that Lopez will be returning to any meaningful games.  However, Lopez isn’t at all considering a shutdown, as he is intent on making “four or five, maybe six starts” in what remains of the 2025 campaign.

“Because time allows, I want to do it.  Also, peace of mind,” Lopez said.  “I want to be able to tell myself I was able to come back from this injury and pitch and perform at the level I know I can perform.”

Between this shoulder strain and a minimal 15-day absence due to a hamstring strain in April, Lopez has been limited to only 60 2/3 innings this season.  This injury-riddled year has interrupted a string of workhorse performances for Lopez, who tossed 559 1/3 IP over the 2022-24 seasons — the seventh-highest innings total of any pitcher in baseball over that three-season span.

The righty also posted a 3.83 ERA over that span, and the bottom-line results were even sharper this year since Lopez had a 2.82 ERA across his 60 2/3 frames in 2025.  The Twins were already impressed enough by Lopez’s first season in Minnesota to sign the righty to a four-year, $73.5MM extension in April 2023 that covers the 2024-27 seasons.  He is set to earn $21.5MM in each of the 2026 and 2027 seasons.

Speculatively speaking, it is worth wondering if Lopez and the Twins could be viewing any September starts as an audition for potential trade suitors.  Lopez and Byron Buxton are Minnesota’s highest-paid players now that Carlos Correa has been dealt to the Astros, and Buxton has already made it clear that he won’t be waiving his no-trade protection.  That leaves Lopez as the most natural candidate for a trade if the Twins continue to explore payroll cuts, and a few more outings in 2025 would also provide some evidence for rival teams that Lopez is fully healthy.  Since the Twins explored trading the less-expensive Joe Ryan at the deadline, it stands to reason that they would also be open to moving a pricier rotation option in Lopez, though naturally the front office would want a significant return rather than just a salary dump.

Wednesday’s surprising news that the Pohlad family was abandoning plans to sell the team threw another curveball into what has been a tumultuous few weeks for the organization.  It is possible the addition of two new minority owners has provided enough of a cash influx that payroll cuts are no longer a priority, yet we’ll have to wait until the offseason to see how things truly play out, and what types of rebuild-or-reload moves president of baseball operations Derek Falvey will be considering.

Pohlad Family No Longer Pursuing Sale Of Twins

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The Twins have effectively been for sale for the better part of the past year, but it seems the current ownership group is instead embarking on a new path. Executive chair Joe Pohlad announced in a press release this morning that his family is no longer pursuing a sale of the majority stake in the franchise and will instead sell minority stakes to a pair of new parties.

“Over the past several months, we explored a wide range of potential investment and ownership opportunities. Our focus throughout has been on what’s best for the long-term future of the Twins. We have been fully open to all possibilities,” Pohlad said in a prepared statement. “After a detailed and robust process, our family will remain the principal owner of the Minnesota Twins. To strengthen the club in a rapidly evolving sports landscape – one that demands strong partnerships, fresh ideas, and long-term vision – we are in the process of adding two significant limited partnership groups, each of whom will bring a wealth of experience and share our family values.”

The surprising 180-degree turn comes less than two weeks after the Twins gutted their roster in a trade deadline punctuated by slashing payroll. The Twins traded a whopping 11 players, including the five best relievers in what was a strong bullpen and shortstop Carlos Correa, who’d signed the largest contract in Twins history (six years, $200MM). The Twins sent Correa back to the Astros, including $33MM of cash to offset some of the remaining $103.5MM on his contract, and effectively receiving no return.

The entire slate of players traded by the Twins was fairly remarkable. Not only were rental players like Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Danny Coulombe, Chris Paddack and Ty France shipped out, but so were controllable players like Correa and relievers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Brock Stewart. The Twins dumped the remainder of Randy Dobnak’s contract on the Tigers as part of the Paddack trade as well. In all, Minnesota trimmed nearly $83MM in guaranteed money while also shrinking an arbitration class that would’ve called for notable 2026 raises for Duran, Jax and Stewart.

In the immediate aftermath, the general expectation was that the fire sale, which extended far more broadly than anyone anticipated, had been done as a means of increasing the appeal for potential buyers. Perhaps that’s still partially the case in reference to the incoming minority owners who are joining the group, but that’s a far different scenario than anyone anticipated — particularly after Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred voiced confidence at the All-Star break that a sale of the Twins would still come together sooner than later.

Following the Twins’ deadline teardown, the thinking has been that if the Pohlad family came to terms on a sale of the team quickly enough, new ownership might put a halt to further stripping down the roster in the offseason. Today’s announcement dashed any such hopes, meaning that Minnesota’s remaining appealing players will enter the offseason as prime trade candidates.

All-Star center fielder Byron Buxton said he planned to be a Twin for life when asked about his no-trade clause earlier this summer and doubled down on his desire to remain in Minnesota even after the deadline. There’s no reason to expect him to change that thinking. However, catcher Ryan Jeffers (controlled through 2026 via arbitration), right-hander Joe Ryan (controlled through 2027 via arbitration) and righty Pablo Lopez (signed through 2027 for $21.75MM annually) can all freely be traded, as can arb-eligible players like Trevor Larnach and Bailey Ober.

If the teardown was only about making the prospect of retaining ownership more palatable for the current group, there’s little reason to think the Pohlad family won’t push the front office to further reduce expenses. MLB.com ranked the Twins as the No. 2 farm system in the sport just this morning, after factoring in every team’s deadline dealings. Baseball America ranked them fourth on this morning’s post-deadline update. Offseason swaps involving some combination of Ryan, Lopez and/or Jeffers (among others) could vault them to the top spot in the game. That’s little consolation for a fanbase was riding high after the team snapped its postseason losing streak in 2023 — only to see Pohlad mandate a payroll cut amid uncertainty surrounding the team’s television broadcast rights.

The Pohlads have owned the Twins for more than 40 years. Carl Pohlad purchased the franchise for $44MM back in 1984. The Twins won the 1987 and 1991 World Series but quickly spiraled into a tumultuous state as Pohlad first looked to sell the team in the late 90s before nearly agreeing to his team’s contraction around the turn of the century before the Hennepin County District Court intervened. Carl Pohlad passed away in 2009, at which point his son Jim took over as the face of the team’s ownership group.

Jim remains the team’s chairman to this day but turned day-to-day oversight of the ownership group to his nephew, Joe, in November of 2022. There was some optimism among the fanbase in the months that followed. The Twins re-signed Correa to that franchise-record $200MM contract — a move that didn’t feel like it would ever have come together under the previous iterations of the Pohlad family ownership. Minnesota subsequently traded for Lopez and quickly signed him to a $73MM contract extension. Payroll climbed to a franchise-record $154MM on Opening Day 2023, and the Twins went on to reach the postseason and topple the Blue Jays, ending a two-decade drought in terms of postseason wins.

Those brief halcyon days now feel like a distant memory, and the immediate outlook for Twins fans is a grim one. Prospective buyer Justin Ishbia went from the perceived front-runner to purchase the club back in January to instead abandoning that pursuit as he instead agreed to increase his stake in the White Sox — where he was already a minority owner — with a path to majority control down the road. The Twins continued to explore potential sales even after Ishbia backed down, but with a reported $1.7 billion asking price and more than $400MM in debt, it seems no buyers materialized.

Instead, the Pohlad family will remain at the helm for at least the foreseeable future, placing the Twins alongside the Angels and Nationals as clubs that recently were put up for sale and pulled off the market after sufficient bids never manifested. The forthcoming additions to the ownership group are still pending the approval of Major League Baseball, per the Twins’ press release, and details won’t be made public until that league has signed off on the changes.

Joe Pohlad added in today’s statement that the Twins owners “see and hear the passion from our partners, the community, and Twins fans,” adding that said passion “inspires us.” It’s the type of boilerplate ownership speak that will ring hollow for a fanbase that has, for quite some time now, been desperate for changes that apparently aren’t coming anytime soon.

Twins Sign Génesis Cabrera To Minor League Deal

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The Twins announced that they have signed left-hander Génesis Cabrera to a minor league deal, per Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. The southpaw will report to Triple-A St. Paul.

Cabrera, 28, has had an up-and-down career. He has good velocity, hitting mid-90s with both of his fastballs, as well as throwing a cutter and a curveball. He previously threw a changeup but seems to have swapped that out for a splitter this year.

Broadly speaking, he has not had great control. He has been able to get some strikeouts, but has been inconsistent in that regard. Overall, he has 303 2/3 innings in the big leagues with a 4.06 earned run average. His 10.9% walk rate is a couple of ticks above par. His 22.1% strikeout rate is close to average but, as mentioned, has oscillated. He struck out a third of opponents in the shortened 2020 season but that dropped to 26% and then to 16.5% in the next two seasons. He got that back up to 24.3% in 2023 but has been below 19% since then.

He has been in journeyman mode this year, likely a result of both his inconsistent results and the fact that he has at least five years of service time, meaning he can no longer be optioned to the minors without his consent. He has had brief stints with the Mets, Cubs and Pirates this year, tossing between 7 and 11 innings with each. Put together, he has a 5.79 ERA and 18.8% strikeout rate in 28 frames. His 6.6% walk rate has been a nice improvement relative to his previous work.

The Twins traded away all their best relievers prior to the deadline. Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe were all sent packing in the 24 hours prior to the deadline. Since then, the club has called up various pitchers from the minors, in addition to claiming Thomas Hatch and Brooks Kriske off waivers.

Cabrera will give them another experienced arm without taking up a roster spot. The fact that he’s left-handed makes sense. Currently, Kody Funderburk is the only healthy southpaw on the 40-man roster. There’s not enough time left in the year for Cabrera to get to six years of service time. If he happens to be holding a roster spot at season’s end, he can be retained for 2026 via arbitration.

Photo courtesy of Stephen Brashear, Imagn Images

Twins Deadline Notes: Phillies, Duran, Jax, Paddack, Reds

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It wasn’t really a shock that the Twins became deadline sellers, as the club’s downturn in June and July pretty much closed the door on Minnesota’s chances of contending.  However, the sheer scope of the Twins’ selloff was eye-opening, as the club swung nine different trades within four days of the July 31 deadline and sent 11 different players to eight separate clubs.  Several behind-the-scenes details about the trades the Twins both did and didn’t make have filtered out since July 31, and Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Minnesota Star Tribune adds a few more notes about the front office approached this pivotal four-day period.

Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax were both pursued by several teams, though “the Dodgers didn’t show much interest in” either reliever, Nightengale writes.  This runs somewhat contrary to a pre-deadline report that linked Los Angeles to the duo, though it could be that the Dodgers simply weren’t interested in paying what ended up being a high price tag for either pitcher.  Though the Dodgers were known to be considering pretty much every reliever on the market, the reigning World Series champs’ biggest bullpen splash ended up being another Twin in Brock Stewart.  Though Stewart is arbitration-eligible through 2027, his “trade value was more commensurate with a rental reliever because of his injury history,” according to Nightengale, which is why Minnesota obtained outfielder James Outman (something of a spare part in L.A.) rather than prospects.

The Twins wanted two top-100 prospects for Duran, an asking price commensurate with the closer’s quality and the fact that he is arb-controlled through 2027.  It was a big enough ask to dissuade the Mariners, who “were deep into talks with the Twins” and may have been the runners-up in the Duran talks.  The Phillies refused to give up Andrew Painter for Duran or anyone, and ended up landing Duran for catching prospect Eduardo Tait and young starter Mick Abel.

Technically, this trade package didn’t meet Minnesota’s ask, since Abel was no longer part of top-100 rankings heading into the 2025 season.  Still, Abel has been a regular on such rankings for the previous four years, was selected 15th overall by the Phils in the 2020 draft, and is a big league-ready starter after making his MLB debut this season.

Tait and Leo De Vries (acquired by the A’s from the Padres in the Mason Miller blockbuster) were the only consensus top-100 prospects who changed teams at this year’s deadline, speaking to the high value that clubs place on these top prospects.  Nightengale writes that Minnesota felt Tait “had the highest upside” of any of the players that the Mariners offered for Duran, and preferred Tait to another top Phillies prospect in shortstop Aidan Miller.  This would seem to imply that Philadelphia was also willing to include Miller as the top prospect in the package, which tracks with past reports indicating that Painter and perhaps Justin Crawford were the only real untouchables within the Phils’ minor league system.

Duran was dealt on July 30 and the Twins then swung another trade with the Phillies the next day, moving Harrison Bader for two lower-level prospects (outfielder Hendry Mendez and right-hander Geremy Villoria).  The Twins and Phillies had previously talked about combining Duran and Bader into a single deal, but Nightengale writes that Minnesota wanted to move Duran separately.

This left Bader as one of the seven trades Minnesota swung on the July 31 deadline day itself, including the deal that sent Jax to the Rays for Taj Bradley.  Since Jax is also arb-controlled through 2027, the Twins initially wanted a prospect package “similar to the one they received in the Duran deal.”  This could explain why “Jax’s market didn’t pick up until the last day,” Nightengale notes, and perhaps why teams like the Dodgers were balking.  Rather than getting a prospect back for Jax, the Twins instead got an experienced MLB starter who is controlled through 2029, and as the club is betting that Bradley has a higher ceiling of performance.

Minnesota’s trading flurry began when Chris Paddack and Randy Dobnak were sent to the Tigers on July 28 in exchange for catching prospect Enrique Jimenez.  Paddack was known to be receiving interest from the Rays and Yankees, and Nightengale adds that the Reds were another club at least exploring the right-hander’s market.  With Paddack off the board, Cincinnati pivoted to land another rental starter in Zack Littell as part of a three-team trade involving the Rays and Dodgers.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/9/25

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Leading up to the trade deadline, dozens of moves were made. In the wake of those trades, several players were designated for assignment. Here are the results of a few recent DFAs which MLBTR hasn’t yet covered…

  • Right-hander Sean Hjelle has been sent outright to Triple-A Sacramento, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment by the Giants when they traded Tyler Rogers to the Mets. Two of the players the Giants received, José Buttó and Blade Tidwell, required 40-man roster spots. The departure of Rogers opened one spot, with Hjelle DFA’d to open another. This was Hjelle’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, meaning he didn’t have the right to elect free agency. He will give the Giants non-roster depth and try to earn his way back to the majors. His Triple-A numbers have been good this year, having tossed 41 2/3 innings with a 2.81 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate and 52.7% ground ball rate.
  • Left-hander Zach Penrod has been outrighted to Triple-A Oklahoma City, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment by the Dodgers when left-hander Blake Snell was reinstated from the 60-day injured list. This was his first career outright and he has less than three years of big league service time, meaning he had to accept the assignment. Penrod was just acquired from the Red Sox in a DFA trade in June and was kept on optional assignment, so he still hasn’t pitched for the Dodgers in the majors.
  • Right-hander Connor Gillispie has been outrighted to Triple-A St. Paul, per his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment by the Twins in late July when Michael Tonkin was selected. This was Gillispie’s first career outright and he has less than three years of big league service time, meaning he had to accept the assignment. He reported to the Saints but they put him on the minor league injured list a few days later. It’s unclear what his current health status is but he hasn’t pitched since July 27th.
  • Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb is back with the Tigers on a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment in late July when Detroit signed Luke Jackson. Hartlieb cleared waivers and elected free agency, which was his right as a player with a previous career outright, but reunited with the Tigers on a new minor league deal. He has a 7.95 career ERA in the majors but better minor league numbers. He has tossed 41 Triple-A innings this year with a 3.29 ERA, 27.5% strikeout rate, 6% walk rate and 40.6% ground ball rate.

Photo courtesy of Eakin Howard, Imagn Images

Twins’ Ryan Jeffers Also Drew Interest At Trade Deadline

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The Twins shipped out nearly 40% of their roster but could’ve been even more active. Minnesota also received interest in catcher Ryan Jeffers from multiple teams, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, though obviously nothing came together.

Whether it was a case of the Twins not receiving a satisfactory offer or simply not having time to hammer out yet another swap involving a player controlled beyond the current season, Jeffers is still the Twins’ starting catcher — at least for now. He’s controllable only through the 2026 season, so it stands to reason that he could again be a trade candidate this winter. Perhaps if the Pohlad family can complete a sale of the team in the near future, new ownership will be more intent on keeping a competitive roster together for next season. However, as things currently stand, Jeffers seems likely to be available again in a few months’ time, given the sheer magnitude of Minnesota’s still-surprising deadline teardown.

The 28-year-old Jeffers (29 next June) is enjoying a third straight productive year at the plate, hitting .260/.345/.409 with eight homers, 22 doubles, a 9.8% walk rate and a career-low 19.3% strikeout rate. Dating back to the 2023 season, he’s a .250/.333/.441 hitter — good for a 117 wRC+ that ranks fifth among all qualified big league catchers in that time. His glovework isn’t as well regarded, but Jeffers isn’t a liability from a defensive standpoint by any means. He’s earning $4.55MM this year and will likely clear $7MM next season in his final year of club control.

It’ll be a thin market for teams seeking help behind the plate this winter, so Jeffers should hold plenty of appeal if the Twins do dangle him. The top options on the free agent market will be J.T. Realmuto, ahead of his age-35 season, and Victor Caratini, who’s never really handled a starter’s workload behind the dish. (Even this year, as Caratini is on track for a new career-high in plate appearances, he’s spent 24 games at DH and 11 at first base in addition to his 39 games behind the plate.)

There will be a few other options to consider, but this offseason’s catcher class is composed primarily of mid-30s backups and younger starters who are struggling through down years. Danny Jansen is having a sub-par year for a second straight season. Gary Sanchez will end up missing roughly one-third of the year with the PCL sprain that’s currently sidelining him. Salvador Perez can technically become a free agent, but the Royals will presumably pick up his $13.5MM club option (a net $11.5MM decision when considering the option’s $2MM buyout).

As explored at greater length by MLBTR’s Anthony Franco yesterday, Jeffers and top starter Joe Ryan headline a group of several logical offseason trade candidates who remain on the Twins’ roster after that deadline purge.

Poll: Who Had The Best Deadline In The AL Central?

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The trade deadline has come and gone. While trade season was slow to get started this year, when all was said and done, there were several dozen trades made in a flurry of movement over the final few days before the deadline arrived. The full impact of these trades won’t be known for years to come, but that doesn’t mean we can’t analyze the deals and decide whose haul looks the best right now. Over the next week-plus, MLBTR will be running a series of polls asking which club in each division had the best deadline. So far, the Phillies, Reds, Padres, and Mariners have each come out on top in their respective divisions. Today, we’ll be continuing on with the American League with the AL Central. A look at each of the five clubs, listed from best to worst record in 2025:

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers have the biggest lead in their division in all of baseball, and that might have led them to a much more cautious deadline than previously expected. Aside from a handful of minor trades of players (Matt Manning, Dietrich Enns, Brewer Hicklen) who had been squeezed off of the 40-man roster, the Tigers acquired seven pitchers across six trades. It was clearly a quantity over quality approach, however, as the rotation was deepened by adding Charlie Morton (5.42 ERA at the time of the trade) and Chris Paddack (4.95 ERA at the time of the trade) to the back of the staff.

That pair of starters was joined by five relievers: Randy Dobnak, Codi Heuer, Rafael Montero, Paul Sewald, and Kyle Finnegan. Dobnak and Heuer have both made just one MLB appearance this year. Montero carried a 5.40 ERA when he arrived in Detroit, and Sewald won’t pitch again until September due to injury. That leaves Finnegan and his 95 ERA+ in a Nationals uniform this year as the most impactful addition of the Tigers’ deadline this year, at least on paper. While Detroit added plenty of pitching depth to the roster without surrendering any of the prospects within their Top 15 according to Baseball America, it’s hard not to see a quiet deadline in what could be Tarik Skubal’s penultimate season with the club as a potential missed opportunity.

Cleveland Guardians

The Guardians’ performance this trade season must be viewed in the context of the potentially franchise-altering reality that struck just days before the deadline: superstar closer Emmanuel Clase, a potential trade candidate and foundational piece of the Guardians’ roster, was placed on administrative leave as part of a sports betting investigation. That news not only severely damaged whatever hopes the Guardians may have had of making it to the playoffs this year, but also took one of their most valuable trade chips off the market.

That led the Guards to make just two trades this summer: one that shipped Sewald to the Tigers for a player to be named later or cash, and a second one that sent Shane Bieber to Toronto for right-hander Khal Stephen. Both trades were sensible moves. Stephen is a particularly well-regarded prospect to receive for a pitcher who hasn’t thrown at the big league level this year, and the Sewald trade cleared the remainder of a currently injured rental reliever’s $7MM salary. Bigger than the moves they did make, arguably, is the ones they did not: outfielder Steven Kwan and star reliever Cade Smith, among other rumored trade candidates, remain in Cleveland as controllable building blocks for the future.

Kansas City Royals

Despite sitting around .500 for the majority of the year, the Royals were actually the most aggressive buyer in their division. They made their intention to eschew selling clear when they extended Seth Lugo on a deal that could keep him in town through the end of the 2028 season. Aside from locking up Lugo, the Royals deepened their lineup and pitching staff.

A trio of controllable, starting-caliber arms were brought in to join Lugo and Michael Wacha in the short-term while providing depth behind Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic for the future. Bailey Falter was acquired from the Pirates, while the Royals surrendered backup catcher Freddy Fermin to the Padres in a deal that netted both Stephen Kolek and Ryan Bergert. Aside from those rotation additions, the club made a trio of rental acquisitions to try and boost the offense. Adam Frazier is unlikely to be a needle-mover, but both Mike Yastrzemski and Randal Grichuk have been impactful complementary pieces for playoff clubs in the past.

Even if the Royals end up missing the postseason, they won’t have lost much by pushing in this year; their best trade chip (Bubic) suffered a season-ending injury shortly before the deadline, and No. 15 prospect (per Baseball America) Yunior Marte was the top young talent they surrendered (in return for Yastrzemski).

Minnesota Twins

The Twins completely changed the trajectory of the trade deadline when they kicked off a massive fire sale. The club made ten trades in total while moving 11 players out of the organization. Paddack and Dobnak were shipped to Detroit in a deal for catching/first base prospect Enrique Jimenez that also cleared the remainder of Dobnak’s low-cost but ill-fated $9.25MM extension off the books. Rentals Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, and Danny Coulombe were shipped out in deals that should help to fill out the middle ranks of the Minnesota farm system. Fellow rental Ty France was packaged with dominant young reliever Louis Varland to bring back a big league-ready outfielder, Alan Roden, and Triple-A southpaw Kendry Rojas (The new No. 7 prospect in the Twins’ revamped system, according to MLB Pipeline).

Varland wasn’t the only star reliever to move. The Twins traded both Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax to the Phillies and Rays, respectively. Duran netted a pair of top-100 prospects from the Phils, who surrendered catcher Eduardo Tait and right-hander Mick Abel to get the deal done. Jax was traded away in a one-for-one swap that brought back young starter Taj Bradley. A slightly less impactful bullpen arm with control remaining was also moved when Brock Stewart was shipped to the Dodgers in a deal for post-hype outfielder James Outman. Of course, the most shocking trade of the deadline was the Twins’ decision to deal Carlos Correa back to the Astros in what amounted to a salary dump. 26-year-old High-A southpaw Matt Mikulski was the only player who Correa brought back to Minnesota, even as the Twins ate $33MM of the $103.5MM Correa is owed going forward.

On the one hand, the Twins undeniably did well with the return for several of the players they moved. Abel, Bradley, and Rojas form a wave of young, upper-level starting pitching talent that could impact the team as soon as 2026. They should form an organizational strength in conjunction with young arms like Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, and David Festa going forward. On the other hand, dumping two-thirds of Correa’s salary for no prospect return and decimating a bullpen that has been a major strength are tough pills to swallow for fans.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox had a surprisingly quiet deadline for one of the league’s most obvious sellers. They acquired Will Robertson and Blake Sabol while dealing away Tristan Gray in three separate cash deals with the AL East, though none of those moves is much of a needle-mover. Outside of those minor transactions, they added a rental veteran starter in Aaron Civale and change-of-scenery first baseman Andrew Vaughn to the Brewers in order to get the deal done. Vaughn has blossomed (albeit in a small sample) with Milwaukee, which would surely be easier for fans in Chicago to swallow had the White Sox managed to flip Civale for a prospect return. Civale is pitching well of late but remains on the South Side.

The White Sox made just two sell-side trades ahead of the deadline. Outfielder Austin Slater was shipped to the Yankees in a deal that brought back right-hander Gage Ziehl (the club’s new No. 14 prospect, per Pipeline), and the biggest deal of the club’s deadline sent righty Adrian Houser to Tampa. In return for Houser, the White Sox brought in infielder Curtis Mead, Triple-A reliever Ben Peoples, and Triple-A starter Duncan Davitt. Davitt seems likely to be a back-end starter or swingman in the mold of Houser. Peoples seems unlikely to be more than a middle reliever. Still, it’s a solid return for a rental arm signed in-season, particularly when considering that Mead was a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport just a few short years ago. Chicago didn’t make many trades for a selling club, but the ones they made look like strong ones.

Most surprising was the South Siders’ decision to hang onto Luis Robert Jr. The talented center fielder finally began to come alive at the plate in early June, and many thought the Sox would capitalize on his first productive stretch since 2023 to bring in some young talent, even if it meant paying down Robert’s contract. Instead, they held onto Robert and will now consider picking up the first of two $20MM club options for the 2026 season. If Robert keeps raking down the stretch, it may prove to bring a better return in the long run (assuming he eventually is traded), but there’s plenty of risk in this approach.

No division in baseball did less buying than the AL Central this year. While the Royals made some savvy additions and the Tigers at least bolstered their depth, no impact additions were made as the Guardians, Twins, and White Sox all focused on selling at varying levels. Who did the best of this quintet during trade season? Have your say in the poll below:

Twins Outright Darren McCaughan

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Twins righty Darren McCaughan passed through waivers unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Triple-A St. Paul, per the team’s transaction log. McCaughan was designated for assignment earlier in the week when the Twins claimed righty Brooks Kriske off waivers from the Cubs.

Minnesota signed the 29-year-old McCaughan to a minor league deal over the winter. He pitched 5 1/3 solid innings in late March/early April before being passed through waivers following his first DFA of the season. He was summoned back to the big leagues not long after last week’s fire sale to add some length to the bullpen but never got into a game. He’ll still collect three additional days of big league service for his brief trip across the Mississippi River.

McCaughan has spent the bulk of his career in the Mariners organization, where he’s been a durable source of innings in their Triple-A rotation. He’s gotten some brief big league looks in Seattle, Miami and Cleveland in addition to this year’s Twins cameo. In 61 1/3 major league innings, he has a 6.02 earned run average. He’s logged an ERA just over 5.00 in parts of seven Triple-A seasons, including a 5.35 mark in 72 1/3 frames with the Twins’ top affiliate in 2025.

McCaughan has been previously outrighted in his career, which gives him the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency. He opted for free agency last time around but quickly inked a new minor league deal to remain with the Twins.

Where Do The Twins Go From Here?

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The Twins embarked on the biggest deadline sell-off. It was obvious that they'd trade rentals Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, Chris Paddack and Danny Coulombe. There was enough smoke to believe they'd move one of their top two controllable relievers, Jhoan Duran or Griffin Jax. Given the injury history with Brock Stewart, he seemed a good bet to go as well.

Their week was nevertheless staggering. Minnesota traded both Duran and Jax. They dumped more than $70MM of Carlos Correa's contract for no return. The player they received, Matt Mikulski, was once a notable draft prospect but is a 26-year-old reliever in High-A who'd signed a minor league deal with Houston two months ago. They even went as far as to trade Louis Varland, a Twin Cities native who would've been their best remaining reliever. Varland is controllable for five additional seasons and won't qualify for arbitration until the 2026-27 offseason. Aside from the few hundred thousand dollars they saved by attaching Ty France in that deal, that didn't even cut costs. Minnesota evidently decided that the volatility associated with any relief pitcher was enough to put Varland on the table as well.

Given how aggressively the Twins ripped down the roster, it was almost surprising they didn't go further in the end. Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported shortly before the 5:00 pm Central deadline that the Red Sox were making another run at Joe Ryan. It doesn't seem they came close to getting a deal done when Boston balked at trading an MLB outfielder. Still, one imagines the Sox and many others will be eager to reopen those talks once the offseason begins.

The Twins will play out the string with a bullpen comprising journeymen and waiver pickups. To the extent there's any intrigue left this season, it's in getting looks at young players like Luke Keaschall, Alan Roden (acquired from Toronto in the Varland deal) and Zebby Matthews. They acquired 24-year-old righty Taj Bradley in a one-for-one swap for Jax and added 23-year-old righty Mick Abel as part of their return for Duran. Both are starting their organizational tenure in Triple-A but could get a look later in the season.

While the next couple months won't be particularly interesting, the Twins are facing a massive offseason. What could be in store?

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MLBTR Podcast: Sifting Through The Trade Deadline Deals

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to go over the various deadline dealings, including…

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Chadd Cady, Imagn Images

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