My standing opinion of teams at the deadline is that if a team is likely to make the postseason, they should really go for it. Only one team gets to win it, and anything can happen in the postseason. The Twins find themselves in first place in the AL Central with an increasing grip on the league as the White Sox and Guardians get battered on their schedule. The Twins should really go for it.
There is a widespread view online that there was a miserable failure of roster construction and pitching development by the front office. Had the bullpen had better options, they wouldn't have blown those three games against the Guardians, and could have had a double digit lead in the division. That's one way to look at it.
Another way to look at it is that the team is only a couple of players away from being truly dominant. Even better is that there is a wide array of pitchers that lift the floor of the bullpen. The Twins won't have to break the bank to improve the weakest point of the roster at the trade deadline.
That wouldn't really be going for it, though. Instead of taking the bullpen from the potential for being a nightly car accident you can't turn away to being OK, the Twins can instead try to make the bullpen a strength if they are aggressive in the trade market this month. They have plenty of resources in order to make it happen.
I'm just going to point to one idea, knowing full well it may not work for everyone, but addresses some thoughts for the Twins. It's a three way deal to make it work for everyone. We'll look at every component that involves the Twins.
Twins get
SP Frankie Montas, RP AJ Puk, MiLB C Rickardo Perez
A's get
MiLB 3b Spencer Steer, MiLB P's Andrew Painter, Damon Jones
Phillies get
RF Max Kepler
Like I said, this might not work for a variety of reasons. Namely, the Baseball Trade Values chart is probably not fully aligned with what GMs are thinking, and Damon Jones currently finds himself on the injured list, but the idea from the Twins perspective is there.
First, the Twins have a need for pitchers out of the bullpen, so adding former top prospect AJ Puk makes sense. Any Twins rumor for the past 6 months has revolved around Frankie Montas, but in this instance, adding another starter allows the Twins to employ one of their starters as a shut down long reliever, which eases the burden on the rest of the pen.
The last element coming the Twins' way, from Philadelphia is Rookie league catcher Rickardo Perez, helping to supplement some of the depth behind the plate in the organization.
The two players going out come from parts of the organization that are currently robust. Spencer Steer, this year's version of Jose Miranda, looks like he might be blocked in the long term by... Jose Miranda. The A's are said to love Steer, so he is an obvious component in any deal with the A's.
The other area of strength is in the corner outfield. Not only do the Twins have a lot of talent in the upper minors or at the major league roster ready to play in the corner outfield, it appears to be a hot commodity on the trade market. The Twins have many capable corner outfielders coming up, and if the Twins can move Kepler instead of Kirilloff or Larnach, they would jump at the opportunity. The Phillies are reputed to be one of the teams sniffing around at Andrew Benintendi, and would likely be open to another option should the possibility arise.
The Twins will have the wherewithal to make a move this summer, and they should have the motivation. Many times, it's a challenge to figure out what a team can do to get that extra edge, but this year, the writing is on the will. They should really go for it.
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