If you have listened to people on Twitter, Facebook or family gatherings for the last couple of months, it has been relentless grousing about how the Twins didn't do anything in the offseason, and they weren't going to do anything at the deadline, and ultimately, that they had missed the boat on doing things, even with a full 24 hours to the deadline. I insisted that they had done a lot of things in the offseason, and they were going to do something to address the shortcomings of the roster, but they had a tendency to wait for the last moment to do it.
I was right!
While the Twins fan base peppered social media with hopelessness, the Twins turned around and did everything that those negative nellies said they needed to do, but couldn't or wouldn't. The team needed another starter to move towards the top of the rotation. There were three good ones available, and after Luis Castillo went to Seattle and Frankie Montas to the Yankees, the wailing and gnashing of teeth grew louder. The Twins weren't going to sacrifice the farm for Castillo and didn't have the pitchers Oakland wanted, so they added Tyler Mahle from the Reds for a price that they were comfortable with.
The Twins gave up two fast rising prospects in Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, though neither was poised to take a spot on the Major League Roster any time soon. The line up, with Byron Buxton, Luis Arraez, Trevor Larnach, Alex Kiriloff, Jose Miranda and maybe even Royce Lewis will have spots in the lineup for a while. Stephen Hajjar, still a good prospect, is a 22 year old pitcher that is just now getting a grasp on the professional level. All of these players are good, but they don't have much of a place in the not so distant future.
Minnesota sent even more players to Baltimore for closer Jorge Lopez, a pitcher who moved to the bullpen and broker out in a big way this season, earning a trip to the All Star Game. The headliners were Cade Povich and Yennier Cano, but two pitchers from the international complex were included. Cano is a 28 year old Cuban who debuted, poorly, at the MLB level this year. Povich was a fast rising pitching prospect, but old enough and far enough down to be fully expendable.
Don't be fooled into thinking that the Twins gave up too much for Lopez. His bad numbers are from his time as a starter. Glen Perkins wasn't much of a starter either, but when he refined his offering and limited his exposure to hitters, he emerged as an all-star in the same manner as Lopez. He's under team control for another couple of years, and everyone outside of Jim Bowden believes that this was a good deal for the Twins, and a little sad for the Orioles, frankly.
The Twins also did a couple of 1 for 1 swaps with divisional rivals. The Tigers and Twins have often linked up for these little trades, and don't seem to have the reticence to do so that other divisional rivals do. In this case, the Twins added Michael Fulmer from the Tigers to work some late inning relief. This was the greatest area of concern, and the rental of Fulmer for Sawyer Gipson-Long, a prospect who has struggled at AA, made sense for both sides.
The Twins also made a swap with the Cleveland Guardians. Minnesota has been rife with injuries, and the one that attacked the depth the most was Ryan Jeffers' injury. Caleb Hamilton isn't quite Major League capable, so Sandy Leon, acquired for a different Hamilton, Minor League reliever Ian, was acquired. Leon has plenty of playoff experience with Boston and Cleveland, and is a suitable stopgap, acquired at a reasonable fare.
Unless your name is Jim Bowden, you were inclined to believe that the Twins nailed this deadline. They addressed all of their needs at a good price. It even quieted the Twitter masses. Well, until they lost Tuesday night. Then the pitchforks came out again.
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