The Twins likely knew that their bullpen wasn't perfect heading into the season, but also knew that relief arms are the most commonly moved players at the deadline. I'm sure they figured that if they indeed were contenders for the post season, they could patch things up at the deadline. Sure enough, they are contenders, but I don't think even the most pessimistic outlooks could have seen how comically bad this pen has been.
It has made many people opine that the Twins front office is inactive, despite the fact that they traded for or signed four starting pitchers this offseason (Sonny Gray, Chris Paddack, Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer) and signed the number one free agent on the market in Carlos Correa. They were plenty active this offseason, but the flashiest moves simply were not in the bullpen.
The Twins have also not been left out of the deadline ever since Derek Falvey and Thad Levine took over, save for 2020, which was a bizarre year anyways, to say the least. Either buying or selling, this team has made moves when it was time to make a move. The success rate remains debatable, but this is a long change form where the Twins organization used to be.
Terry Ryan was always loathe to move prospects, which in retrospect is even more frustrating, considering how little value they got out of guys like Kevin Slowey. Minnesota was often rumored to be in the mix for intriguing players, from Kris Benson to Alfonso Soriano, but Ryan and crew never came through in the end. People blamed the front office when Ryan was inactive, but the current regime seems to tell us that it was more Ryan's personality.
Of course, in the interim, there were Rob Antony and Bill Smith. They were a bit more loose with the trades, for better or worse, but this is the first front office that I can remember in Minnesota with a history of being aggressive. A lot of Twins fans still seem to be stuck in the mid-2000s, when the Twins were mentioned as teams asking about trade candidates, but never following through. Falvine is different.
Injuries have ravaged the pitching staff this year, rendering a lot of the offseason work for naught. Recent rounds of injuries to both prospects and major league players likely limits the possible return for the Twins this year. On the other hand, Jose Miranda's July likely made him too good to be traded. Just because it will be harder to make trades doesn't mean that this front office won't, even if you don't believe they weill.
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