July 28, 2025:
- Traded RHP Chris Paddack and RHP Randy Dobnak to Detroit Tigers for C Enrique Jiménez
July 30, 2025:
- Traded RHP Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia Phillies for C Eduardo Tait and RHP Mick Abel
July 31, 2025:
- Traded LHP Danny Coulombe to Texas Rangers for LHP Garrett Horn
- Traded LF Harrison Bader to Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Geremy Villoria and OF Hendry Mendez
- Traded RHP Griffin Jax to Tampa Bay Rays for RHP Taj Bradley
- Traded RHP Louie Varland and 1B Ty France to Toronto Blue Jays for LF Alan Roden and LHP Kendry Rojas
- Traded SS Carlos Correa to Houston Astros for LHP Matt Mikulski
- Traded LF Willi Castro to Chicago Cubs for RHP Sam Armstrong and RHP Ryan Gallagher
- Traded RHP Brock Stewart to Los Angeles Dodgers for CF James Outman
Ten major-league players were traded in just 72 hours. Owners attempting to sell the franchise. Morale at an all-time low. What’s going on with the Minnesota Twins?
On and Off-Field Context
Record & odds: On July 31, the 51-57 Minnesota Twins stood 6.0 games back in the AL Wild Card, fourth from the bottom with eight other teams fighting for the three spots. They held an expected win-loss of the same record, a two-game losing streak, a -33 run differential and a record against teams over .500 of just 21-37. They clearly weren’t matching up to playoff contenders and decided to throw in the towel.
Ownership cloud: The Pohlad family, the owners of the Twins, have been exploring a sale of the team since October 2024 after incurring a total debt of $425 million. The vibes and the certainty of the future have simply not been there for a team with high hopes for this year and legitimate star power on its roster.
Let’s take a look at what Minnesota gave up and got back.
What the Twins gave up
*Control data from Spotrac.com
| Player | Control | 2025 fWAR |
| SS Carlos Correa | 4 years under contract + 2029-32 vesting options | 1.1 |
| CP Jhoan Duran | Arb 2025-27, FA 2028 | 1.2 |
| RP Griffin Jax | Arb 2025-27, FA 2028 | 1.5 |
| RP Louie Varland | Pre-Arb | 1.0 |
| RP Brock Stewart | Arb 2025-27, FA 2028 | 0.6 |
| RP Danny Coulombe | FA after 2025 | 1.0 |
| OF Harrison Bader | 2026 mutual option | 2.1 |
| UTIL Willi Castro | FA after 2025 | 1.1 |
| 1B Ty France | FA after 2025 | 0.7 |
| SP Chris Paddack | FA after 2025 | 1.2 |
| 10 Total Players | 11.5 Total fWAR |
The Twins were expected to part ways with their expiring contracts, as any seller does when they expect to be out of the current season. Reliever Danny Coulombe, starter Chris Paddack, utility man Willi Castro, first baseman Ty France, and outfielder Harrison Bader fit that bill. Bader has a $10,000,000 mutual option for 2026, meaning that both Bader and the Twins would need to agree to a reunion or buy out his contract for a smaller amount. The Twins didn’t see his future in Minnesota, so they treated the outfielder as an expiring contract.
However, the relatively surprising part was the club’s willingness to part ways with talented players with years of team control. Relievers like Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Brock Stewart and Louie Varland all had multiple years of team control remaining. Duran and Jax were seen as star late-inning pitchers in the league.
Most surprising was the seemingly out-of-left-field trade of Correa back to the Astros, the team that drafted him first overall in 2012 and the team he won a championship with in 2017. The Twins had signed Correa to a huge six year contract in 2023, with vesting options from 2029-2032, potentially locking him down for almost a decade. Instead, he heads back to Houston, reportedly the only team he’d waive his no-trade clause for, and will play third base.
What the Twins got back
| Player | Level | Age/Former Team/Traded For |
| RHP Taj Bradley | MLB | Age 24 / Rays / G. Jax |
| OF James Outman | MLB/AAA | Age 28 / Dodgers / B. Stewart |
| RHP Mick Abel | MLB/AAA | Age 23 / Phillies / J. Duran |
| OF/1B Alan Roden | MLB/AAA | Age 24 / Blue Jays / Varland + France |
| LHP Kendry Rojas | AAA | Age 22 / Blue Jays / Varland + France |
| OF Hendry Mendez | AA | Age 21 / Phillies / H. Bader |
| RHP Ryan Gallagher | AA | Age 22 / Cubs / W. Castro |
| RHP Sam Armstrong | AA | Age 24 / Cubs / W. Castro |
| C Eduardo Tait | A+ | Age 19 / Phillies / J. Duran |
| LHP Matt Mikulski | A+ | Age 26 / Astros / C. Correa |
| LHP Garrett Horn | A | Age 22 / Rangers / D. Coulombe |
| RHP Geremy Villoria | DSL | Age 16 / Phillies / H. Bader |
The Twins got in return a mix of major-league experience and future prospect talent.
Taj Bradley, a former top prospect of the Rays, is pitching in his third big-league season with middling results in the form of a 4.61 ERA and 4.21 FIP. His 20.2% strikeout rate is down significantly from his first two years, where he struck opposing hitters out at rates of 28% and 26.6%, respectively.
Eduardo Tait (No. 4 according to MLB Pipeline), a left-handed-hitting catcher recently promoted to High-A after performing well at A ball, and Mick Abel (No. 6), a former first-round pick in 2020, were the young players the Twins received for star closer Jhoan Duran. Kendry Rojas (No. 7), Ryan Gallagher (No. 16) and Hendry Mendez (No. 20) hold three more spots in the system.
Rojas, signed out of Cuba in 2020, has dealt with injuries over the years, but this year has a 3.46 ERA over 10 starts in the minor leagues. Gallagher profiles as a “high floor” prospect “as a likely No. 4 starter and shouldn’t take too long to impact the Twins’ big league rotation,” according to MLB Pipeline. Mendez is still young at 21 in AA, and needs to improve his offense, despite slashing a solid .300/.379/.450 in this season across 307 plate appearances.
What does all this do for them?
First of all, the Twins save big on the Correa contract. Instead of having to pay out Correa’s $103.4 million that remains on his deal, they only owe Houston $33 million of it, paid out in 4 installments every December. His contract previously represented 25 percent of the payroll of a team up for sale and strict on budget.
Next, it replenishes the Twins with solid young talent as they face an uncertain future. They held the likes of ace starting pitcher Joe Ryan and long-time center fielder Byron Buxton, as well as acquired young big-league starter Taj Bradley, signaling a desire to be competitive in the near future. The rebuttal against this claim, however, is that the Twins traded young, elite late-inning arms with years of team control. It’s almost head-scratching for baseball followers: where do the Twins see themselves in the near future?
Perhaps Minnesota simply wanted a reset with who they viewed as their most important and fitting players. Perhaps they believe they can find relievers to be just as effective or usable in relation to Duran, Jax and Coulombe, all of whom have been worthy of recognition. Or perhaps they are trying to place the club in a better spot financially in the long-term for prospective buyers of the club. Dan Hayes wrote in May the Pohlad family were holding firm in their asking price of ~$1.7 billion, concerning interested parties who are worried about future revenues of the team.
FanGraphs pegs the Twins at a projected 25-26 for the rest of the 2025 season, finishing the full 2025 at a measly 77-85. Brooks Lee will take over full-time at shortstop for Correa, while the Twins will have to hope Royce Lewis can stay healthy–something he hasn’t been able to do over his 4 seasons in the majors. This could mean the trials of big-league time for the FanGraphs’ top 2 Twins prospects, outfielders Walker Jenkins (.304/.414/.486, 14.8 BB%, 151 wRC+ in 169 PA in AA) and Emmanuel Rodriguez (.254/.411/.428, 19.4% BB%, 128 wRC+ in 175 PA at AAA), but that remains to be seen.
Concerns over clubhouse atmosphere and player attitude are also likely. From a player’s perspective, the front office punting on the season does no positives for morale and presents confusion for the players without clear goals. What goes on behind the scenes in Minnesota is not publicly known–communication about the future intentions for a player are handled internally–but it will remain an interesting storyline to watch in the coming years (or not if the Pohlads don’t sell this team soon!).
Inner Half 