The Minnesota Twins are set to be trade deadline buyers as the team is surprisingly in the thick of the American League playoff race.
Last season, the Twins essentially had a firesale as the team traded basically anyone on their roster who had trade value. The club was expected to be one of the worst teams in the AL once again this season, but somehow, the Twins have far exceeded expectations, and a playoff spot is very possible.
With a 54-54 record, the Twins are at .500 and are just 0.5 GB of the Cleveland Guardians for the third and final AL Wild Card spot. They are also just 2 GB of the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central.
With the playoffs very possible for Minnesota, the team is going to be buyers instead of sellers at this year’s deadline, something that no one would have ever expected coming into this season.
Twins Set To Be Buyers
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Twins GM Jeremy Zoll confirmed that the plan is for Minnesota to add, not subtract, to its major-league roster ahead of the MLB trade deadline on August 3.
“If we go back to Spring Training, we spent a lot of time talking about (how) our goal was to play meaningful games in September. We’re really excited about how the team has played over this last stretch. We’re really encouraged about that. In turn, we’re going to use this next stretch, this next week, to do everything we can to find ways to improve the club and continue to execute on that goal and make it a reality,” Zoll said (via MLB.com).
The one area that Zoll says he is going to try to improve the most on the team is in the bullpen, where the team is looking to acquire a few extra arms ahead of the playoffs.
“We’re going to focus on finding to continue to improve the bullpen and that’ll be a clear focus. Beyond that, we’re going to be open to a variety of creative paths and you never know what might come about. This year in particular feels like the market is taking longer to fully take shape as teams have really used last week, this past weekend and, in some cases, these next few days to finalize their path,” Zoll said.
Ryan Jeffers Unlikely To Be Dealt
While the Twins could potentially move catcher Ryan Jeffers, an impending free agent who is having a tremendous season behind the plate, Zoll said it’s more likely that Jeffers will stay in place for the stretch run as he’s in the midst of his best season at the plate as a major leaguer.
“In terms of individual speculation, I don’t think it’s particularly productive to work through all that. But what I’ll say is on Ryan specifically, he’s had an awesome year. We’re really excited about where he’s at, and looking forward to doing everything we can to keep the group together and put us in the best spot to keep pushing ahead,” Zoll said.
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