Twins General Manager Jeremy Zoll predicted a lot of teams would use this week to determine their direction at the Aug. 3 trade deadline, waiting as long as possible to see how they’re positioned in a jumbled playoff field.
So far, it’s been a rough week.
The Twins lost four of their first five games out of the All-Star break, including four in a row entering Wednesday. FanGraphs dropped their playoff odds below 20%.
There were about a half-dozen teams that sent scouts to watch the Twins play against the Cubs in Chicago last weekend, preparing for the possibility the Twins make some of their players available in trade talks.
But the Twins front office remains in evaluation mode. Following a road series in Cleveland, the Twins will play host to the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals, two of the bottom three teams in the American League standings.
Here are the latest rumblings on Twins trade candidates:
No matter how the Twins played coming out of the All-Star break, Jeffers was their most intriguing trade candidate. He’s a free agent at the end of the season, and the Twins might balk at offering a $23 million qualifying offer that would net draft pick compensation if he signed elsewhere.
Victor Caratini, who is signed through the 2027 season, played well when Jeffers was on the injured list because of a broken hamate. Caratini entered Wednesday with an .882 OPS over his last 31 games. The Twins opted to keep Alex Jackson as a third catcher rather than exposing him to waivers when Jeffers returned.
The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays are both seeking upgrades at catcher and have scouted the Twins for multiple weeks to keep a close eye on how Jeffers played after his injury. There is a growing sense from other teams that the Twins are open to trading Jeffers.
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Jeffers said. “You just go out there and continue to play baseball. If I wanted to be a GM, I’d stop playing. I’ll keep on playing and figure out the career path after that.”
Ryan could fit onto any team’s playoff rotation, so he would generate the best return in a trade if the Twins made him available. Excluding Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, a pending free agent, Ryan might top the list of speculative starting pitching trade candidates.
The Cubs are one of the most motivated teams to add a frontline starting pitcher.
Trading Ryan, however, would signal a bigger teardown. He remains under team control through the 2027 season, and the Twins figure to have a stronger starting rotation next year as Pablo López recovers from elbow surgery.
The trade deadline, Ryan said, “is not really at the forefront of my mind with what’s going to happen. I’ve learned how much out of my control that is.”
Like Jeffers, Larnach could be a trade candidate even if the Twins operated as buyers. He’s delivering the best season of his career, providing high-quality at-bats atop the lineup, but the Twins have a lot of lefthanded-hitting outfielders below him on the depth chart.
Trading Larnach could open more playing time for younger outfielders like Alan Roden, Walker Jenkins or Emmanuel Rodriguez, who started swinging again after he had thumb surgery.
Multiple scouts questioned how much trade value Larnach holds, which they believe makes him more likely to stay with the Twins. He has seven homers in 84 games, low for a corner outfielder who is graded as a below-average defender, and his salary might rise above $7 million next year through arbitration.
Bell, who is playing on a one-year contract, has been traded at the deadline three times in his career, so he has been targeted in the past. He has hit better since the start of June, but his .737 OPS is probably on the low side for an everyday designated hitter.
If the Twins continue their slide out of the All-Star break, there is a higher likelihood they consider trading pending free agents for even low-level prospects.
Rogers, the only reliever who has been in the Twins bullpen all season, carries trade value because he’s lefthanded. But the Twins treasure his leadership, almost an extra coach for an inexperienced bullpen.
Buxton holds a full no-trade clause, and he has said repeatedly he wants to remain with the Twins. Zoll and owner Tom Pohlad both declared him virtually untouchable.
When Buxton was upset the Twins didn’t do more to shut down trade rumors last offseason, Pohlad made a trip to visit Buxton after he became the club’s principal owner.
“I trust [Pohlad],” Buxton said earlier this month. “He’s doing what he says as far as what he told me. It’s one of those where you can’t build Rome in one day. You have to trust the process, trust what he’s doing. That’s what we’re doing in here.”
If the Twins break out of their post-All-Star break slump, they will continue to seek pitching whether it’s for the bullpen or rotation. Mick Abel is expected to miss the rest of the year because of an elbow injury, so they’re very light on starting pitching depth.
The Twins acquired veteran reliever Tommy Nance from Toronto before the All-Star break.
“We’ve talked about wanting to be open to finding ways to improve the bullpen whether that was in the offseason, spring training or during the year,” Zoll said.