Twins’ morale at an ugly low after trade deadline

The Twins are having a full-blown fire sale, and the team’s players aren’t happy about it.

“Now no one wants to stay if they are selling like this,” one Twins player told The Athletic’s Dan Hayes ahead of Thursday’s MLB trade deadline.

The comment came after Minnesota traded star shortstop Carlos Correa to the Astros, closer Jhoan Duran and outfielder Harrison Bader to the Phillies, reliever Brock Stewart to the Dodgers, reliever Danny Coulombe to the Rangers and starter Chris Paddack to the Tigers in the last few days. 

Then, shortly after Hayes posted the quote to X, Minnesota traded utility man Willi Castro to the Cubs, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Reliever Griffin Jax was then dealt to the Rays right at the 6 p.m. deadline.

The Twins are 51-57, good for fourth in the American League Central and 5 ½ games out of the final AL wild-card spot. 

In Bader (2.0), Duran (1.3), Paddack (1.2) and Castro (1.1), the Twins shipped away four of their top-10 leaders in WAR, with Correa (1.1), Coulombe (1.0) and Stewart (0.6) all in the top 20. 

Star pitcher Joe Ryan was mentioned in trade rumors ahead of the deadline, although he was not moved. 

After Wednesday’s 13-1 loss to the Red Sox at Target Field, Correa told reporters he would “see how it goes” at the deadline. 

“You listen to the rumors and all that, and feel like it happens every year,” he said. “You’ve just got to play it out…We’ll see where everything goes, but my goal has always been to be here and win here, and I’ve been talking to [executive vice president Derek Falvey] and [manager Rocco Baldelli], and I’ll be ready for the next series.”

Correa did have a no-trade clause with Minnesota, so he approved his getting traded to Houston.

The Twins are just two seasons removed from winning the AL Central in 2023, when they lost in the ALDS to the Astros. 

They finished fourth in the division last season and seem to be throwing the towel on this campaign, too.