Saturday, August 02

MINNEAPOLIS -- As you read this, the Twins have flown to Cleveland, and I’m probably sitting at my computer at home in the Minneapolis suburbs. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is probably in his hotel room, and likewise for most of the team’s players.

We’re all doing pretty much the same thing -- sitting and waiting for 5 p.m. CT, the 2025 Trade Deadline.

The Twins have already been busy, making one of the Deadline’s first significant moves when they sent Chris Paddack to the Tigers and then one of the biggest when they sent Jhoan Duran to the Phillies. And it’s reasonable to expect they will remain busy up until closing time, with five pending free agents plus some additional very big names in play.

The biggest of those names, of course, is Carlos Correa, who has drawn interest from the Astros but appears to be a long shot to be dealt. Joe Ryan and Griffin Jax have also gotten plenty of mention in the rumor mill. And then there’s another tier of players more likely to be moved, but with maybe less star power. Regardless, there is likely to be news over the course of the day.

“I think we’re still kind of in a holding pattern of seeing exactly how far down the rabbit hole we go as an organization,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said Tuesday. “We’re pretty close to finding that out, I’m sure. I’m sure now that the ball’s rolling with making a move [Monday], I think stuff is going to start happening.”

As for the specifics, Correa also is one of the least likely players to move in a Deadline deal. He’s owed $96 million from 2026-2028, and he has full no-trade protection. He also doesn’t have a whole lot of desire to leave Minnesota, though the possibility of returning to Houston might alter that view some.

So let’s look at some more likely scenarios. That starts with the Twins’ five players who could hit free agency after 2025: Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe, Ty France and Christian Vázquez. Castro and Bader in particular have drawn a great deal of interest, and as an effective left-handed reliever on an affordable one-year deal, Coulombe has assuredly drawn plenty of interest.

“When you've got a good bullpen and a team is viewed as out of the hunt, there's going to be interest,” Coulombe said. “It's a good thing to have the interest. But I think everybody is a little unsettled. We don't have much control over that, so we control what we can control.”

There is no combination of those five players who could be dealt that would be especially surprising. That doesn’t mean that all five will go, and in fact, all five probably will not. But they’re the names to watch the most closely.

Where things get complicated is with Ryan and Jax. They have drawn interest, and if either or both of them were to be made available, they'd rank at or near the top of the most desirable pitchers on the entire trade market.

Jax is among the top relievers in the game, and Ryan has fully cemented himself as one of baseball’s best starters this year. They’re both under team control for two years after this year. So the question is, does the trade of Duran indicate a much bigger sell, with names like Jax and Ryan now in play? Or is it the last move the Twins will make with a player under longer team control? There is no urgency to deal either of them unless the absolute right offer comes along.

But you always listen. And at the Deadline, every contender wants pitching help, especially relief help. So it will not be shocking if some team meets the asking price on one of the three, with the relievers more likely than Ryan.

One way or another, there’s a good chance that the roster that takes the field in Cleveland on Friday will look quite a bit different from the one that played at Target Field on Wednesday.

Brooks Lee was as surprised as anyone when he joined an exclusive club on Tuesday night. Lee became the sixth player in Twins history to homer from both sides of the plate in the same game, joining Roy Smalley, Chili Davis, Ryan Doumit, Kennys Vargas and Jorge Polanco.

“I don’t hit homers,” Lee said, “and I don’t hit ‘em from both sides of the plate in the same day. So that was pretty cool.”

The big game was a continuation of a small recent surge for Lee, who had a walk-off hit on Monday and two hits on July 26 against Washington. He’d been slumping before that, so the hope is that he can get on a roll again.

“I hope so,” he said. “I think it’s going to happen to everybody, honestly. But yeah, just try to make sure that those valleys aren’t so low. It’s easy to say that, but how you’re going to play is how you’re going to play. I think as long as I come in with the right mindset every single day, be the same person, it should all work out. Try to stay as present as I can.”

Tom Petty, “The Waiting”

Jack Johnson, “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing”

Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett, “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”

Guns N’ Roses, “Patience”

Blondie, “Hanging on the Telephone”

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