Let me start by saying, what the Twins did at the trade deadline is outright inexplicable. Twins fans have every right to be upset, angry and downright disgusted with what the front office was likely commanded by ownership to do. The term ‘fire sale’ is a good way to describe what took place, it was an unloading of everything except the cupholders on the seats. The Twins traded 10 active major-league players from their team, including 11 players off their 40-man roster, all to save $26 million in the end. A drop in the bucket of the $440 million hole they have spent their way into. Chris Paddack, gone. Carlos Correa, gone. Hometown kid Louie Varland, who was making cents on the dollar compared to other major leaguers, out. And the list goes on and on. Anyone and everyone was on the block for the Twins who ignited what was going to be a quiet trade deadline into a transaction frenzy.
There wasn’t much that was going on at this year’s deadline, until the Twins started to make moves. The question that all Twins fans have, what is the plan? Where do they go from here? Now that they have freed a little money up off the books, what is the next step? The owners and front office have waved the white flag on this season, dumped All-Star talent and came up with nothing to show for it. It is almost unexplainable.
Things were already on a downward trend for the Twins. Out of the All-Star break, they had not won a series including dropping sets to the Colorado Rockies and the Washington Nationals, two last place teams. They found themselves in fourth place in the AL Central, 12 games behind the Detroit Tigers. While it was unlikely the Twins would rip the division title away from a red-hot Tigers organization, there was still a reasonable fight for the Wild Card. That was until the trade deadline. The Twins are starting from scratch, they’re front office is trying to paint the picture that they got real talent in return, but Twins fans aren’t buying it. Why would they part ways with a guy like Varland, who was one of the best relievers in terms of production and contract? Varland was born in St. Paul and was beloved by the fanbase, it simply doesn’t make any sense.
Twins fateful have been shouting for the Pohlad’s to sell the team, but those cries have grown the loudest over the past few days. In the midst of all of this, the Twins had to call up eight minor-leaguers just to fill positions. It is a complete circus and there really only seems like there is one way out of what has taken place, and almost every Twins fan feels that the way out is for the Pohlad’s to sell the team.
Last night, the rag-tag group of Twins handed the Tigers a 6-3 defeat evening up the series at one game apiece. However, the wounds of this week will need a lot more than one win in August over a rival team. This is going to sting for a while.
Comments