Minnesota Twins Division Spotlight: Deals and Rumors in the AL Central

The Minnesota Twins have made one trade in this trade season. How are things going in the rest of their division?

The Minnesota Twins have jumped into the foray of the trade deadline this summer as they are competing in the American League Central currently. However, they are part of a division with five intriguing teams in the trade deadline, so it’s wise to take a look around the division as we are just four days from the deadline on Monday.

We’ll start with the home club, the Minnesota Twins

Moves already made

May 8: Traded Danny Santana to the Atlanta Braves for minor league reliever Kevin Chapman (Chapman was released June 14th)
June 7: Chris Heston selected off waivers from Los Angeles Dodgers
June 12: Tim Melville signed as free agent
June 22: Dillon Gee signed as free agent
July 7: Bartolo Colon signed as free agent
July 21: Michael Kohn signed as free agent
July 24: Traded Huascar Ynoa to the Atlanta Braves for Jaime Garcia, Anthony Recker, and cash

Obviously, the big deal was the most recent one to acquire Garcia from the Braves to fill a rotation spot, but there have been multiple deals along the way to provide depth in starting pitching options with Melville, Gee, and Colon along the way, along with other arms, whether or not they’ve worked out.

Players/needs still to address

The Twins still struggle as to whether to sell on some of their veteran pieces, like starter Ervin Santana or reliever Brandon Kintzler, or whether they should be buying at the right price for controllable pitching, both starting pitching and relief pitching. The 2017 team certainly needs help in the bullpen, so that would be a target if the team hopes to continue contending this season, but the team will certainly need bullpen help in 2018, whether that’s interior help or outside help, and that could be a target. Of course, the trade market on Brian Dozier could also open up as well.

Next: Chicago White Sox