Louis Varland/Ty France: My Grade D
I absolutely disliked this hasty, last-minute, deadline trade for many reasons. Yes, you got a solid pitching prospect in Kendry Rojas and a possible usable outfielder in Alan Roden, but the optics are just awful. Varland was nowhere near his peak trade value as he was next in line to take over the closer role. He was inexpensive, his analytics were on the rise and the Minnesota roots made him a hometown favorite. In the present, the Twins got fleeced as both prospects are still in the development process. Varland and France are plug-and-play ready for the ascending Blue Jays. While the return may be of decent value to their current ratings to earn a passing grade of D, this was just a terrible look all around.
Carlos Correa: My grade C-
This is a complex one. The rationale that it "eased the tight payroll" is the central issue. The contract itself wasn't an overpay for a player of Correa's caliber at the time, but he never fully delivered the dividends on his blue-chip value. For a team with the Twins' self-imposed payroll constraints, committing $33.3M to one player absolutely limited flexibility elsewhere. The player-for-player move itself is absolutely laughable, as it returned absolutely nothing but a low-level fringe prospect in Matt Mikulski. A player of Correa's caliber should at least bring in a back-end level, #3-5 starting rotation pitching prospect.
The move itself was a decent salary dump for the penny pinching Twins, I'll grade that a B- as they're still on the hook for $33M. The roster-building strategy around it was absolutely horrific, an absolute F, other than freeing up future payroll for possible free agent signings, to get to the C- grade.
Jhoan Durán/Harrison Bader: My Grade B–
The return was two top-100 prospects. You're getting a back-of-the-rotation #3-5 type starter in Mick Abel and a good-hitting catching prospect in Eduardo Tait. But to lose arguably the best lockdown closer in baseball and a quality 4th outfielder made the trade favor Philadelphia.
The prospect haul holds some upside, but I'd like to have seen a #1-2 starter type prospect for the top closer and possibly the best 4th outfielder in baseball.
Brock Stewart, Willi Castro, Danny Coulombe, Chris Paddack (+ Randy Dobnak): My Grade B-
Let's group all these guys together for time purposes. They all made sense as all of them were on expiring contracts. Saving some bickering, the prospect return varied, but was about equitable to maybe even slightly above average. I didn't mind any of these moves, as they brought some upside in return.
Griffin Jax: My Grade B+
I actually don't mind this trade at all. Jax is likely at or near his top trade value. He was becoming disgruntled and to receive Taj Bradley was a nice get. At his ceiling, I see Bradley as a productive #3 starter and his floor is probably a move to bullpen, where he could find success. This was my favorite deal at the deadline.
Final Grade: My Grade C
The overall grade is that, while the value returned was often fair to good, the sheer scale of the rapid sell‑off, losing close to 40 % of the roster, felt shockingly desperate.