Buckle up, the Twins season will be defined by August and September

The trade deadline has come and gone, and the Minnesota Twins were painfully quiet.

As brass likes to remind fans from time to time, the Twins television woes and revenue make them a mid-market team without a plethora of spending cash. Their stock answer is "we like where we're at", which is always an annoying thing to hear and espeically so this year.

Minnesota has one of the most competitive rosters in baseball, and are battling it out in a surprisingly tight AL Central. This isn't the division of years past, where a race to the middle doubles for a division title. Clevelan dand Kansas City are formidable foes this season and both used the deadline to get better.

That wasn't the case for the Twins, but all attention must shift away from being upset about what didn't happen toward what the future holds down the home stretch of the season.

Twins season will be defined by who they have on the roster, not who they didn't trade for

A ticket to the postseason is very much in play, either by way of a division title or a Wild Card berth.

Minnesota is battling the Royals, Red Sox, Mariners and Rays for the second Wild Card spot. The league is much more balanced this year and any hopes of the Twins running away with a play-off spot are relatively slim. Minnesota has a very competitive schedule down the stretch which also adds to the competitiveness of the play-off race.

Keys to the Twins success will have to be getting and remaining healthy, which is going to give them an uncanny edge. It's almost a cliche to hope for health down the stretch, but the Twins are getting Carlos Correa and Justin Topa back -- two major pieces -- and have a major leg up of Royce Lewis can stay in the lineup.

Another key thing to keep an eye on is whether Twins pitching keep absorbing injuries to starting pitchers and the bullpen. Not adding a starter at the deadline makes life a little harder than it should be, but it's hardly a fatal flaw that will hold the team back -- assuming everyone can stay healthy.

The Twins are really going to have to pick up their game as we enter August and September. It stinks to say it but Kansas City is looking very good and seems as though it will stick around in the race. The Rays and Mariners aren't going anywhere either, and Boston has won three of its last four games. It's going to get awfully interesting as we enter stretch mark on the back 1/3rd of the season.

Buckle up and enjoy, because the home stretch of this season is going to be a bumpy and wild ride.

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