The Minnesota Twins dropped another game to the Detroit Tigers 5-4 on Monday afternoon and despite Joe Ryan’s return, it was the latest chapter of a late-season collapse. After entering August with a record of 56-56, the Twins have gone 12-21 with a .364 winning percentage since and it’s part of an ongoing trend over the past few seasons.
According to Aaron Gleeman of AaronGleeman.com, the Twins posted a 19-34 record with a .352 winning percentage after Aug. 1. While last year’s team had the benefit of blaming a fire sale at last year’s deadline, this year’s team may be worse after the team acquired Dean Kremer, Jeff Hoffman and A.J. Minter to help fuel a playoff run in a weak American League playoff race.
Adding the Twins’ collapse from 2024, where they went 22-32 down the stretch, Minnesota owns a combined 53-87 record and .378 winning percentage in August and September over the past three seasons. And it should inspire Minnesota to take off the band aid and complete a roster overhaul going into next offseason.
The Twins have reached a point where major changes are needed
The Twins have been trying to avoid this in recent years and especially since Tom Pohlad took over as controlling owner last winter. While Minnesota traded 11 players off their 40-man roster in advance of the 2025 trade deadline, this year’s team has been careful not to upset the clubhouse or fans who are angry over the fact that a member of the Pohlad family is still in charge.
But the way the Twins have performed down the stretch in each of the past three years opens a conversation about what they’re hanging on to.
In 2024, the Twins were a virtual lock to make the playoffs before the offense disappeared, the bullpen collapsed and Carlos Correa criticized the younger players on the team over their lack of urgency down the stretch.
In 2025, it was the fire sale and a collection of younger players that seemed overwhelmed in their first extended opportunity in the majors.
This season, it’s a trend that continues. Byron Buxton got hurt after a stellar first half. The starting pitching ran out of depth as Joe Ryan hit another second-half wall before a trip to the injured list. The offense went cold in August and Minnesota’s defense looks closer to something you would see at a local beer league game than a Major League ballpark.
We haven’t even discussed the bullpen, which relied on low-cost lottery tickets that flamed out toward the end of the year and the Twins have already tried to identify the problem, firing Rocco Baldelli at the end of last season and installing former bench coach Derek Shelton as his replacement.
While Shelton’s culture in the clubhouse has earned rave reviews, it hasn’t stopped the Twins from their annual late-season slide. And instead of maintaining that tradition, the time has come for Minnesota to make some serious changes.
The Twins need to admit their current roster isn’t working
Some players on the roster are ascending and have earned a steady role moving forward. But there is a long list of veterans who could be on the way out.
Ryan is one example as a player who is set up to get paid after the 2027 season. But even if he wasn’t about to be out of the Twins’ price range, he’s become a first-half pitcher who stumbles in the second half. Trading one of your best pitchers could give the fans that are left from last year’s fire sale PTSD, but it might be the right move that replenishes the farm system and gives younger players a chance to contribute.
Royce Lewis is another player whom the Twins have a pretty good idea of what he is. While the 2023 season represents promise, the past three years have shown a streaky hitter that refuses to make adjustments at the plate, giving him a .235/.293/.410 batter’s line over the past three seasons.
Trevor Larnach was another player who disappeared once the calendar turned to August, hitting .207/.266/.379 with four homers and nine RBI in his last 27 games. The Twins already tried to trade him to the Houston Astros before owner Jim Crane stepped in and getting rid of him would eliminate a logjam in the outfield where the Twins have a bunch of replacement-level options.
Even allowing Ryan Jeffers to walk in free agency might be for the best. While he got off to a fast start before breaking his hamate bone in May, his .862 OPS is his highest since he put up an .858 OPS during the 2023 season. Overall, Jeffers is a serviceable hitter with a career line of .243/.328/.430, but as a player that could cash in big in free agency and has been part of these collapses, it may just be time to move on.
The biggest concern is that trading multiple veterans off the team would weaken Minnesota’s leadership. But that seems to be absent as the team heads into another free fall. The latest collapse shows what the Twins are hanging onto just isn’t working and it may be a good reason to dust off to blow up the roster at last year’s deadline and bring it into next winter.
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