It had been unclear for most of the season which direction the Minnesota Twins would take at the trade deadline. Would they buy? Sell? Both?
When Minnesota dropped four straight games (two to the Chicago Cubs and two to the Cleveland Guardians) recently, the team seemed destined to sell. But the team displayed its resiliency by winning five of its last six games, capped by a walk-off triple from Royce Lewis on Tuesday night.
Royce Lewis is the #walkoff hero for the Twins! pic.twitter.com/7V9Z03jFEy
— MLB (@MLB) July 29, 2026
After last night's victory, the Twins moved to just half a game back of the Guardians for the final American League Wild Card spot and two games behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the American League Central with a 54-54 record.
Before Tuesday night's victory, Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll made it clear the Twins will be buyers, not sellers, ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
“We're really excited about how the team has played over this last stretch. We're really encouraged about that,” Zoll said to reporters, including MLB.com's Matthew Leach. “In turn, we're going to use this next stretch, this next week, to do everything we can to find ways to improve the club and continue to execute on that goal and make it a reality.”
Twins appear set to keep Ryan Jeffers for the rest of the season
Even if the Twins are positioned as buyers, there are reasons to believe trading star catcher Ryan Jeffers would be a wise decision for the club. He is in the final year of his contract, and several top contenders are seeking to add catching help, meaning a team may overpay for the Twins backstop. Not to mention, Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson have both been swinging the bat well lately.
However, Jeffers is easily one of the best hitters in the Twins' lineup with a 160 wRC+, and Minnesota could still get value from him if/when he leaves the club in free agency this offseason. By extending Jeffers the qualifying offer at the end of the season, Minnesota would receive a compensatory draft pick if he signs with another team.
“In terms of individual speculation, I don’t think it’s particularly productive to work through all that,” Zoll said. “But what I’ll say is on Ryan [Jeffers] specifically, he’s had an awesome year. We’re really excited about where he’s at, and looking forward to doing everything we can to keep the group together and put us in the best spot to keep pushing ahead.”
Zoll is clearly thinking about winning this year. While trading Jeffers wouldn't be detrimental to the team's postseason chances, especially if they receive MLB-ready pitching in exchange for the catcher, he has been a key part of the offense when healthy and is likely important to the clubhouse chemistry.
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