As the Minnesota Twins continue to claw their way into a playoff position, it has become increasingly clear that if they want to make the postseason (barring a full-on collapse from the Detroit Tigers), they will have to be one of the three wildcard teams when the season comes to a close.
Currently, the Twins stand one game behind from a wildcard spot after dropping five in a row whilst going 2-8 in their last ten games. This poor stretch has them standing right at .500 with a 36-36 record, good for ninth in the American League standings. As mentioned earlier, Minnesota's best chance for a postseason berth is snagging one of those three available wildcard slots given that the Tigers are holding onto dear life with their increasingly growing AL Central division lead.
While the Tampa Bay Rays and Toronto Blue Jays are currently rounding out the top two wild card spots with a small lead, the third spot is essentially a revolving door between seven other teams, including the Twins, that are all within two-and-a-half games of that spot. As of writing this, the Seattle Mariners are currently holding that third and last wild card position.
However, the Twins just got a potential outside boost that could help them crawl up the standings: the classic tale of the Boston Red Sox trading their franchise players.
Twins' playoff odds just skyrocketed after bombshell Rafael Devers trade
On June 16th, the Red Sox sent their slugger Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for a plethora of pitching (Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison and Jose Bello) and outfielder James Tibbs III, San Francisco's No. 4 prospect. This came after Devers and the Red Sox's management were up to their throats against each other as the lone remaining player from the 2018 World Series run didn't want to play another position beyond third base following the acquisition of third basemen Alex Bregman in free agency.
Adding on top of Devers' inflexibility with other positions amidst injuries hitting the team, Boston decided it was best to part ways with the player that they had just extended two years ago with an 11-year/$331-million-dollar extension that would've kept him in Boston until 2033. With Devers' departure and the Red Sox dealing with injuries all throughout their roster, it has potentially opened the door that they will wave the white flag for the 2025 season with the departure of their superstar.
Why does this help the Twins exactly, however? Simply put: getting rid of another opponent would benefit the Twins over the long haul of the season. But just as much as it would benefit Minnesota, it would also benefit the rest of the American League teams vying for a wildcard spot.
On June 16th, the Twins had a 42.4% chance, and the Red Sox had a 34.7% chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs's Playoff Odds. Fast forward to June 18th, Boston's dropped to 31% and Minnesota's dipped a little to 37.5%. The Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox both stand fourth and fifth overall in the wildcard playoff odds concurrently.
If Minnesota can rebound and salvage this series against the Cincinnati Reds, chances are those odds will greatly return in their favor, especially with Boston having to deal with the current holder of the last wildcard spot, the Seattle Mariners.
Of course, who knows what the season standings will look like down the line. We are only in the middle of June, not even at the halfway point of the regular season yet. As the season begins to wind down, we will eventually see what the wildcard race will become. Minnesota still controls their own destiny at the end of the day. However, it might be likely to see that the Twins can take advantage of Boston's situation and ride that boost all the way back to a wildcard spot. It's always fun to take a look at the wild card standings, even if it is still sort of early for it.
The Minnesota Twins will look to get back on track once more following a loss to the Cincinnati Reds with game two of this three-game set Wednesday afternoon at 6:10 p.m. The Twins will toss right-handed pitcher Bailey Ober on the mound against Cincinnati's left-handed Nick Lodelo.