Minnesota Twins May Still Sell at Deadline

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Minnesota Twins pitcher Joe Ryan (41) and Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers (27) talk at the mound during a game against the
Credit: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The 38-44 Minnesota Twins are back at Target Field tonight, after a much-needed day off to lick wounds from a sweep by the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this week.

Thankfully, the Twins’ weekend visitors — the 32-49 Colorado Rockies — offer an amazing opportunity to get right. Of course, whether or not they take advantage is anybody’s guess. And if they can’t…?

Then we can expect trade deadline winds to start swirling around our favorite baseball team yet again, and not in a good way. Let’s be real, win or lose, executives and insiders across baseball remain skeptical that the Minnesota Twins will be serious buyers, come August.

Minnesota Twins still expected to sell at trade deadline

Look no further than a recent article posted at CBSSports.com. Byron Buxton declaring publicly that he’s not interested in waiving his no-trade clause, and MN Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll announcing that the All-Star center fielder is off the table forced longtime MLB reporter Mike Axisa to admit Buxton may not be available in a trade.

However, he too remains confident that Minnesota is not a real deadline buyer. Instead, he expects them to act as sellers, with likely All-Star Joe Ryan and injured catcher Ryan Jeffers as their top trade assets.

The 32-year-old Buxton has been on a rampage the last few weeks, hitting .297/.351/.672 with 25 home runs in his last 55 games. The Twins are only two games out of a wild-card spot in the woebegone American League, though it seems unlikely they will buy significantly at the deadline. If anything, they could still sell, with righty Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers among their top trade chips.

Mike Axisa – CBS Sports

As you can see, even though insiders like Mike have been forced to take Buxton off their trade boards — or at least put a massive asterisk next to his name, they find it hard to believe the Minnesota Twins will act as anything other than sellers between now and the 2026 trade deadline.

Related: Luke Keaschall Moving Positions for MN Twins?

Dealing Joe Ryan — who has a 3.18 ERA and 2.81 FIP in 93.1 IP this season — would land the Twins a massive haul if they make him available at the deadline. Outside of Tarik Skubal, there won’t be a better more coveted starter on the market, especially with 1.5 seasons remaining of arbitration.

Ryan Jeffers — who becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season — may be injured now, but before he went on the IL, the 29-year-old former 2nd round pick was the best offensive catcher in baseball, batting .295 with a .949 OPS built on 7 HR and 26 RBI in 37 games played this season.

Will Byron Buxton change his deadline tune?

Here’s the thing. Byron Buxton — who’s hitting .270 with a .912 OPS, 25 HR and 41 RBI in 2026 — may want to stay in the Twin Cities now. That makes sense. He is the leader of a team that still very much has internal playoff aspirations. His comments last week were as much a vote of confidence in his teammates as it was anything else.

With that being said, if the MN Twins fall out of the playoff race and they indeed become sellers, will Byron still want to stick around then — after Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers are gone and winning baseball games no longer matters as much as developing prospects?

Will the 32-year-old aging superstar (who’s never played beyond an American League Divisional Series during his 12-year MLB career) still be hanging his hat on loyalty then?

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