Report: MN Twins Buying, Not Selling at Trade Deadline

This week, despite the 35-40 Minnesota Twins winning four of their last five games, trade deadline rumors across the league have had them preparing as sellers for the second-straight season.

On Wednesday, for example, MLB insiders Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel released a Top 100 trade deadline big board at ESPN that included eight key MN Twins contributors, three of whom landed in the top 25.

The list even went as far as to rank Byron Buxton as its No. 2 overall deadline asset. Joe Ryan was No. 4 and Ryan Jeffers was No. 21. This, despite the Twins having a 26% chance to make the 2026 postseason, according to FanGraphs.com.

Minnesota Twins expected to sell at deadline…?

Current win/loss record and playoff odds aside, selling makes sense for the Twins, contractually speaking. Ryan Jeffers is about to become a free agent after the season and Joe Ryan is running out of arbitration years to keep his cost down.

Ryan was one of the lone survivors after the Twins’ teardown last deadline — and Minnesota was deep into discussions on deals involving him, as well. So, a move would surprise nobody, particularly considering that Ryan looks better than ever this season.

ESPN

If the MN Twins want to cash in on either player, the best time to do it is right now. And let’s be real, if the Twins move on from those two, especially Ryan, why would Byron Buxton stay? At the end of the day, it’s up to him, and he has been emphatically against leaving.

But this isn’t a young Buck we’re talking about anymore. At 32 years old, I can’t imagine Byron wants to stick around for another “almost full rebuild,” as Passan and Kiley call it. To add fuel into the fire — if Buxton were to waive his no-trade, he’d “fetch a monster return”.

Minnesota is positioned to have another active deadline and go almost full rebuild, and if anything will change Buxton’s mind, it’s the Twins’ timeline. Should that happen, his chances of moving will be more like Skubal’s; and between Buxton’s multiple years of control and a reasonable contract, he’ll fetch a monster return.

ESPN

Related: MN Twins Superstar Struggling to Get All-Star Votes

In other words, the widely-accepted theory around baseball, as conversations surrounding the 2026 MLB trade deadline begin, is that Minnesota will finish the selloff it started last summer.

Let’s not forget that, just one year ago, team president Derek Falvey traded half the 26-man roster, including Carlos Correa, Willi Castro and the entire bullpen, a teardown that the team has yet to recover from.

Here’s the thing, though. Not every insider around baseball is hearing the same things that others seem to be. In fact, there is one especially plugged-in guy over at The Athletic Thursday morning who is reporting exactly the opposite.

Not so fast says one former MLB GM turned insider…

Jim Bowden isn’t your average MLB insider. He’s a former league executive, who in that past life, held TWO general manager positions (Reds, Nationals). And on Thursday morning, after “contacting all 30 MLB teams” Bowden reported that the Minnesota Twins have no plans of selling at the trade deadline.

Instead, he is extremely convinced the Twins are seeking bullpen help for the 2026 postseason. According to Bowden, the Twins believe that — if they can keep Buxton and Royce Lewis healthy — they are a couple of good relievers away from making a playoff run.

The Twins are searching for bullpen help and believe if they can keep their star players like Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis healthy that they can stay in the race all season.

Jim Bowden – The Athletic

My educated guess is that Bowden’s steam comes from directly inside the Twins organization. He’s far too certain with his verbiage for it to be coming from anywhere else.

As mentioned earlier, the Minnesota Twins are well within the conversation as American League Wild Card contenders. So if this organization wasn’t Pohlad-owned — if it hadn’t cut $50 million in player payroll the past few years, there would be no talk about selling off Buxton or Joe Ryan.

Related: Another Talented Twins Pitcher Ready to Return from Injury

So, if we accept the idea that floating around .500 makes you a playoff team in today’s expanded Wild Card era — and that Tom Pohlad was serious about investing in the roster, if and when it made sense, then the Twins should be trade deadline buyers, not sellers.

But until that actually happens, it will be difficult to convince those around the league that the Pohlads are actually going to spend money to help their baseball team win.

More About:Minnesota Twins