One Player the MN Twins are Supposedly Trading

The Minnesota Twins left Los Angeles Wednesday, after being walked off in heartbreaking fashion by the Dodgers, officially marking their post All-Star Game road trip as a failure. Friday, they returned home and snuck out a 1-0 victory over the Washington Nationals, pushing their record within three games of .500, at 50-53.

Nonetheless, the Twins would have to go of going 4-1 in their next five games, in order to climb back to .500 before the MLB trade deadline on July 31.

The Minnesota front office has indicated a plan to sell around league circles, but until the moves start rolling in, we don’t know how far they will go down the seller’s path. Is team president Derek Falvey trying to limit the deadline selling to impending free agent Twins, and other fringe moves?

Or… could he have something splashier in mind? Ultimately, the answer to that question may depend on how good the final offers are on guys like Joe Ryan, Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran, because the Twins are asking the world right now, in return for those high-caliber controllable assets.

On the other side of the trade deadline coin, the MN Twins have six players on expiring contracts, who they will not be charging an arm and a leg for.

Aaron Gleeman says Willi Castro is gone for Minnesota Twins

At any moment this weekend, or next week, it’s very possible we see some combination of Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, Chris Paddack, Danny Coulombe, Ty France and Christian Vazquez traded away, no matter how valuable some of them have been to the teams somewhat limited 2025 success.

But when told by his bosses at The Athletic to pick one Twins player “who WILL be wearing a new uniform by July 31”, newly promoted “Senior Writer”, Aaron Gleeman chose Willi Castro, citing his Swiss Army Knife ability to play anywhere defensively, while still producing at the plate.

Castro is the best of the Twins’ six impending free agents, each of whom figures to be very available. He can play anywhere defensively and he’s a switch hitter with good speed and a .741 OPS over three seasons in Minnesota, making him a smooth fit in almost any lineup. Castro was an All-Star last season and he’s having an even better 2025, so the 28-year-old should have plenty of suitors.

Aaron Gleeman – The Athletic

Last season, when Castro was named an All-Star he owned a .247/.331/.385 slash line (101 OPS+), a final line that was dragged down by a less-than-stellar second half, something he shared with many on the Twins’ roster in 2024.

This season, Castro has rebounded with another strong first half showing — .257/.346/.429 (112 OPS+) — and he’s remained every bit as reliable, on the defensive utility front, proving himself capable of playing just about anywhere in the infield or outfield.

As Gleeman points out… what Playoff team couldn’t find a useful role for a guy like that?

Willi Castro has a homer off a lefty this season. pic.twitter.com/YtWZEl0ZrN

— Ted (@tlschwerz) June 4, 2025

Castro was signed by the MN Twins in December of 2022, one month after he was granted free agency by the Detroit Tigers, making Willi hands down one of the best success stories of the Derek Falvey era.

Castro is still just 28 years old. He’s making just $6.4 million this season, which is his final year of arbitration, meaning he will be an unrestricted free agent when the league calendar flips from 2025 to 2026.

Related: Former GM Calls for Twins to Complete Blockbuster

In other words, Willi Castro is the exact type of player that the Minnesota Twins should be looking to move, if they’re trying to sell anything of significance by July 31.

What can MN Twins get for Willi Castro?

The New York Yankees just traded for Colorado Rockies infielder Ryan McMahon. His 88 OPS+ is worse than Castro’s, he doesn’t play the outfield, and he is making $12 million this season with $32 million on the books through 2027.

They were the 8th and 21st best prospects in the Yankee organization, according to MLB Pipeline https://t.co/bvmvoZQt2m

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 25, 2025

That looks like something of a salary dump by the Rockies, and New York stopped short of going after a more talented player like Eugenio Suarez. Like the Diamondbacks third basemen, Castro is a rental. He isn’t in the same realm offensively (149 OPS+) but makes less than half of Suarez’s $15 million.

Minnesota should be able to get a couple of solid prospects for Castro, if not someone on the fringe of either readiness or top 100 consideration. He checks too many boxes for competing teams, and that’s something other front offices should be lining up to acquire.

As Gleeman notes, it seems like Castro has less than six days left on the Minnesota Twins active roster.