OAKLAND, CALIF. -- Denard Span is still a Twin. Sunday's non-waiver trade deadline passed at 3 p.m. (Central), and the Twins did not make any moves.
"We had a lot of activity, we had a lot of calls, we made progress on a number of possibilities, but we just couldn't get to the finish line," General Manager Bill Smith said in a telephone conversation with reporters. "And it's disappointing because we've had an awful lot of people do an awful lot of work."
Span is scheduled to play his final rehab game for Class AAA Rochester on Sunday night and then fly to Anaheim, Calif., where the Twins will open a series with the Angels on Tuesday.
The Nationals tried very hard to get Span in a trade, and even though the Twins like Washington closer Drew Storen, the teams couldn't reach a deal.
The Twins did talk to the Blue Jays about re-acquiring reliever John Rauch, but nothing happened on that front either.
Teams can still make trades in August, but players must first be placed through waivers.
"That starts tomorrow, and there are a lot of good players that are going to pass through there," Smith said. "We're going to have to be careful, going to have to be smart, going to have to be aggressive trying to improve this club.
"We're in contention, and there's no question this club has the talent to contend and win this division. We've done it a number of times over the last decade. You always want to try to provide more ammunition to the manager and the other players. If we can make the team better, we're going to."
