The Twins made a flurry of moves before this season started, and as an organization priding itself on prudent thinking much of what was accomplished had one eye on the present and one eye on the future.
First-place Twins in dilemma of their own making as deadline nears
Twins decision-makers seemed unsure of what to make of their team before the season started. More than 100 games later, the same is true as a complicated trade deadline approaches.
August 1, 2022 at 3:05PM
Even the signature move — signing shortstop Carlos Correa, a shocker that signified a willingness to compete — carried a lot of flexibility: If the Twins won, maybe he'd stay a while. If they weren't competitive, he could be traded at the deadline.
Giving yourself options is generally good. But it can also create a predicament when no clear path is established before more major decisions need to be made.
And it sure feels like the Twins are in a predicament as Tuesday's trade deadline approaches, something Patrick Reusse and I talked about on Monday's Daily Delivery podcast.
By virtue of exceeding expectations for most of this season-to-date while playing in the weak AL Central, the Twins are still clinging to the division lead.
But the Twins are also 2-10 against other division leaders this year. Their team ERA ballooned to 5.30 during July, the second-worst mark in the majors during that span.
And as Reusse astutely points out, their minor league depth is such that making a major trade for a front-line starter doesn't seem plausible. Their top five prospects, per MLB's web site, have either missed a good chunk of the season or underperformed relative to expectations.
That they are so in need of pitching at the deadline is a function of some poor injury luck (Bailey Ober, Josh Winder, Chris Paddack) but equally a result of a shaky plan. It felt like they started off two or three arms short (starters and bullpen combined) even after relinquishing top prospect Chase Petty for Sonny Gray, and they've been paying for that deficiency lately.
So Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are left to try to thread a complicated needle: Improve the team enough in the short-term without sacrificing in the long-term, but do so without the benefit of great prospects or veterans to trade and with full knowledge that any improvement might not make a difference in the division race and almost certainly won't lead to any sort of meaningful playoff success.
Sometimes flexibility only gives you the chance to choose from a set of imperfect options, and that sure seems to describe the 2022 Twins.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
