Twins shouldn't waste time or talent acting like serious contenders at MLB trade deadline

Major League Baseball's trade deadline often requires teams to determine whether they are buyers or sellers. The Twins find themselves in a unique position as the deadline arrives Tuesday: They are a first-place team that doesn't fit either declaration.

The 2023 Twins are a trust fund baby. No matter how badly they screw up, they always know they have the American League Central Division to fall back on.

They are a mediocre team in a wretched division. Nothing they have shown to date even mildly suggests that President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey should treat his ballclub as a serious contender when weighing his options at the trade deadline.

Falvey can and should attempt to move some big-league pieces, but he also should avoid any temptation to part with top prospects under fool's-gold thinking of trying to fix a flawed roster.

The Twins haven't earned that vote of confidence.

The team desperately needs a righthanded bat in the lineup and bullpen help. But if that requires Falvey reaching into his prospect pool, no thanks. That should be a hard pass.

This is not the season to mortgage future assets for the present. That's because the present remains a maddening exercise in shuffling two steps forward, two steps back. Luckily for the Twins, treading water is good enough to win the Central. Treading water isn't a successful postseason script.

That urge isn't there this time. Especially after watching the Twins get swept by the hapless Kansas City Royals, owners of the second-worst record in the majors.

The Twins have a 30-39 record against teams that are .500 or better and sit closer to the bottom (18th) than the top in overall winning percentage in MLB standings.

Their offense continues to lead the majors in strikeouts, on pace to establish a record for whiffs. The bullpen is leaking oil, ranked 14th in the big leagues in ERA.

No team in baseball hits lefthanded pitching worse than the Twins do, and their top three position players in Wins Above Replacement are Edouard Julien, Willi Castro and Ryan Jeffers.

How does anyone have confidence in that résumé?

Good. Besides, Twins fans — and perhaps Falvey, too — still have nightmares over the 2022 trade deadline fiasco involving Tyler Mahle and Jorge López and how those two trades have played out in terms of cost and return. The prospects lost in those failed transactions serve as a cautionary tale.

That doesn't mean Falvey should turn off his phone and do nothing. If he can trade a veteran — say, Max Kepler or Joey Gallo — to create more opportunities for younger players, make the deal.

The more interesting scenario involves starters Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda, a pair of pending free agents. Does Falvey trade a starting pitcher in a pennant race to avoid potentially losing one or both for nothing in return after the season?

Tough call, because pitching depth can disappear in a hurry. And as frustrating and flawed as the Twins have proved to be, winning the division and playing in the postseason still matter, however unlikely it is that they will do anything substantial once there.

Falvey would be foolish not to listen to offers, though, and decide if the return is worth the short-term loss in starting pitching. The Central is so inept that the Twins likely can still win the division without Gray or Maeda.