Twins quietly make effective moves at trade deadline

You don't have to make headline-grabbing deals to be successful at the trade deadline. That's how the Twins operated last week, and it could set them up nicely in the near future.

And the Twins did it by going away from their philosophy in recent trade deadline years in which they sold low on underperforming players and received little in return.

This time, the Twins sold high. Infielder Eduardo Nunez was having a career year, and interim General Manager Rob Antony moved him to San Francisco for Class AAA lefthander Adalberto Mejia, a decent prospect. There are two things worth noting here. One, Mejia is close to the majors. Two, he's from an organization that knows how to develop starters (Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum).

Antony then pulled off the unthinkable, moving righthander Rick Nolasco to the Angels. The Twins sent along underperforming prospect Alex Meyer and some cash to complete the deal, in which they also picked up lefthander Hector Santiago and reliever Alan Busenitz. Santiago is five years younger than Nolasco and under control one more season.

Santiago is better than Nolasco, although his career 3.70 ERA is dampened by a walk rate of 4.0 batters per nine innings. The deal comes down to whether Meyer, who will be 27 in January, ever reaches his potential.

So the 2017 rotation looks to be Santiago, Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Jose Berrios. Mejia, Tyler Duffey and possibly Tommy Milone could be options if there are injuries or struggles. And the Twins won't have to rush prospects Kohl Stewart, Stephen Gonsalves and Tyler Jay, who are all at Class AA Chattanooga (although Jay just landed on the disabled list).

The Twins also sold high on reliever Fernando Abad, getting relief prospect Pat Light, who hit 100 miles per hour a few times on Wednesday in his Class AAA Rochester debut.

"We believe that these guys, with their age and where they're at, we believe they can be part of a core moving forward," Antony said.

The Twins weren't the only sellers eyeing the future during the deadline. The Yankees traded Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Beltran and received 11 prospects in return. That haul included top prospects in infielder Gleyber Torres, outfielder Clint Frazier and pitcher Dillon Tate. The Yankees are set up to build their own core that could lead them back to the World Series in a few years.

San Diego deserves credit for moving James Shields, Fernando Rodney and Matt Kemp's contract before the deadline. And other teams feel the Padres scored with their trade of All-Star Drew Pomeranz to Boston for pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza.

The Twins moves don't register as high on the splash scale as the Padres and Yankees. But their moves landed them some promising pieces.

Next up is the Aug. 31 deadline in which deals can be made once a player clears waivers. And the Twins have players in Santana, Trevor Plouffe and Brandon Kintzler that teams could covet.

Central intelligence

INDIANS: Make it two in a row for Cleveland outfielder Tyler Naquin, who was named AL rookie of the month again after batting .348 with six home runs and 15 RBI in July to beat out Max Kepler and others. The Twins did slow Naquin down during the recent series at Progressive Field, as he was only 1-for-9 in three games and didn't play Thursday.

ROYALS: The Royals are trying to help Edinson Volquez get over his first-inning blues. Volquez has allowed 22 earned runs in 23 first innings, including four in the first inning on Wednesday to Tampa Bay. So coaches have him pitch at game intensity during pregame warm-ups, take a break, then finish the session like it's a second inning.

TIGERS: For those who think Kepler has a chance to win AL rookie of the year honors, Detroit's Michael Fulmer looms as one of his main competitors. He's 9-2 with a 2.42 ERA through 17 starts. But the Tigers are watching his pitch counts closely and might pull him from starts early if he begins to labor. They also might have him skip starts entirely. The goal is to avoid having to shut him down.

WHITE SOX: Charlie Tilson's debut for Chicago was short-lived on Tuesday. He singled in his first at-bat but then left the game in the fifth inning after crumbling to the ground while chasing a single to the outfield. The White Sox thought he just pulled his left hamstring, but an MRI exam revealed a torn hamstring that will require season-ending surgery. Chicago incredibly has had four players suffer injuries during their MLB debut this season.

The 3-2 pitch

Three observations ...

•  The Dodgers must consider shutting Clayton Kershaw down for the rest of the season and getting his back right. That is a career-altering ailment.

• It seems like there's pressure on the Cubs not just to win but win with flair and dominance, which is a lot to ask of a team.

•  Glad Bryce Harper wants to play in the 2020 Olympics, but it won't happen as long as MLB has games during that time. Now, if the league went to a 154-game game schedule, maybe it could carve out two weeks in August to let major leaguers play.

... and two predictions

• Deciding to sacrifice defense in center field for offense is a mistake that will cost the Mets the playoffs.

• Kurt Suzuki will be the Twins catcher on Opening Day next year.

Baseball reporters La Velle E. Neal III and Phil Miller will alternate weeks • lneal@startribune.com • Twins blogs: startribune.com/twins