The Minnesota Twins Traded 10 Players At The Deadline Including Carlos Correa

The Minnesota Twins traded Carlos Correa back to his original team, the Houston Astros. He was one of ten players moved by the Twins at the deadline. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

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Heading into the 2025 season, MGM Bets had the Minnesota Twins at +120 to reach the post-season. Vegas Insider has them +260 to win the American League Central Division. Austin Mock of The Athletic predicted the team would win 85 games and finish in first place.

But then the games began to be played. At present, the team is 51-57, 12 games back of division leader Detroit. They project to finish the season in the same position, with just 78 wins. The good news: that would be about 18 games ahead of the Chicago White Sox.

It just never came together for Minnesota this season. Injuries to Byron Buxton (to be expected), and pitchers Bailey Ober, Louis Varland, and Michael Tonkin set them back. Pitcher Pablo López was sidelined with a shoulder injury for much of the season. And June was the killer. As spring turned to summer, the team went 9-18, with a 6.07 ERA. They gave up 35 home runs over the course of the month.

Furthering their demise is that Carlos Correa – even though healthy – is just having an off year. And by off, I mean, horrible. He has played in 93 of the team’s 108 games, but has accrued only 0.1 bWAR to date. He has hit seven home runs with 31 RBI, and is slashing .267/.319/.386. Not the numbers one would expect – that the team needs – from their $200 million shortstop.

So, with the season essentially a bust, Minnesota went about dismantling the whole thing by Thursday evening. This was, in no uncertain terms, a fire sale. The team traded away ten players, including the aforementioned Correa, sending him back to his original team, the Houston Astros. Correa agreed to waive his no-trade clause – he told president of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey he would only waive it for the Astros – and the mid-market Twins agreed to cover $33 million of the about $104 million remaining on his deal.

Here is a look at the rest of the departures (and the returns therefor):

Earlier in the week the Twins kicked things off by sending pitchers Chris Paddack and Randy Dobnak to the Detroit Tigers in return for catcher Enrique Jimenez, their number 14 prospect.

Harrison Bader, who came to the Twins this offseason on a $4.75 million deal (which includes a mutual $10 million option or a $1.5 million buyout), is heading to the Philadelphia Phillies in return for two minor leaguers.

Joining Bader in the City of Brotherly Love is hard-throwing closer Jhoan Durán. For an elite reliever under team control through 2027, the Twins received two Top-100 prospects – catcher Eduardo Tait and right-handed pitcher Mick Abel.

Brock Stewart is leaving the Midwest for Tinseltown, as he was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for outfielder James Outman. Outman has been a bit of the odd man out this season, and has not performed when called upon; but he has tasted winning, and could be a strong addition to the team.

Pitcher Danny Coulombe and his 1.16 ERA was sent to Texas in return for left-hander Garrett Horn.

Utility stalwart Willi Castro packed up and went 400 miles southeast, joining the Chicago Cubs. Minnesota received two Double-A pitchers in the trade.

Griffin Jax, one of the hottest young arms on the market, went to Tampa Bay in return for former hot commodity, Taj Bradley. Bradley was recently demoted to Triple-A after another frustrating start to his season. He may not ever become the top-of-the-line starter that the Rays envisioned when they selected him in the fifth round of the 2018 draft.

Louis Varland, a Minnesota native is headed out of the country, joining the first place Toronto Blue Jays. On the same flight is first baseman Ty France, who signed a one-year, $1 million contract prior to the season. For their two players, the Twins got back two Blue Jays players: left-handed pitcher Kendrys Rojas and outfielder Alan Roden.

When all was said and done, the Twins departed with nearly 40% of their active roster. The saved a bunch of money – most of it from Correa – and hit the reset button. The team is in the process of being sold. With the current owners on the way out, and no new owners in place (or even identified), it is hard to know what the future holds for the club. They have not drawn two million fans to their beautiful ballpark since 2019, and haven’t won a playoff series since 1991 (when they won the World Series). Maybe this is the moment to start anew and build something that can last. Otherwise, this will just be another floundering franchise which exists simply to develop players for other teams to poach at the trade deadline. And how saw would that be?