Buyers or holders? Sneaky seller? What will Twins do before trade deadline?

What are the Minnesota Twins going to do before the July 30 MLB trade deadline?

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, buying or simply holding is more likely than the Twins going into sell mode. That makes sense considering the Twins are 33-26 entering play Tuesday, good for third in the Central Division and in position as the third wild-card team in the American League.

This is less add or subtract and more like add or hold. The Twins believe in this roster, which is mostly intact from last year's AL Central-winning team, and they'll soon return Royce Lewis from the injured list. The Twins know what it's like to be on the good side of a deadline deal (getting Joe Ryan for Nelson Cruz in 2021) as well as a bad one (giving up Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand for 42 innings of Tyler Mahle in 2022). And while they'd do very well if they chose to move Max Kepler before he hits free agency this winter -- Minnesota is the sort of organization that could try to thread the add-and-subtract needle -- the goal is to add to a roster every bit as talented as the two teams ahead of them in the division.
ESPN's Jefff Passan

Trading Kepler could be good for the future but it might be a severe blow to the current season. Since Kepler returned from a bruised knee on April 22 he is slashing .310/.378/.531 with a .909 OPS. His OPS since April 22 is 10th in the majors among left-handed bats and the players ranked ninth, eighth, seventh and sixth are Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Corey Seager and Bryce Harper.

We wrote last week that Minnesota's starting pitching staff, which ranks 22nd in the majors with a 4.44 ERA, is showing signs of turning the corner. Namely, Pablo Lopez has a 4.84 ERA but his expected ERA is a sparkling 2.99, which indicates that lousy contact is yielding positive results for batters when it usually would favor Lopez.

So long as Joe Ryan can avoid a June swoon like in seasons past and Bailey Ober doesnt pitch against the Royals every start, things should start to progress to the mean for Minnesota's starters.

That said, nobody would disagree if the Twins tried to add a talented starting pitcher at the deadline. It's also possible that top pitching prospect David Festa, who was recently added to MLB Pipeline's list of the top-100 prospects, could force his way to the big leagues for the stretch run. Festa has a 3.56 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A St. Paul and he's struck out 65 batters in 43 innings.

Minnesota's bullpen is in good shape, boasting a 3.53 ERA (seventh best in the majors) and they've done that despite Jhoan Duran not pitching at the same level he did in 2023.

Offensively, with Lewis returning to the lineup Tuesday when the Twins face the Yankees, Minnesota will boast a far more dangerous lineup. As we previously wrote, getting Lewis back is like adding a Hall-of-Fame-caliber bat to the lineup.