Twins Need To Address This Issue in Offseason or Face Same Fate in 2027

The Twins had the playoffs in their grasp, but after a brutal finish post trade deadline, they will once again miss out of the postseason.

Twins manager Derek Shelton argues with the umpires. Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This season, the American League has been disappointing for most of the ballclubs except the top three in the AL East. So, the final wild card turned into a mediocre turtle race that kept multiple teams in it when the trade deadline came around, including the Minnesota Twins.

At the trade deadline, the Twins decided to be buyers to go after their first playoff berth since 2023. The front office addressed their biggest need: pitching depth. However, things went south rather quickly as they finished the month 10-15 post-deadline.

That said, it is hard to ignore a glaring issue with their manager, Derek Shelton, who has had seemingly very little success in his seven years as a big-league skipper or head coach. He's never had a winning record, nor has he won more than 76 games in a season.

For Shelton to cross the 76-win barrier, Minnesota would have to finish 5-3 over their final eight games, but the team has yet to win back-to-back games in September and is 3-5 over their last eight games.

There is too much young talent on this team and promising rookies for next season, with Kaelen Culpepper, Walker Jenkins, and Emmanuel Rodriguez. They have all started to show why they can compete in the major leagues, and it needs to be capitalized on.

A Brutal Time in the Majors for Shelton

Minnesota Twins manager Derek Shelton. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Now, the Twins are not the first team that Shelton has managed. He was the manager for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2020-25 and in that time he went 306-440 which is a winning percentage barely over .400.

This is his first season in charge of the Twins. Obviously, baseball is a team game, and Shelton can only do so much. But without someone with winning experience, the ballclub can only go so far.

The loss of Byron Buxton was brutal for this team, to say the least, but finishing the year off the way they did is somewhat inexcusable regardless of those circumstances. The recent struggles are doing away with all of the good things that are actually going on with this team.

Right now, the Twins are 6-10 in September so it would take a pretty dramatic finish to close things out on a high note, especially now that Culpepper is also on the dreaded injured list. So, yes, injuries can be part of the blame, but a change in direction might do the team a whole lot of good.