Twins

The fireworks dust has settled and this means baseball's trade deadline is quickly approaching. Following next week's All-Star Game festivities in San Diego, contending teams will be wheeling and dealing to try to find the right pieces to push their organization to the next level.

Minnesota's terrible first half has put them in a position to be sellers in 2016. This isn't a terrible position to be in but the Twins have been bad in recent years and the front office hasn't been willing to part with trade chips. Maybe this year will be different as Terry Ryan looks to add to one of the best farm systems in baseball.

Who is available? What can the Twins get in return? Let's dive in...

One league has a pretty clear-cut choice as the regular season comes to a close. The other league's MVP race is a little more open-ended which can lead to quite the debate. Should the MVP go to the league's best player even if he's on a bad team? Or should the MVP be on a team that was in contention for the entire year?

In the middle of his recent hot streak, I wrote about Brian Dozier's chance at the AL's top honor. There's little chance the MVP would come from a team with over 100 losses but he could end up getting some top-10 votes. Selecting the top spot in the American League certainly comes with it's own array of challenges.

Joe Mauer has been a mainstay in the Twins line-up for most of the last 13 years. He's won an MVP and three Gold Gloves while being selected to six All-Star teams. However, the All-Star version of Mauer has been missing from Target Field in recent years.

Mauer will turn 34 next month and he is turning into the elder statesman of the Twins clubhouse. A younger core of players is surrounding him and this could mean a shift in playing time. Mauer has two years remaining on his monster contract so he's not going anywhere but the Twins might need to start adjusting to an aging Mauer.

On Monday, the Minnesota Twins endured their worst loss of the year, melting down after Ervin Santana left with a six-run lead on the way to an embarrassing 16-8 loss against Houston.

Still, they are 26-21, in first place, and miles ahead of their pace from a year ago. Let's run through some of the latest noteworthy trends and attention-grabbing tidbits – both good and bad.

The Twins announced that catcher John Ryan Murphy has been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for 22-year-old Double-A lefty reliever Gabriel Moya.

Opportunity almost always chooses to knock when you’re stuck on the phone talking to tech support. She does not accommodate your schedule. You play on hers, or you don’t play. This offseason, the Twins will face that reality, because they have a small window to accomplish something they’ve been waiting to do for years.

This offseason is the single best – and maybe only – chance to lock up three of the Twins most important players to long-term deals that keep them in Minnesota beyond their initial free agent years. Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario are all in the sweet spot to negotiate a long-term deal.

At various points in the offseason, Twins fans have had ample reason for optimism.

Shohei Ohtani? Not unthinkable. Yu Darvish? The stars felt aligned. Trade rumors have alternately connected Minnesota to Gerrit Cole, Jake Odorizzi and Chris Archer.

But up to this point, each rising balloon of hope has popped and deflated with a whimper.

Jose Berrios on the mound, but it still didn’t matter. The Twins continue to have some kind of a Bronx bugaboo and it doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon. The Yankees forced Berrios out of the game after just four innings and ended up swatting four homers in another depressing Twins loss in New York.

2018 has been an interesting year for Jake Cave, full of twists and turns, ups and downs. He just might be on the verge of joining the Twins again this week. After spending the majority of his professional career in the New York Yankees system, he was traded to the Twins late in spring training. With two more option years remaining after 2018, the roller coaster ride may just be beginning for the 25-year-old outfielder.

Recently, Twins Daily caught up with the outfielder to get to know him.

Byron Buxton was activated off the Triple A disabled list in mid-August and returned to game action for the Rochester Red Wings on August 14. He’s played in 10 games since that point, but the Twins don’t seem willing to commit to the idea that he’ll be a big leaguer come September. Make no mistake about it, this is a service time issue, and a silly one at that.

UPDATE: Darren Wolfson of KSTP shared on Twitter that he has been told Buxton will be heading home at the conclusion of the minor league season.

This year’s Winter Meltdown is going to be crazier than ever so you’ll want to grab some of the few remaining tickets on Tuesday morning at 8:00. In the meantime, we will unveil a host of new giveaways and prizes for those lucky enough to get a ticket. Plus, we’ll start giving hints as to who this year’s special guest will be.

Extending young players has become the new normal in baseball. Some young players are willing to give up free agent years for more financial stability. In some situations, teams have been able to work out those contracts with unestablished big-league players. Team friendly deals seem to be trending and that could benefit the Twins.

Is it possible Minnesota may engage Alex Kirilloff or Royce Lewis in extension talks within the next 12 months?