The Twins made their first trade of the summer Wednesday, swapping reliever Jorge López for Marlins reliever Dylan Floro, and they will continue to be active in trade talks leading into Tuesday's 5 p.m. deadline.
Adding more depth to the bullpen is a priority for all contenders, but one of the primary questions surrounding the Twins is how they will address their offense. Inconsistency ruled throughout the first half of the season, but they're averaging 5.9 runs per game following the All-Star break.
Even before the offense surged, Derek Falvey, the Twins' president of baseball operations, said they were primarily searching for a "complementary bat" — likely a righthanded-hitting outfielder. That continues to be an option, but it's possible they may not make a move for a position player with Jorge Polanco returning from the injured list as early as Friday and Royce Lewis progressing from an oblique strain.
"We obviously want to find ways to upgrade our team, but as we look at our group, you think about the bench that we have, [Polanco and Lewis] coming back, and who that might squeeze off," Falvey said. "There's always ways you're trying to augment the roster, but there are really good guys that have been complementary players for us this year and have really stepped up and played well."
Players in every clubhouse want their team to be a buyer at the trade deadline, a show of support from the front office in their playoff odds, but Twins players believe their offense is in a good spot with Polanco back and Lewis a possibility for August.
They are both righthanded hitters and can help solve the Twins' offensive woes against lefty pitching.
"Royce and Polanco are guys that teams trade for to boost their offense," Twins infielder Kyle Farmer said, "and we already have them."
Catcher Ryan Jeffers added: "You look around this clubhouse, for the most part, especially offensively, you're like, 'We have everything we need.' You can always improve a team. There is always something you can do. But is it our biggest area of need? Probably not."
The Twins still need their top players to hit at their expected levels. Byron Buxton, activated from the paternity list Thursday, is batting .085 in his last 12 games with 23 strikeouts in 53 plate appearances. Joey Gallo is hitting .159 with 49 strikeouts in 98 plate appearances since he came back from a hamstring strain on June 13. Carlos Correa has been better out of the leadoff spot, but he's still producing career-low offensive numbers.
"I don't think there's a clear position on the field, with the way our offense works and the ability to move guys around where you're saying, 'this is a hole,' so to speak," Falvey said. "Those players coming back fill a lot of those holes."
As much as the Twins like their depth, they must prepare for potential injuries over the final two months of the season. It's why they'll likely try to add more than Floro to their bullpen, even with Caleb Thielbar returning as early as next week and Brock Stewart tracking toward an August return.
If the Twins make a surprise splashy trade, a starting pitcher under team control for multiple years is a logical target. Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda are free agents at the end of the season, along with injured starter Tyler Mahle.
The price tag on starting pitching remains steep because many contenders had injuries to their rotation, but the Twins' front office is monitoring which starters are available when engaging with other teams. The Twins have starter depth with Louie Varland and Dallas Keuchel pitching at Class AAA, but Keuchel can opt out of his minor league contract on Tuesday if he's not promoted to the majors.
"We were very honest about that at the time, there may not be a perfect opportunity," Falvey said of Keuchel's situation. "There may be, right, and we've got to figure out what that looks like as we go. We'll see how that plays out."
As the Twins weigh their options on the trade market, opposing teams are inquiring about their lefthanded-hitting outfielders. Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach have the most appeal because they have several years of team control. Gallo will be a free agent at the end of the season and the Twins hold a $10 million club option in Max Kepler's contract for next year with a $1 million buyout.
"It does come up in a lot of conversations," Falvey said. "We have a high bar for all of those guys, though. … I just never feel you have too much depth anywhere. You'll figure it out if you have good players."
