Twins’ biggest 2026 MLB trade deadline mistake

Pushing for the playoffs and trying to improve the big league roster is admirable, but it probably wasn’t the best path for the Twins to take this year. The 56-59 team is in third place in the American League Central, despite that division being arguably the weakest in MLB. Even with the team’s veteran additions, the Twins are still at risk of missing the playoffs.

None of their additions are stars who can truly get them over the hump, and even if the Twins did make the postseason, a first-round exit seems inevitable.

Minnesota should have again embraced a sell-off, and doing so could have given the already up-and-coming franchise a really bright future. For example, Byron Buxton and Ryan Jeffers have their trade values at all-time highs right now. While trading the team’s former number two pick wasn’t a must, considering he is an elite player when healthy and still under contract for years to come, the team likely could have gotten a hefty haul for a player who is often hurt. Jeffers splits time with Victor Caratini behind the plate, and he is also an impending free agent, so trading him should have made too much sense.

The good news is that Minter is the only rental the team added, and the team’s other acquisitions are controllable for at least next year, if not for years to come. Even without adding prospects at the deadline, the Twins are well set up for the future, but Minnesota may have been better off keeping the minor leaguers that they traded away and really gearing up for the future, rather than toeing the line of competing now and in years to come.