No team gutted its roster at the MLB trade deadline more than the Minnesota Twins. And this quickly had turned the Twins organization into the talk of the baseball world for all the wrong reasons.
Given the fact that the Twins find themselves outside of the playoff picture in the American League, it was always a reasonable possibility that the Twins could try to trade away players on expiring contracts.
But they ended up doing far more than just that, parting ways with nearly over a third of their 26-man roster on the day of the trade deadline on Thursday. Some of the big-name players who were dealt away on Thursday included Jhoan Durán, Griffin Jax, Carlos Correa, Ty France, Willi Castro, and Harrison Bader among four others.
Jax made his debut for the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, which prompted Dodgers broadcasters Stephen Nelson and Jessica Mendoza to discuss the Twins trade deadline moves. In particular, Nelson and Mendoza were unsure as to how the Twins would field a team after trading away so many MLB players.
“Surpising to see Minnesota trade both Jhoan Durán and Griffin Jax,” said Nelson. “The general thought from people around the organization was that they would move just one.
“A lot of surprises coming out of the Twins,” said Mendoza. Correa going back to the Astros, Twins eating a lot of that money too.
“Trading ten guys off that 26-man roster,” added Nelson. “On the trade deadline date!?”
“Yeah… It was like, is there a team left?” added Mendoza. “What just happened to Minnesota?”
“It was a legitimate question,” replied Nelson. “I mean, you felt bad for Twins fans.”
Three days later & the #Dodgers broadcast team is still trying to make sense of the #MNTwins fire sale:
“Is there a team left? What just happened to Minnesota? You feel bad for Twins fans.”
When rival teams feel bad for your fans, you know your front office blew it. pic.twitter.com/z4tIlfdn1x
— Talkin’ Twins (@TalkinTwins) August 3, 2025
Mendoza and Nelson have been far from the only broadcasters to be shocked by the Twins’ activity at the trade deadline. In particular, Minnesota Twins play-by-play man Cory Provus explained in a social media post in reaction to the news that even in his “wildest imagination”, he didn’t see the Twins parting ways with ten players in one day as a realistic scenario.
Clearly, Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey has a very unique plan in place for what is next for the organization as they hit the hard reset button on their team. But at least for the moment, Falvey’s plan sure does appear to be far from popular amongst the vast majority of baseball media members.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.