A number of Twins fans were not happy when the team threw in the towel on the 2018 season by trading five veteran players before the Major League Baseball trade deadline.
As our columnists showed, opinions on the deals vary widely.

To answer those concerns, Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey sent a letter to season ticket holders on Monday.
"Our offseason goal was to marry that core group from '17 with a targeted infusion of external talent — via free agency and trade — with a vision of taking steps toward competing for a Central Division crown," Falvey wrote.
"Unfortunately, as we all have witnessed so far, we have not tracked consistently enough this season to turn that vision into a reality… yet.
"A difficult decision had to be made," he continued, "and because our scouts, coaches, and baseball operations staff were prepared for all potential courses of action, we were able to put a plan into motion to infuse significant talent into our organization for the future."
The text of Falvey's letter to season ticket holders:
As part of a continued commitment to transparency and partnership with key stakeholders like you, I wanted to take a moment to share some of the internal perspective that contributed to our trade deadline decisions over the past couple weeks. It is not lost on me the emotional impact that comes along with changes of this magnitude and I commit to you that we will never take that for granted. My hope is that this brief insight will better allow you to understand the difficult steps we took aimed at achieving the only goal that matters — to give the Minnesota Twins organization the best chance to achieve sustainable championship-caliber baseball.
We began 2018 eager to build off of a memorable run to the American League Wild Card game. Much progress had been made in the second-half of last season, and with the bulk of that group returning, we believed there was momentum to build off of. Our offseason goal was to marry that core group from '17 with a targeted infusion of external talent — via free-agency and trade — with a vision of taking steps toward competing for a Central Division crown.
Unfortunately, as we all have witnessed so far, we have not tracked consistently enough this season to turn that vision into a reality… yet. We have weathered some injuries, dealt with a suspension, and collectively performed at a level short of expectations. It is no secret that as a team we have not yet clicked in a way that reflects what we believed this group could achieve on the field.
On July 27, less than a week out from the trade deadline, we sat at the 100-game mark. More than 60% of the season had passed and we were six games below .500, 7.5 games behind first place Cleveland, ranking 9th of the 15 teams in the AL. We were tasked with a difficult decision – to either invest more in 2019 and beyond, or to stay the course and hope for a significant rebound and improved health. I want to make one thing clear — our commitment will always be to invest in the now or in the future. It is our fervent belief that by doing neither, teams will run right past us. That is not an acceptable outcome and would represent a missed opportunity.