As AL Central rivals shuffle rosters at MLB trade deadline, Twins win by standing pat

The Twins swapped a middle reliever for a middle reliever, but they might have won the trade deadline based on the moves the Guardians and the rest of their American League Central rivals made.

Cleveland traded its top-performing starting pitcher (Aaron Civale), its designated hitter (Josh Bell) and shortstop (Amed Rosario) with pitcher Noah Syndergaard as the lone major league addition. There was enough frustration in the Guardians clubhouse that President of Baseball Operations Chris Antonetti and General Manager Mike Chernoff flew to Houston the day after the deadline to meet with players.

"I just told 'em, 'If you are frustrated, if you're angry, OK,' " Guardians manager Terry Francona told Cleveland reporters. "But if that trickles into our play on the field, that doesn't help anybody."

The Twins essentially stood pat with their roster at the trade deadline, adding Dylan Floro for Jorge López, but they were the lone team in the division that couldn't be classified as sellers. The Tigers, White Sox and Royals were obvious sellers because they were all at least 6½ games back in the division and more than 10 games out of a wild-card spot.

It was surprising the Twins didn't complete a trade with the knowledge reliever Brock Stewart is likely out for most, if not all, of August, and first baseman Alex Kirilloff's shoulder injury was more serious than initially hoped. They claimed righthanded-hitting outfielder Jordan Luplow off waivers Friday, the same day Byron Buxton went on the 10-day injured list.

Derek Falvey, the Twins president of baseball operations, said the Guardians becoming a de facto seller at the deadline didn't affect their own plans.

"We're looking at it and are aware of it, but it doesn't change our process, necessarily," Falvey said. "Had they gone in a different direction and acquired two to three different players, would that have changed our process? I can't say it would."

The Twins, by doing nothing as Cleveland traded from its major league roster, increased their odds to win the division by 3.3%, according to FanGraphs, which was the largest change in the majors. The second-largest increase belonged to the Astros, who acquired starter Justin Verlander from the Mets and reliever Kendall Graveman from the White Sox.

After completing a series against the White Sox this weekend, the Guardians will play 24 of their next 28 games against teams who would be in the postseason if the season ended today. They will likely remain without injured starters Shane Bieber and Triston McKenzie until mid-September.

"We explored a lot of different things and looked at ways where we could add to the pitching group we have, but in the end, there wasn't that right option available to us," Antonetti said. "I think we're grateful we were able to get Noah Syndergaard."

The Twins, who traded several well-regarded prospects at last year's trade deadline, received plenty of inquiries on lefthanded-hitting outfielders Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach. Wallner, 25, has earned a regular spot in the lineup. Larnach has shuttled between the Twins and Class AAA St. Paul, but the 26-year-old is still another season from becoming eligible for salary arbitration.

"Our view was, how do we best put this team in position to succeed this year and beyond?" said Falvey, who noted the front office had no interest in dealing impending free agents Sonny Gray or Kenta Maeda for lower-level prospects. "Ultimately, we made the decisions at this deadline that we believe are a part of that."

Despite the Guardians' moves at the deadline — the top prospect they acquired, Rays first baseman Kyle Manzardo, is recovering from an injury — Falvey expects a close battle in the divisional race. Cleveland outperformed expectations at the end of last season.

"They still have real talent over there," Falvey said. "We know they're going to compete to the end, and so are we."

Said Antonetti: "We feel like we have some younger players that are now getting opportunities. We believe they can continue to improve and help us be a competitive team for the balance of the season. Whether or not that will be good enough in the end to beat the Twins, we'll see."