How Twins’ ‘shocker’ of a fire sale came together, and why Red Sox were so quiet at the trade deadline

When the Twins signed Carlos Correa to a three-year, $105.3 million contract ahead of the 2022 season, it signaled that Minnesota believed it was on the rise toward legitimate contention. Correa brought leadership the team sorely needed, along with a winning pedigree from his time with the Astros, something he hoped to carry into his new clubhouse. 

There was excitement for Correa to join the likes of Byron Buxton, an otherworldly talent whose only barrier to superstardom had been health, and Royce Lewis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 draft, who made his major-league debut that season. 

“The conversations we had were about two-and-a-half hours,” Correa told reporters during his introductory press conference regarding his free-agent meeting with the Twins. “It was all about winning. When I get that from them, that makes me excited because I want to take up that challenge.”

Fast forward to the 2025 MLB trade deadline on Thursday, and Correa was sent back to Houston as part of the Twins’ unprecedented fire sale.

In the 24 hours leading up to the 6 p.m. ET deadline, the Twins traded 10 players from their active roster, including Jhoan Duran, one of the top closers in baseball. While it became expected that the Twins would trade Duran as well as outfielders Harrison Bader and Willi Castro — both on expiring deals and putting together solid seasons — nobody expected this. Correa, Duran, Bader and Castro were joined by Griffin Jax, Ty France, Louis Varland, Danny Coulombe, Brock Stewart and Chris Paddack as players who were sent packing by Minnesota this week.

“A shocker,” one person with knowledge of the Twins’ inner-workings replied in a text late Thursday evening. 

The decision to wipe the slate clean and clear house wasn’t abrupt, but it did come together quickly for the Twins’ front office. In Minnesota’s final 15 games in July, the club went just 6-9, dropping it to six games out of the final AL wild card spot entering Friday. But, really, the Twins began thinking about a full-on reset last week. 

Minnesota made the postseason in 2023 but collapsed in 2024, going 9-18 in September. This season, the Minnesota front office saw that same core group of players that sputtered at the end of the season in 2024, scuffling this year, ultimately forcing the club to pivot and go in a new direction. 

Where do the Twins go from here? They have a rotation headlined by Pablo López and Joe Ryan. Buxton remains part of the plan, as he is enjoying the best season of his big-league career but also dealing with a ribcage injury. While Lewis — though underwhelming so far this year — is still viewed as a high-upside talent at the plate. Furthermore, the Twins believe they have roughly 10 pitchers in their pipeline that can make an impact in the foreseeable future. Similarly, Minnesota is bullish on its young position player prospects, including outfielders Emmanuel Rodriguez and Walker Jenkins. Even though 2026 is virtually seen as a lost season, the Twins believe they will be ready to compete as early as 2027.

And, for what it’s worth, the Twins say the team’s pending ownership sale (one that is reportedly gaining “momentum”) had nothing to do with their deadline fire sale. But not everyone is buying it, including one American League scout familiar with the club’s inner workings.

“I mean, how do you sign Correa to a $200 million extension in 2023, win a playoff series that year, and then cut payroll? That’s what [happened].”

Regardless, it wasn’t supposed to end like this. 

What happened with Red Sox’s deadline?

The Twins were extremely active in the sellers’ market. In contrast, the Red Sox hit the snooze button at the trade deadline, adding only reliever Steven Matz and starter Dustin May — both on expiring deals. This marks the fourth consecutive deadline in which the Red Sox made minimal moves. But this one might be the worst of them all. 

“I understand the frustration and disappointment,” said chief baseball officer Craig Breslow during a Zoom call Thursday evening. “There’s not a lot of sympathy for how hard we tried to get deals across the line.”

The Red Sox needed a bat after trading Rafael Devers in June, along with a starting pitcher. They filled the latter with May, but the righty carries a 4.85 ERA and has been more promise than product for much of his career — so much so that the Dodgers considered moving him to the bullpen. Surely, the expectation was they’d also land a bat to help anchor the middle of the order. That didn’t happen either. 

The Red Sox engaged in talks with the Diamondbacks for both Merrill Kelly and Eugenio Suárez with Arizona requesting Sox outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia and others. The Sox saw it as a significant ask for either Kelly or Suárez (who are both set to be free agents at the year’s end), but they were willing to go the length, according to one source, in order to make the big-league club better. Yet the Diamondbacks pivoted, accepting what the Red Sox believed to be a lesser deal from the Mariners for Suárez and another with the Rangers for Kelly, leaving some within the organization confused.

The Red Sox were also engaged in talks with Minnesota about Joe Ryan. Initially, the Twins asked for rookie Roman Anthony, widely viewed as the Red Sox’s next star — a hard no from Boston. When the sides re-engaged, the Twins requested infield prospect Franklin Arias and left-hander Payton Tolle, plus additional pieces. Tolle has drawn interest across the league for his 45% whiff rate on his fastball. The Sox thought they were close to a deal, but that, too, fell through. 

“We went into this deadline feeling like in order to accomplish what we needed to accomplish, what we hoped to accomplish, we couldn’t  take some of our young minor league players off the table,” Breslow said. “We couldn’t go into this with untouchables, and we didn’t. We were willing to talk about all of our guys in the name of improving the team. It just didn’t work out.”