Cleveland, Ohio The Twins needed reinforcements to field a club at Progressive Field on Friday night against the Guardians after moving 11 players since Monday, including eight on deadline Thursday.
Before Friday’s opening pitch, the Twins had a 25-man roster, one below the maximum, after recalling six players from Triple-A St. Paul and choosing to sign two veteran pitchers.
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Right-handers Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl, infielders Ryan Fitzgerald and Edouard Julien, utility man Austin Martin, and outfielder Alan Roden were among the players called up from St. Paul.
The contracts of veteran right-handers Jose Urena and Erasmo Ramirez were chosen to strengthen the pitching staff.
On Friday, Martin, Roden, and Julien were the starting lineup.
The Twins sent right-handers Randy Dobnak and Chris Paddock to Detroit on Monday. The big-league roster did not include Dobnak.
They sent closer Jhoan Duran to the Phillies on Wednesday. They traded everyone except Babe the Blue Ox and Paul Bunyan on Thursday.
Among the eight Twins who were sent packing were:
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SS Carlos Correa (Houston).
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RHP Griffin Jax (Rays).
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RHP Louis Varland (Blue Jays).
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RHP Brock Stewart (Dodgers).
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LHP Danny Coulombe (Rangers).
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OF Harrison Bader (Phillies).
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UT Willi Castro (Cubs).
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1B Ty France (Blue Jays).
The Twins visited Cleveland on Thursday, their day off. As the 6 p.m. trade deadline drew near, ten players were together in a single hotel room. Before Friday’s game, Twins pitcher Bailey Ober informed reporters that three of the players there had gotten calls from the Twins head office informing them of their trade.
You can buy the Twins. As of right now, they only have contracts worth $38 million for 2026.
Empty spaces
The first thing reporters saw when they entered the Guardians locker room on Friday was that Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz’s lockers had been cleared out.
Since MLB and the players association put them on leave while MLB looked into their gambling claims, their lockers have remained unaltered.
They are being investigated till August 31.
Additionally, the lockers of Paul Sewald and Shane Bieber, who were traded on Thursday, were cleared out.
The four lockers were cleared out, according to manager Stephen Vogt, because the Guardians were unsure of how many players they might sign before the deadline on Thursday passed.
According to a source, the ongoing investigation has nothing to do with Ortiz and Clase’s locker being emptied.
Did they do enough?
The Guardians entered Friday’s game three games outside of the third and final wild card slot and nine games out of first place in the AL Central. The Guardians didn’t take any action to aid their stretch run, except from keeping Steven Kwan and finishing the transactions for Bieber and Sewald.
Don’t tell Vogt that, please.
Vogt remarked, “I love where we’re sitting right now.” This year has had its ups and downs. We have experienced a great deal. We’re going to experience more.
There isn’t a better situation to be in right now than being three games down with 54 games remaining. There is a lot of confidence in that room. Over the past couple weeks, we have been playing excellent baseball.
