The Minnesota Twins have been somewhat of a pleasant surprise this season.
After finishing last year with 92 losses, the Twins weren't expected to be a competitve team. Instead, they find themselves just four games out of first place in the AL Central and just a 1.5 game out of the third and final Wild Card spot in the American League, albeit with a record of 44-47.
Still, the Twins were not expected to be in a playoff race at this point of the season, but find themselves in a position to make a real push for the AL Central division title between now and the end of the season.
And with Minnesota exceeding expectations thus far, don't expect any vast changes to their roster ahead of the MLB trade deadline.
During an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast, MLB insider Bob Nightengale said that he doesn't anticipate the Twins moving any significant pieces, barring a collapse.
"I think they want to stay put and go for this thing...maybe they don't want to trade a Joe Ryan; they certainly aren't trading [Byron] Buxton, Buxton doesn't want to go anywhere anyway," Nightengale said. "Do they trade a Royce Lewis? We'll see. But I think right now if they stay where they're within five, four games, I think they stay pat."
Since the start of the offseason, players like Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton, as Nightengale alluded to, have been the subject of trade rumors with the expectation that the Twins would enter a rebuild. That now doesn't appear to be the case.
While Twins GM Jeremy Zoll came out and said the team isn't going to trade Buxton, Ryan is probably the best player on Minnesota's roster that could generate at least a little trade buzz. Especially given past interest from teams across the league in the right-hander.
Despite trading perennial closer Jhoan Durán and homegrown talent Louis Varland during last year's deadline, the Twins appear to see themselves as contenders this season after Nightengale reported that they will hold firm this time around.
