Ranking Twins' trade deadline pickups: 13 new players, from top prospects to toss ins

With the Minnesota Twins trading away key players, the outcome indicates a potential uptick in performance for prospects acquired, making them intriguing options for punters betting on the team's future success.

Last week’s shocking trade deadline fire sale saw the Minnesota Twins deal 11 players, including 38.5 percent of their active roster. They salary-dumped Carlos Correa, parted with their five best relievers, and sent out a total of five players with at least two seasons of team control beyond 2025. We covered all of that in the immediate aftermath of the trade deadline. But what did the Twins get in return for those 11 departing players, other than a lower payroll? They got 13 players back in deadline-week trades, ranging in age from 16 to 28 and in experience from rookie ball to the big leagues. Here’s my ranking of the 13 trade deadline pickups based on overall value.

1. Eduardo Tait, C Acquired from: Philadelphia Phillies (Jhoan Duran) Tait is an 18-year-old High A catcher several seasons from the big leagues even if things go very well, which makes him inherently risky. But he’s also a 2025 Futures Game participant, consensus top-100 prospect and the second-highest ranked minor leaguer to be traded by any team this deadline. At first glance, Tait batting .255/.319/.434 with 11 homers in 82 games this year is nothing special, but it’s important to note he was pushed extremely aggressively by the Phillies and spent the first three months in the power-deflating Low-A Florida State League. Tait out-hit the FSL average by 65 points of OPS and is now one of just two 18-year-old regulars in the High-A Midwest League. He’s widely regarded as having middle-of-the-order upside offensively, with a left-handed swing that combines scalding exit velocities and high contact rates. Tait’s arm strength stands out defensively, but his ability to stick behind the plate is in some question due to a stout frame and limited mobility. He could have enough power to be a quality starter at designated hitter, but Tait has All-Star potential at catcher. He’s now one of the Twins’ top five prospects. Eduardo Tait swats his 10th home run for the @Threshers, tying him for the Single-A Florida State League lead. 🌴 The Top 100 prospect ( @Phillies ) leads all 18-year-olds in homers and RBIs (42).

2. Mick Abel, RHP Acquired from: Philadelphia Phillies (Duran) Abel has been a regular on top-100 lists since being the No. 15 pick in the 2020 draft out of high school and it’s easy to see why. He’s a 6-foot-5 right-hander with a five-pitch mix led by an upper-90s fastball who racked up 526 strikeouts versus just 372 hits allowed over 449 innings in the minors. However, control has been a career-long issue for Abel and he walked 78 in 108 2/3 innings during a shaky 2024 season that sent his stock plummeting. He’s bounced back in a big way this season, cutting his Triple-A walk rate in half while posting a 2.31 ERA. He reached the majors in May at age 23. Abel had a spectacular Phillies debut, tossing six shutout innings with nine strikeouts and no walks. Several poor outings followed, and he was back in the minors when the Twins acquired him last week. There’s little doubt Abel has front-line starter upside, but unlocking it requires further refinement. Abel has a strong case for becoming the Twins’ top pitching prospect now that Zebby Matthews has graduated to the majors. He figures to see action with the Twins down the stretch this season and will be a prominent part of their 2026 plans. Mick Abel ties the @Phillies record since at least 1901 (Curt Simmons, 1947) with the most punchouts in an MLB debut! 6 IP 5 H 0 R 0 BB 9 K.

3. Taj Bradley, RHP Acquired from: Tampa Bay Rays (Griffin Jax) Two years ago, Bradley would have headlined this list. He was a consensus top-50 prospect in 2023, making his MLB debut just after turning 22. There have been flashes of front-line upside in 354 innings since, but Bradley has a 4.70 ERA overall and got sent to the minors a week before the deadline. Bradley is one of several deadline pickups who could be described as post-hype prospects, with the Twins seemingly looking to buy low on still-young and once-touted players who have yet to find sustained MLB success. And in Bradley’s case, he’s still just 24 and team-controlled through 2029. Bradley has eye-popping raw stuff, including a high-90s fastball and three bat-missing secondary pitches, but he’s too often been undone by walks and homers. His strikeout rate has declined this season as he’s focused more on inducing grounders in a mostly successful effort to limit long balls. In acquiring Bradley straight up for Jax, the Twins are making a big bet on their ability to do what the Rays couldn’t and tap into his full potential, not unlike they did with Joe Ryan. Even slightly more consistency could make Bradley a mid-rotation asset, and late-inning relief is a fallback option.

4. Kendry Rojas, LHP Acquired from: Toronto Blue Jays (Louis Varland) Rojas has been held back by injuries since signing with the Blue Jays out of Cuba in 2020, including an oblique strain early this season. He’s been great since returning in June, posting a 3.46 ERA with a 62-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 41 2/3 innings, and made his Triple-A debut last week at age 22. He has the pitch mix to develop into a quality left-handed starter, featuring a mid-90s fastball, a high-80s slider and a solid changeup deployed mostly against right-handed batters. Durability will be critical, because Rojas has logged just 252 2/3 innings in five pro seasons, with a high of 84 in 2023. If healthy, Rojas could emerge as a rotation option at some point next year, which is noteworthy because the Twins haven’t had a lefty start 15 games since J.A. Happ in 2021. Multiple scouts from other organizations who have watched Rojas this season called him an underrated pickup by the Twins.

5. Alan Roden, COF Acquired from: Toronto Blue Jays (Varland) Roden was the Blue Jays’ third-round pick in 2022 out of Creighton and moved quickly through the minors, making the Opening Day roster this spring. He struggled in 43 games, hitting .204/.283/.306 with one homer, and was sent down in late June. He’s already been called up by the Twins. Roden is 25, so struggling in the majors is discouraging, but it was only 113 plate appearances and he has a strong minor-league track record, including batting .320/.411/.505 with 12 homers, 12 steals and 51 walks versus just 54 strikeouts in 103 games against Triple A pitching. Middling power makes Roden something of a tweener in an outfield corner, but he controls the strike zone well, combining patience and contact ability, and he’s a good athlete with above-average speed. He profiles best as a left-handed platoon bat, but the Twins have a logjam of that player type.

6. Hendry Mendez, COF Acquired from: Philadelphia Phillies (Harrison Bader) Mendez is a good all-around hitter with bat-to-ball skills, patience and some lefty pop, batting .290/.374/.434 with a 44-to-40 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 85 games versus Double-A pitching as a 22-year-old. Unfortunately, he had the Eastern League’s third-highest ground-ball rate, capping his power. Learning to elevate more pitches will be crucial because Mendez is a poor defensive corner outfielder who will likely need to do consistent damage off right-handed pitching to carve out a big-league platoon role. If more power arrives, he could be pretty interesting.

7. James Outman, OF Acquired from: Los Angeles Dodgers (Brock Stewart) Outman is 28, making him the Twins’ oldest deadline addition by two years and something of an odd target in a 1-for-1 deal for Stewart. Outman is very fast and a legit center fielder defensively, and he batted .248/.353/.437 with 23 homers for the Dodgers in 2023, but he’s hit just .137 in the majors since. Outman has red flag-raising strikeout rates in the majors and minors, but he’s crushed Triple-A pitching for three straight years, batting .286/.386/.585 with 52 homers in 196 games. Given his speed and glove, it wouldn’t take a ton of offense to be a useful fourth outfielder and Byron Buxton insurance.

8. Enrique Jimenez, C Acquired from: Detroit Tigers (Chris Paddack) Jimenez is merely the second-best teenage catcher acquired by the Twins in a deadline deal, but he’s a solid prospect in his own right. Switch-hitting catchers are hard to find, and he batted .250/.339/.440 with six homers and 23 walks in 48 rookie-ball games before a post-trade Low A promotion. Like with Tait, there’s a high amount of risk attached to Jimenez because of age and position, as catchers tend to develop less linearly than other spots and have a high flame-out rate. But he’s got a strong arm and some hitting promise, and he received $1.25 million to sign with the Tigers in 2023.

9. Ryan Gallagher, RHP Acquired from: Chicago Cubs (Willi Castro) Gallagher was picked in the sixth round of last year’s draft out of UC Santa Barbara. He’s a low-velocity control artist who reached Double A just three months into his first pro season.

10. Garrett Horn, LHP Acquired from: Texas Rangers (Danny Coulombe) Horn was taken in the sixth round of last year’s draft while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He returned to the mound in May with encouraging early results in the low minors, posting a 2.92 ERA and 34-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 24 2/3 innings. Likely a long-term reliever profile.

11. Geremy Villoria, RHP Acquired from: Philadelphia Phillies (Bader) Villoria is just 16 years old and has thrown a total of 14 innings in the rookie-level Dominican Summer League since signing with the Phillies for $425,000 in January, making him little more than a live-armed lottery ticket for now. Check back in a few years.

12. Sam Armstrong, RHP Acquired from: Chicago Cubs (Castro) Armstrong was a 13th-round pick out of Old Dominion in 2023. His low-90s fastball and middling performance against Double A hitters this year have him looking like organizational depth, albeit with a deep pitch mix that may benefit from some tinkering.

13. Matt Mikulski, LHP Acquired from: Houston Astros (Correa) Mikulski will forever be “the guy traded for Correa” and it’s not clear why. He’s a 26-year-old High-A reliever with a career 6.46 ERA who was signed to a minor-league deal by the Astros in May. But now he’s the Twins’ entire return for salary-dumping Correa, technically qualifying it as a “trade.”

(Photo of Tait: Mike Carlson / MLB Photos via Getty Images)

Assessing what the Twins' fire sale got back in trades for Carlos Correa, Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Willi Castro and more.

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