The Minnesota Twins have struggled this season, prompting them to go into a full-scale rebuild at the trade deadline at the end of July. Just about any veteran contributor was up for grabs as the Twins loaded up on prospects and pieces for the future while sending a lot of their best current players to contending teams.
As the house-cleaning went along, some Twins players even decided that they wanted in on the trades and wanted to find new homes. Standout reliever Griffin Jax was chief among them, and he requested a trade just hours before the deadline hit according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic.
“With a mass exodus underway, Griffin Jax requested a deal of his own Thursday, one the Minnesota Twins granted only minutes before the clock ran out,” Hayes wrote.
The barrage of trades that the Twins had made already may have sealed the deal on Jax's trade request, but the reliever was showing outward signs of frustration leading up to the deadline even before his request. During a July 30 contest against the Boston Red Sox, Jax and manager Rocco Baldelli went at it in the dugout. 24 hours later, he was on his way to the Tampa Bay Rays in one of the final deals done before the deadline.
In return for Jax, the Twins got young starter Taj Bradley from the Rays. Bradley fits with Minnesota's new timeline and Baldelli and company will be hoping that he can improve in the coming years to help the Twins get back into contention.
In addition to trading Jax, the Twins made deals to deal a massive chunk of its everyday roster. Star closer Jhoan Duran went to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he made quite the impression in his first game. Carlos Correa also went back to the Houston Astros, where he made a name for himself at the start of his career.
Many others joined them on the way out the door in the Twin Cities, sending the Twins into a full spiral that had sort of been in effect since mid-May when their fall down the standings began. Now, that slide may become a full-on free fall after a stunning gutting of the roster.
