Minnesota Twins general manager Thad Levine is set to face quite a dilemma ahead of next month’s MLB trade deadline.

The Twins capped off the first half of their season sitting atop the AL Central standings with a 50-44 record. They currently hold a 2.0 game lead on the second-place Cleveland Guardians in the division. However, there has been plenty of doubt regarding their contender status heading into the stretch run of the campaign.

Among all six current division leaders in the majors, only the Twins (29-29) and the Milwaukee Brewers (23-26) do not boast a winning record against teams with a mark over .500. More so, the Twins did not necessarily convince their skeptics during their first half series encounters with the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees, as they finished with a combined 1-5 record against both teams.

Levine will soon deal with a matter that a multitude of other playoff contending teams in the majors will also confront: be an aggressive buyer at the trade deadline or be one who prefers to complete low-risk, high-reward moves. In either case, Levine will have a fair share of options to bolster the roster, and he should target these two players.

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2 sneaky MLB trade deadline targets for Twins

Noah Syndergaard

Levine recently touched on how he plans to approach the trade deadline, where he noted that his focus will be placed on the “pitching side.”

“Like every team that's out there who's a playoff contender, we're certainly combing the market to see what options there are to improve our team, and I think it's no mistake the focus will be on the pitching side,” Levine told WCCO Radio last week.

Cincinnati Reds’ Luis Castillo and Oakland Athletics’ Frankie Montas are slated to be the two most coveted starting pitchers ahead of Aug. 2. Multiple other hurlers may also end up being available as well, including Los Angeles Angels pitcher Noah Syndergaard.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman recently noted that rival executives “suspect” Syndergaard will be made available for a trade, which comes as the Angels sit in fourth place in the AL West standings.

Even as there were question marks surrounding his availability for this season after being limited to a mere two innings pitched in the past two years due to Tommy John surgery, Syndergaard has so far proved such doubters wrong. He has tallied 74.1 innings pitched in 14 starts this season.

Syndergaard’s fastball velocity may not be where it once was, as he is now averaging 94.5 mph on the pitch. Nonetheless, his keen success on his slider and sinker pitches coupled with the fact that he is on par to hit free agency later this year could make him a viable low-risk move for the current AL Central leaders.

Jose Quintana

Another move that may not cost the Twins much to orchestrate would center on acquiring Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jose Quintana.

The veteran left-handed pitcher has turned back the clock in the 2022 season, posting a 3.99 ERA and recording 81 strikeouts in 18 starts. This came after not much went his way in the 2021 campaign with the Angels and San Francisco Giants, where he recorded career lows in ERA (6.43) and home runs per nine innings (1.71).

Quintana has heavily relied on his cutter pitch, which opponents have hit .220 off of. He is not generating the stout success that he had with the pitch last season, where he often fooled opposing batters thanks to the career-high 16.0 percent swinging strike percentage. At the least, he has posted a wRC+ of 77 off of the pitch this season — his best mark since 2017 (80).

As Quintana is on an expiring contract and as Devin Smeltzer is currently their lone lefty starter, this potential trade could be one worth completing for Levine.

In the big picture, Levine may not have to make any moves to rejuvenate his starting pitching staff, especially as the rotation is now gradually getting healthy.

“We've been dealing with so many injuries,” Levine told WCCO Radio. “We started the season with seven starting pitchers on our Major League Baseball team. We had six in the rotation and Josh Winder in the bullpen. Within like four weeks we were down to like two starting pitchers, which was partially down to COVID and then some injuries that we sustained.

“We're still trying to get healthy on the starting rotation side, just recently getting Sonny Gray and Joe Ryan back and Josh Winder just got promoted again, and we're still waiting for Bailey Ober to return. I think there's a lot of help on the horizon.”

All eyes sure will be on whether the Twins will pull off any notable trades in the coming weeks.