Guardians fans hit with mixed emotions after Tigers-Twins trade

On Monday, the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers linked up for a trade that will leave the city of Cleveland confused about how to feel. 

On one hand, the Twins (a team chasing the Guardians in the Wild Card and American League Central standings) got markedly worse by trading starting pitcher Chris Paddack to the Tigers alongside pitcher Randy Dobnak. 

But on the other hand, the Tigers (the team the Guardians are chasing in the American League Central standings) got even better by adding Paddack at the cost of minor league catcher/infielder catcher/first baseman Enrique Jimenez. 

Guardians fans hit with mixed emotions after Tigers-Twins trade

The American League Central seemed destined to be one of the most important divisions at the deadline because of the amount of teams that weren’t clear buyers and sellers, and this trade is a perfect example of that. 

While the Twins are just five games below .500, this move shows that they’re ready to embrace being a seller, which means they shouldn’t offer a ton of competition to the Guardians should Cleveland elect to buy. 

They also seem ready to embrace being a seller looking to cut costs, as the reason they included Dobnak in the deal is likely to get off of the remaining $2 million they owe across his remaining contract this year and the $1 million buyout he has for next season.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise the Tigers had no problem including him in the deal, especially since it means they only had to give up Jimenez as a part of their prospect return. He’s solid, sure, but he’s also just 19 and in Single-A. 

Which brings us to Paddack. 

The former Padres starter was acquired by the Twins ahead of Opening Day in 2022, and he posted a 4.88 ERA in 226 2/3 innings across his four years in Minnesota. He was limited to just 88 2/3 innings last year due to a variety of injuries but has been able to stay off the injured list this year. He’s posted a 4.95 ERA in 111 innings this year. 

Not long after news of the trade began to leak out, the Tigers announced that they’d placed Reese Olson would be out for the rest of the year with a shoulder strain, which adds some additional context to the move. 

Although the Guardians are likely happy to see the Twins wave the white flag, any move that makes the Tigers marginally better is going to sting a little bit. The Guardians have been able to cut Detroit’s lead in the division in half over the past two weeks, but they still entered play on Monday eight games behind Detroit in the standings. 

Paddack may not make them a world-beater, but he does help fill a hole on their roster, which is the exact opposite of what happened to the Guardians on Monday. 

The Paddack trade, coupled with the Royals extending Seth Lugo, confirms that there will be two teams in the American League Central acting as sellers at this year’s deadline. It remains to be seen if the Guardians will make it three.