The Twins spent the deadline loading up on arms, but the biggest name tied to them might have been a shortstop.
Minnesota’s move-making started a few weeks back when it landed right-hander Tommy Nance from the Blue Jays. After that, the front office kept stacking bullpen help, adding veteran lefty AJ Minter and then, just before the deadline closed on Monday, former All-Star Jeff Hoffman. In the middle of all that, GM Jeremy Zoll also brought in a starter, Dean Kremer.
What Minnesota did not do, despite some reports saying otherwise, was ship anyone out from its 26-man roster. Catcher Ryan Jeffers and outfielder Trevor Larnach both stayed put, with Larnach’s situation apparently helped along by Astros owner Jim Crane.
Still, the more surprising rumor came from Bob Nightengale on the Foul Territory Podcast on Monday. According to the USA Today MLB insider, the Twins have “been all over” Angels shortstop Zach Neto.
Nightengale made it clear he does not expect Los Angeles to actually move Neto, even with several clubs checking in on the 25-year-old. Minnesota, though, is right at the front of that line.
“I still don’t think they’ll trade Zach Neto, I really don’t. People want him.
Particularly, the Twins are all over him. They’d love to have him.
He’s a viable guy. The Red Sox would love to have him [too].
So if they move him, I’d be stunned. You’d have to get a huge haul in return.”
Neto has been on the field for every one of the Angels’ 109 games this season, and the production has been real. He’s driven in 47 runs and posted 2.6 bWAR, numbers that would rank third and second on the 2026 Twins, respectively.
Only Byron Buxton, at 3.2 bWAR, has been more valuable for Minnesota this season. Ryan Jeffers is close at 2.5.
There’s also the positional piece. Neto has been playing the most demanding spot on the infield, outside of catcher, since he was 22.
But the profile is not spotless. Baseball Savant has him at minus-4 defensively at short, and his offensive line this year sits at .230 with a .745 OPS.
Those numbers are only a shade off his career marks of .243/.745. The one standout offensive trait is a 12.4% barrel rate.
Neto was the No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Campbell University, and Baseball Prospectus never had him higher than No. 47 on its prospect list, in preseason 2023. Even so, he reached the majors full-time in just 1.5 seasons.
So while the Twins were busy adding bullpen depth and another starter, Nightengale’s report suggests they were also willing to go after a much bigger swing. Whether that says anything about Kaelen Culpepper’s future, or his ability to stay healthy, remains an open question for now.
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