5 days ago
One Minnesota Twins Pitcher Devastated by Trade
When the Minnesota Twins indicated they would get serious about selling at the MLB trade deadline all of the impending free agents were put on notice. There was no reason to believe any of them would remain, and ultimately the only one that did was expensive but unproductive veteran catcher Christian Vazquez.
From there ownership was convinced to completely burn things to the ground. They paid the Houston Astros to take Carlos Correa off their hands. Controllable talents like Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax were moved as well.
Right before the bell hometown kid Louie Varland was packaged with Ty France and sent to Canada. That move was jarring, and it hit home for the lifetime Minnesotan.
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Louie Varland crushed by MN Twins
In 2019 the Minnesota Twins took Louie Varland in the 15th round out of Concordia St. Paul. He was overlooked as a Division II product, but not long later was pumping 100 mph cheddar. Pushed to the bullpen this season, he owned a 2.02 ERA (2.90 FIP) with 47 strikeouts in 49 innings.
Effectively one of the best, and most-used (51 appearances) relievers in baseball, the trade shook the Minnesota native.
Varland was devastated, leaving Twins players seething and rivals GMs dumbfounded as to why the Twins would actually trade a valuable reliever (2.02 ERA, 47 strikeouts in 49 innings) with five years of control. My God, he was born and raised in St. Paul, with his wife and a family coming to virtually every home game. This is the way you treat him?
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As Bob Nightengale points out, the move for Varland was earth-shattering. He grew up with this organization. He transformed himself with this organization. Varland became a dominant big league pitcher wearing a Twins jersey.
He also knows, having been a fan of the franchise while growing up, how bad the Pohlad's are as an ownership entity. Derek Falvey said the moves were 'not geared toward the financial flexibility component of it.' Nightengale eloquently stated, 'Believe it or not, those words were uttered with a straight face.'
Varland is under team control through the 2030 season and makes little more than the league minimum. He is not set to hit arbitration until 2027, and couldn't be more of a player you'd want to build around. That didn't matter to the Pohlad's or Falvey though.
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When a player like Louie Varland is being pieced out in an effort to shed a prorated portion of Ty France's $1 million salary, you know rock bottom has been reached. It's something Varland felt in the moment, and a reality he now must move forward with.
No matter what the return ultimately brings down the line for Minnesota, July 31, 2025 is a day that will forever live in infamy. The Pohlad family can't cease to exist in an ownership capacity soon enough. They took everything from the fanbase, and they took everything from a kid that turned into a big league and was right where he belonged.
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