With the Twins sitting just a half-game out of the AL Central lead as June draws to a close, the team’s place in the standings has at least partially modified its approach to the trade deadline, GM Thad Levine tells MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. While the focus remains on the future, Minnesota is also taking account of the fact that there’s a real possibility of reaching the postseason in 2017.
Though the club’s general assessment of its roster and timeline hasn’t changed substantially, Levine suggests, the performance — and perhaps also the opportunity created by a tightly-bunched American League — has impacted the calculus.