The Twins made two trades in 1981 that hurt them badly: giving up Jerry Koosman for a couple failed prospects (-3.6 WAR) and giving up an All-Star in Ken Landreaux and getting Mickey Hatcher and a couple failed prospects (-4.8 WAR). The Trade: Minnesota Twins trade P Mike Kinnunen to the St. Result: +1.5 WAR after the trade, solid depth added. Washington was a decent backup for the team, and Caughey never played a game for the Dodgers, so the Twins win this one, with no big trades happening in 1980. 265 over six years before becoming one of the longest tenured coaches in the MLB. Remember all those trades where the Twins turned a decent minor leaguer into a solid major leaguer from the 1970s? Here’s another great example: the Twins coughed up a Minnesota native prospect who would never make the majors for a decent reserve infielder. The Trade: Minnesota Twins trade INF Wayne Caughey (minors) to the Los Angeles Dodgers for INF Ron Washington.

With that in mind, let’s get these rankings started. Once we’ve gone over the top deal for every year, we will rank them to find out the top trade the Twins ever made. This wouldn’t have happened without some great trades.įor a trade to make this list, the Twins need to come out ahead in terms of WAR. We’ve already taken a look at the Minnesota Twins’ top trades in the 1960s and the 1970s, and we continue today with the Twins’ top trades in the 1980s, a decade when the Twins finally crossed the threshold and won a title. We continue our list of the Minnesota Twins top trades in each year with the 1980s, the first decade the Twins brought home a title.

1988 minnesota twins mini baseball bat