The one Twin Correa didn't want traded

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You’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in the Twins’ clubhouse as engaged with the ebbs and flows and ups and downs of the Trade Deadline as Carlos Correa. The Twins’ superstar shortstop has been in and out of manager Rocco Baldelli’s office over the past week, making his feelings known about possible trade targets and his perception of the club’s needs.

Correa said he had a wish list (but declined to share the details of that list last week, out of respect for his teammates). In fact, he noted that he’d actually been talking about reliever Jorge López with Baldelli on Monday night -- hours before the Twins secured the right-hander in a deal with the Orioles on Tuesday morning.

But Correa said on Tuesday that he had another element of motivation on his agenda: To beg and plead to ensure that Jose Miranda stayed with the Twins.

“Most of [the visits] were trying to get that message across that Miranda was untouchable, and he needs to be in this franchise for a long time,” Correa said. “He's still here with us, which is great. I think he'll be here for a long time. He's a special player, a special bat.”

Of course, sellers were bound to be asking about Miranda, the club’s defending Minor League Player of the Year. At only 24 years old, he’s an exciting young hitter with a strong prospect background and not only power, but the ability to hit the ball with authority to all fields -- as he did on Monday night, when he lined late game-tying singles to both right and left field to set up the Twins’ walk-off win over the Tigers.

Clearly, Miranda has a bright future ahead of him and should impact any team for years to come. As a rookie, he has already been a vital part of the Twins’ lineup, hitting .339/.381/.570 (and a .950 OPS) in 51 games since May 20, when he really turned things on at the plate.

The Twins were on the same page as Correa, it seems. They wanted to be the organization that reaped the benefits of Miranda’s bat. Teams asked about Miranda and others; the Twins didn’t budge, even after their Trade Deadline movement got off to a slow start.

“Maybe what was sticking us to some degree is there was a lot of interest in a lot of guys in that clubhouse right now,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. “And I get that, and I understand why. They're impacting us right now. There were certainly a lot of asks for a lot of players that are in there and a lot of players in our Minor League system that we didn't trade. But ultimately, that was a sticking point for us.”

When the dust settled, the Twins addressed their major needs in a big way, landing López from the Orioles, reliever Michael Fulmer from the Tigers and starter Tyler Mahle from the Reds. They desperately needed the pitching help.

And just as significantly to Correa, he got to take the field alongside Miranda again when all was said and done, pushing for the playoffs together.