Twins get prospect Mendez in Bader deal, ship Stewart to Dodgers (sources)

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins are officially in the midst of a significant selloff.

The first two of what may be several Trade Deadline dominoes fell early Thursday afternoon, as Minnesota agreed to deal outfielder Harrison Bader to the Phillies and Brock Stewart to the Dodgers, sources told MLB.com. The Twins have not confirmed the Stewart trade.

TRADE DETAILS

Twins receive: OF Hendry Mendez, RHP Geremy Villoria

Phillies receive: OF Harrison Bader

Those moves follow the trades of Jhoan Duran to Philadelphia on Wednesday and Chris Paddack to Detroit on Monday. It’s likely that more trades will follow before the 5 p.m. CT Deadline, with other clubs having interest in several of the Twins’ pending free agents as well as more central pieces like reliever Griffin Jax and starter Joe Ryan.

Bader signed with the Twins late in the offseason but turned into one of the winter’s best signings, providing his strongest offensive showing in several years while remaining a top-flight defender in the outfield. He made a number of memorable catches while posting a .258/.339/.439 line at the plate with 10 steals in 14 attempts and 12 home runs.

For Stewart, it’s been a bounceback season after he missed much of 2024 due to injury. He sports a 2.38 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 34 innings, just 1/3 of an inning short of a career high in that category. He was actually drafted by the Dodgers in 2014 and began his career with them.

Mendez, 21, has enjoyed a strong first full season in the high Minors, posting a .290/.374/.434 line at Double-A Reading. He’s a left-handed hitter who has demonstrated the kind of strike-zone control the Twins prize, with 40 walks and 44 strikeouts in 349 plate appearances. He enters the Twins’ system as their No. 18 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

Villoria has only 14 professional innings, all in the Dominican Summer League, after he signed as an international free agent this past winter. He’s 16 years old, turning 17 in August.

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