THOMA COLUMN | Cruz trade a defines a new set of goals

Jul. 26—That Nelson Cruz was traded was no surprise.

That it came Thursday, more than a week ahead of the deadline for in-season trades — that wasn't expected. That the Twins landed a pair of legitimate pitching prospects for a bit more than two months of a player limited to DH duties — that wasn't expected, either.

Losing Cruz stings a bit, certainly, but it's quite possible that the pending free agent will return to Minnesota in the offseason for the same reasons he re-signed with the Twins last winter. The market for right-handed bats with no defensive value is limited, no matter how high the production.

But his return is not a given, and the Twins now have 62 games to play out without him taking the DH at-bats and anchoring the middle of the lineup.

The guy who figures to most benefit from that is Brent Rooker. He's 26 already, he doesn't carry a lot of defensive value, and he's not likely to hit for average. All which explains why, despite terrorizing the SEC as a college player and piling up power numbers in the minors, he hasn't gotten a lot of opportunity in the majors.

This is his chance to impress. He's not just auditioning for the Twins. He's auditioning for every team.

Whatever the market is this winter for Nelson Cruz, that's also the trade market for Rooker.

The Cruz trade will almost certainly be followed with the departure of more veterans this week. The question is how drastic the changes will be. My guess — flavored by the public comments from Derek Falvey — is that Jose Berrios, Bryon Buxton and Taylor Rogers will stay, that Falvey and Thad Levine view this season's failure to meet expectations as correctable for 2022.

Trading the pending free agents on the roster — guys like Alex Colome, J.A. Happ and Hansel Robles — won't change the 2022 outlook for good or ill. Moving the likes of Berrios or Buxton would.

Manager Rocco Baldelli has already shifted a certain focus. Pregame skill drills, previously optional, are now required.

The Twins opened this season with a experience-laden roster, and Baldelli had an emphasis on rest and "load management." With the likes of Trevor Larnach, Ryan Jeffers, Nick Gordon and other novices dotting the lineup on a regular basis, Baldelli is shifting into a more developmental focus.

It's unclear how deep the "mandatory" designation reaches — I doubt that Baldelli is out to force Josh Donaldson to take infield on a daily basis — but the Twins have had a goodly number of games slip away due to ill-timed miscues.

Will spending more time and energy on drills change that?

I don't know for certain, but it's worth the trial — especially if Andrelton Simmons and/or Donaldson are traded.

Edward Thoma is at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com. Twitter: @bboutsider.