Twins trade Zach Duke to Mariners

The Twins already traded Ryan Pressly and Eduardo Escobar, but it looks like weren’t done making moves! The team announced Monday afternoon that they have now also shipped off reliever Zach Duke to the Seattle Mariners for two minor league players.

Duke, 35, has been having a perfectly fine season out of then pen. He’s posted a 3.62 ERA over 37.1 innings with 39 strikeouts — and hasn’t given up a single home run! Losing Duke means the Twins are also losing another left-handed option out of the pen, but what the heck, not like we’re going to the World Series this year, right?

In return for Duke, the Twins received right-handed pitcher Chase DeJong and infielder Ryan Costello. DeJong, 24, has been pitching in Double-A this year, where he’s put up a 3.80 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 120.2 innings. Costello, 22, has been playing in Low-A ball this season, where he’s batting .266/.360/.486 over 101 games.

Oh, and the Twins are also still paying $75,000 of Duke’s remaining salary.

On paper, the return the Twins got for Duke doesn’t seem that impressive. But, what the heck, why not? Maybe the boy wonders in the front office found a diamond in the rough here.

MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline is tomorrow at 3:00 pm CT.

Addison Reed is being activated from the DL and will take Duke’s place on the active roster, presumably.