The Twins’ fire sale was so ruthless that 27-year-old reliever Louie Varland, the hometown kid who absolutely loved being a Twin, making only $8,150 more than the minimum salary, and wasn’t even eligible for salary arbitration for two more years, was dumped and sent to the Toronto Blue Jays with first baseman Ty France.

MLB teams shedding salary − whether it be midseason at the trade deadline or choosing not to extend certain players − shouldn't be new for MLB fans. But as Minnesota Twins fans watched a team just 5.5 games back of a wild-card berth get stripped for parts, it wouldn't be unreasonable to simply ask: "why?"