MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins entered the All-Star break competing for a postseason spot despite an inadequate bullpen and a small payroll.By going 16-9 over the past four weeks, the Twins tied with the Seattle Mariners for the third American League wild-card spot. They’re also in third place in the AL Central, three games behind the Cleveland Guardians and Chicago White Sox.Somehow, a squad featuring a $104.7 million payroll has won eight of its past nine series and carries a 34 percent chance of securing a playoff berth. Not bad considering national media hasn’t pondered them all season besides suggesting another player be traded away.Now comes the hard part.One reason the Twins are at this point is because of great clubhouse chemistry and an all-for-one attitude. Yes, the starting pitching is good, and the offense has scored the most runs in the AL. But good vibes and a flawed roster can only get you so far.If the Twins want to complete a turnaround and return to the postseason for the first time since 2023, they’ll need to answer a ton of questions before they get there.Here are the biggest Twins storylines as the second half begins.Deadline buyers or sellers?We’ll know in about three weeks. If the Twins find themselves where they are now in late July, general manager Jeremy Zoll should have an opportunity to add talent to the team’s 26-man roster ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.Doing so would align with the thinking of new controlling owner Tom Pohlad. Since taking over in mid-December, Pohlad’s been adamant that the organization owes its fans and players for three years of missteps dating to slashing payroll by $30 million after the 2023 season.Yet, if the Twins stumble, what the deadline appears to be could be much different. Might a Twins team six games out in the division race and four back in the wild card look to trade two-time All-Star Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers? Perhaps, and that’s why the upcoming stretch is important.How do you fix the bullpen?Perhaps the Twins should call the Tampa Bay Rays again. The team’s top three pitchers in bWAR — Ryan, Taj Bradley and Yoendrys Gómez — all came from Tampa. Gómez, who was acquired from the Rays for cash on May 6, is 10-for-10 in save tries and has a 1.71 ERA in 30 games since coming over. Meanwhile, homegrown rookie Andrew Morris is hitting 100 mph and pairing it with a cutter generating swings and misses.However, the Twins need much more pitching, especially with reliever Anthony Banda out for the season.Open tryouts produced two pitchers who can handle late-innings roles. Yet with 65 games remaining, there are still too many vacancies in the late innings. The Twins are turning over every rock, like taking chances on Woo-Suk Go and Tommy Nance, to see what they can discover. The pair will get an opportunity to fill a void over the next few weeks.Yet those efforts should only be considered a start. The Twins have the 29th-worst bullpen ERA (5.19) and 22nd-worst Win Probability Added (minus-0.72). They don’t need to add someone like perennial All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman. But Derek Shelton would benefit from the front office adding more stability in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.Can Byron Buxton keep this up?For a second straight season, Buxton is on pace to appear in more than 120 games. Buxton is performing at an All-Star level for a second straight season, batting .271/.328/.575 with 25 home runs in 335 plate appearances.Yet Buxton was forced to sit out the festivities in Philadelphia on Tuesday night because of a right hip strain despite being elected to start the All-Star Game. He’s currently on the 10-day injured list, but can come off on Friday when the Twins play at the Chicago Cubs. On Sunday, Shelton was non-committal about when Buxton would return, though he hopes to have the center fielder back during the upcoming road trip.The only thing that may delay Buxton’s is the Twins wanting to take more time to get the outfielder’s hip as close to healthy as possible. He missed 28 games with a right hip strain two years ago, and when he returned, posted an .850 OPS over the final two weeks of the season.Though they were 4-2 without him on the most recent homestand, the Twins must hope Buxton won’t need quite as long this time around. With Buxton mostly healthy before the break, the Twins surged to an AL lead in runs scored with 471. They don’t want to spend long stretches finding out what kind of offense they have without him.