Twins pitcher Ervin Santana recently voiced his frustration with Minnesota's front office, saying "they took our pieces away" with a flurry of trades over the past month.

The Twins, who have struggled this season after reaching the American League wild-card game last year, have traded six key veteran players -- second baseman Brian Dozier, closer Fernando Rodney, infielder Eduardo Escobar, starter Lance Lynn and relievers Ryan Pressly and Zach Duke -- since July 27.

When asked Friday about his friend Rodney, who was traded to the Athletics a day earlier, Santana elaborated on the Twins' recent trade activity.

"It's tough, especially when we're only 10 games out and we have two months left," Santana told reporters after Friday's 5-3 loss to the Tigers. "Everybody's like, 'They gave up.' We're not giving up, but they did.

"They took our pieces away, and it's difficult to play without our good pieces. You know what I mean? So we just have to play with what we have and try to win games."

The Twins (54-62) trail the first-place Indians (65-51) by 11 games in the AL Central and are 14.5 games behind the A's for the league's second wild card.

Santana, 35, is 0-1 with a 6.53 ERA in four starts this season. The right-hander, who missed the first four months of the season because of a finger injury, also was asked Friday whether the remaining veteran players on the Twins have wondered whether they'll be traded.

"I don't know, because we don't have control over that," he replied. "We're just here. We play one day at a time, so anything can happen."