Twins Wait Till Next Year

The 2025 Twins’ 70-92 season is officially in the books. Because they traded away one-third of their roster at the trading deadline, the last two months have effectively been a try-out for the 2026 season. All the free agents were sent away early. There will be new ones next year–there had better be!–but it is not too soon to evaluate the players under contract: who might make the team next spring, and what chance will that give the ’26 Twins.

Starting Pitchers. The Twins ended the season with six consecutive stellar outings, against good opponents, from fairly young starters, all of whom will be legitimate candidates for the rotation: Simeon Woods-Richardson, Zebby Matthews, Bailey Ober, Nick Abel, Taj Bradley and Joe Ryan. Pablo Lopez, not young but the purported ace, also excelled in his last start before a minor injury ended his season. Then there’s David Festa, whose season was cut short but has long been considered a rising star. By my count, that’s eight arms for a five-man rotation. This is far and away the strength of next year’s roster, so much so that I wouldn’t mind losing Lopez (and his salary) to a trade for some relievers or some offense.

Relievers: The Twins famously traded away their five most-used relievers, presumably believing that rebuilding the bullpen was the easiest part of reconstruction. This gave them the chance to try out arms from their Minor League system as well as some pickups. The results were not encouraging. Of the relievers they retained, Cole Sands was given the most high-leverage situations to deal with, with some success and some failure. I expect him to be retained but if he is more than the fourth man in the pen they’re in trouble. Of the newbies, I’m most excited about Kyle Funderburk. He flopped in his first two call-ups, but the last time around he had gained in control and confidence. I expect in 2026 he will fill the designated lefthander role assigned in recent years to Caleb Thielbar and Danny Couloumbe. It’s hard to see where six more relief pitchers will come from. I don’t expect the Twins to convert any of the above starters, as it’s clear by now that teams need starting depth to get through the season. Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl were given every opportunity and will be, again. If one of the two rises to the occasion I will be happy. Thomas Hatch looked good for awhile but tailed off. I’m less hopeful for someone like Hatch who is not young and has been let go by five previous clubs. Genesis Cabrera should have no future, and Anthony Misiewicz was terrible; but both are lefthanders so will be given another look. Michael Tonkin is old and was a stop-gap this year. Justin Topa has better credentials than the others but was disappointing. In short, this is where the Twins should concentrate their recruiting efforts and free-agent dollars.

Outfield: This is the most intriguing part of the plot. Byron Buxton’s in center, although we all know a backup should be on the roster, always available. But who among this group is worth the future: Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Austin Martin, James Outman, Alan Roden? Compared to the Twins’ top three prospects, all of whom, I believe, are corner outfielders: Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Gabriel Gonzalez. Wallner and Larnach have both been given plenty of runway to reach their potential, and, as with Max Kepler, it seems vain to expect a higher level of play from either in the future. While Wallner was second to Buxton in home runs, he hit for only a .202 average and, despite his homers, was seventh in rbi. Larnach has a lovely swing, but .250 seems to be his ceiling as well as his floor. They both hit lefthanded and I can’t see the Twins continuing to employ them both. (It would be nice if another team would trade a relief pitcher for them; it would have been even nicer if the Twins had kept Brent Rooker, who lost a roster spot to them a few years ago.) The Twins clearly hoped Roden would develop if given a chance to play and were hoping that Outman could revive a career that had flailed with the Dodgers. Neither should stand in the way of one or more of the prospects. Martin is a more interesting case. He ended up with a .282 average and has speed and defensive versatility. He made several bonehead plays, which you think can be eliminated with experience. In short, there is at least one, and maybe two, open outfield  positions to be won in spring training next year.

Infield: Luke Keaschall is the Twins second baseman for the foreseeable future, if he can stay healthy. Brooks Lee is adequate, but barely, at shortstop and can hold the position until one of the Twins prospects is ready. It’s astonishing how slow he is for a shortstop though. Royce Lewis should be the permanent solution at third, but his hitting is nowhere near the level he demonstrated when he first arrived. His swing-and-miss rate is high, especially on balls outside the strike zone, and his power has fallen to warning-track level. .237 with 13 home runs is not what the Twins are expecting. A return to the Royce Lewis of old is the single conceivable factor that would most elevate the Twins’ offense. I like Kody Clemens at first. He is solid defensively (unlike Eddie Julien), and I read that he has the second-highest hard-hit rate on balls in play, which suggests his .216 average is not indicative. Just as important, he had a knack for big hits and big home runs this year that the rest of the lineup lacked. I like the idea of giving him the chance to start a year as the regular first baseman, instead of bringing in a retread free agent as the Twins have done recently. That leaves us to consider Julien, who was a good hitter before he wasn’t but who showed signs of life when necessity called upon him this year. I’m afraid, as with Jose Miranda, he just couldn’t take the next step to become a solid Major League hitter. The Twins need a backup, but I’m looking for a fresh face.

Catcher: Ryan Jeffers, after Buxton, is the longest-serving, most dependable player on the team and will remain the #1 catcher for next year and beyond. Christian Vazquez, paid a lot of money to hit .189, will be gone, which means new backup catcher is needed. In a limited window, Mickey Gasper hit .158 and Johnny Pereda .345, but both were stopgaps and I don’t think this question has been answered. I expect a trade or free-agent signing for a good defender who hits .210.

Did I forget to mention DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Ryan Fitzgerald? Both plugged holes which one hopes won’t be so glaring next year.

In sum, unlike this year when almost all the roster spots were decided before spring training even began, there could and should be plenty of new faces, open competitions and surprises before Opening Day 2026.