Ranking the 2025 Minnesota Twins' Top Players Under 25: 1-5

[Cody Christie]

In 2024, the Twins had a rookie trio in the starting rotation, and new position players joined the lineup. While they may have lost prospect eligibility, the team’s young core is one of baseball’s best. 

 

Image courtesy of Ed Bailey, Wichita Wind Surge

Organizational prospect lists can be flawed, because young players graduate to the big leagues and are no longer considered prospects. In the first part of this series, two pitchers significantly impacted the big-league roster last season but are no longer eligible for prospect lists. Minnesota’s organizational depth is strong, and multiple names on this list are expected to debut in 2025. Here is a look at the top players in the Twins organization who have yet to reach their age-25 season. 

5. Luke Keaschall, IF
2025 Season Age: 22
The Twins selected Luke Keaschall in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft, and he used the 2024 season as his personal launch party. Known for his high-energy play and versatile defensive abilities, Keaschall offers a unique blend of tools that could make him a future fan favorite. Keaschall’s ability to play multiple positions (including second base, third base, and center field) only adds to his value. At the plate, he brings a mature approach, excellent bat speed, and the potential to grow into surprising power. In 102 games, he hit .303/.420/.483, with 21 doubles and 15 home runs. Many national outlets have included him in their top-100 prospect lists this winter after his breakout season. 

4. David Festa, SP
2025 Season Age: 25
Pitching depth has long been a focus for the Twins, and Festa has emerged as one of the most exciting arms in the system. Festa, a 13th-round pick in 2021, has exceeded expectations at every level on his way to being the team’s top pitching prospect. His fastball consistently sits in the mid-to-upper 90s, complemented by a devastating slider and an improving changeup. In 2024, his slider had a 29.1 Whiff% and his changeup was over 10 points higher. After making significant strides in his command and secondary pitches during the 2024 season, Festa showcased his ability to miss bats with a Chase% and K% in the 82nd percentile. He profiles as a potential top-of-the-rotation starter, as he follows in the footsteps of Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober.

3. Brooks Lee, IF
2025 Season Age: 24
Since being drafted eighth overall in 2022, Lee has lived up to his billing in the minors as one of the most polished prospects. A switch-hitting infielder, Lee is the type of hitter who could anchor the middle of the Twins' lineup for years to come. His rookie season had more downs than ups (64 OPS+) as he fought through multiple injuries. However, his advanced bat-to-ball skills, gap power, and ability to draw walks make him a well-rounded offensive threat as he gains more experience. Defensively, Lee has the instincts and arm strength to stick at shortstop, though Carlos Correa’s presence means he will see time at second and third base. Regardless of his defensive home, Lee’s combination of offensive production and leadership qualities make him one of the team’s top young players. 

2. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF
2025 Season Age: 22
Rodríguez has quickly risen through the prospect rankings, thanks to his elite power potential and a keen eye at the plate. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, Rodríguez has demonstrated an advanced approach for his age, consistently posting high walk rates (24.4% in 2024) and on-base percentages (.459). Defensively, Rodríguez’s speed and strong arm make him an asset in center field, though he could also excel in a corner spot if necessary. Despite missing time last season, the Twins continued to be aggressive with him and pushed him to Triple-A in his age-21 campaign. The key for Rodríguez moving forward will be refining his approach against more advanced pitching, but his ceiling is as high as anyone’s in the system. He’s a consensus top-100 prospect entering 2025 and should debut by mid-season. 

1. Walker Jenkins, OF
2025 Season Age: 20
When the Twins selected Jenkins with the fifth overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, they landed one of the most highly-touted high-school bats in recent years. The North Carolina native has a sweet left-handed swing that has drawn comparisons to former MVPs like Joe Mauer (Twins connection) and Josh Hamilton (North Carolina connection). His physicality and bat speed allow him to drive the ball with authority to all fields, and he’s shown an advanced feel for hitting for someone his age. Last season, all but 11 of his plate appearances were against older pitchers. 

He reached Double-A as a 19-year-old and finished last season hitting .282/.394/.439 with 32 extra-base hits in 82 games. Beyond his offensive potential, Jenkins is a solid defender, with a strong arm and athleticism that could allow him to start his big-league career in center field. At 20 years old, he represents the epitome of a high-upside prospect and could be a franchise-altering player if everything clicks.

The Twins’ collection of under-25 talent paints an optimistic picture of the organization’s future. Each player mentioned above brings unique skills and qualities that could play a pivotal role in the team’s success for years to come. While development is rarely linear, the potential of this group gives Minnesota a firm foundation upon which to build. These young stars could soon make their mark on Target Field and beyond with the right mix of patience and opportunity.

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Do you agree with the names on the list? Which players should be ranked higher or lower? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

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[tony&rodney]

Looks like you forgot Brandon Winokur in your top ten. Remember to look back in a few years.

[amjgt]

I’d bump SWR up to 5. I like Keaschall as a prospect, but Sim has done it in the majors, for basically an entire year. Like if you were making a trade with another team, and said “choose between these two,” I feel like more teams would take SWR, but I could be wrong.

Maybe I’d flip flop Lee and Rodriguez

Hard to quibble much with the rest. 

[Otaknam]

Hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see Festa as a top of the rotation starter, aka number one. In my view he’s a 3+ starter, along the lines as Ober, which is pretty good! If his fastball improves to a consistent 97 or higher, he has a chance.

[DocBauer]

2 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Looks like you forgot Brandon Winokur in your top ten. Remember to look back in a few years.

Not YET. But he might be the most intriguing prospect in the system for 2025.

[tony&rodney]

1 minute ago, DocBauer said:

Not YET. But he might be the most intriguing prospect in the system for 2025.

Totally agree. He was among my favorite players to watch last season (milb.com). I have him as #10 right now. Low floor but superstar ceiling; amazing athletic talent.

[strumdatjag]

The time has come -   How the heck does one pronounce “Keaschall”????   Unfortunately, there is no mention of Luke by the announcers from the opposing team in the clip provided above. 

[Blyleven2011]

36 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Not YET. But he might be the most intriguing prospect in the system for 2025.

Along with keashall and Jenkins  , those 3 look very appealing to me ...

[DocBauer]

Willing to admit yet again I didn't understand the Keaschall pick. But boy was I wrong! He's athletic enough to play anywhere, and might be the perfect replacement for Castro in 2026 as the SUPER UTILITY  player on the roster. Not directly as I'm not certain about SS/3B despite his college career at SS, but how well does his arm return after TJ? Athletic ability says he can play all over. The Twins put him at 1B and OF to protect his arm in 2024 knowing he needed surgery. So his defensive position(s) are a bit up in the air right now. If Lee takes over 2B full time it's a GOOD THING. If Miranda stays healthy and learns to play 1B well it's a GOOD THING. That DOESNT mean Keaschall isn't valuable. There's still enough IF's involved to see Keaschall as that SUPER UTILITY player. But he's also a potential full time 1B/2B depending on time and trades. I couldn't care less if his power didn't indicate he should be a 1B, if his defense and offense PLAYS, then I'd  be OK if he replaced Miranda. JUST an example. His BAT and GAME looks like it plays. 

Festa's PURE STUFF outplays SWR on the surface. Supposedly, he's working hard on a curveball. If he can make that even a decent offering, or make it more of a sweeper, I think he jumps ahead of SWR, with all due respect, to take over the 4th spot in the rotation. Endurance and a 4th pitch makes him a top of the rotation SP, IMO.

I expect Lee to take over 2B and not hit like he's GOING to. I'm expecting an AVG in the .250-.260 range with a solid OB and 14HR and 32 Dbls. The AVG and OB will get better. The doubles will jump. Not sure if the HR will ever be 20, but doubles will be there and the HR might jump to 18-ish.

Is there a chance the pure ability to be super patient and under aggresive in AB that Rodriguez has shown can translate to the ML level with his power? He could be special if his contact and power ability and patience could work against a high K rate. I can't wait to see what he might do, but I expect a learning curve that might disappoint initially.  But I can't wait to see him!

Jenkins just needs to be healthy. PERIOD. He's the best pure talent since Buxton. And we shouldn't care if he debuts in 2025 or in 2026. He could be special.

[roger]

Still believe Prielipp has tthe highest upside of any pitcher in the organization.

[tony&rodney]

8 minutes ago, roger said:

Still believe Prielipp has tthe highest upside of any pitcher in the organization.

Seems like he is destined for the bullpen. This is a huge year for him. Do the Twins move him to the pen, give him the uber protective treatment as a starter ala Marco Raya, or cut him loose as a starter? Anyone can guess. I was impressed tuning into his games last summer despite the short outings and sporadic results from inning to inning. Prielipp has great stuff from what I saw.

[Brett]

The top 3 have 172 AB’s combined in the bigs. I just hope it works out.

[Bob Twins Fan Since 61]

15 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see Festa as a top of the rotation starter, aka number one. In my view he’s a 3+ starter, along the lines as Ober, which is pretty good! If his fastball improves to a consistent 97 or higher, he has a chance.

I think the chances you are wrong are pretty good.  Really like Festa's upside.  His stuff is nasty, and if he continues to improve his command, he's going to be really good, 

[LambchoP]

I think both Prelipp and Canterino should be given an opportunity to earn a bullpen spot in Spring training. Both these guys have insane stuff, just need to stay healthy. Sound familiar?

[KBJ1]

Idk, a recent article on here had the Twins farm system ranked 17th.

Not what you want to see if you are a small market team.

While this list is talented, the problem is we need them all to be proven major league starters this year.  They're  not.

The only healthy, consistent player we had last year was 38 year old Santana, and he is gone. 

Last years team, on paper, showed much more potential and depth than right now. And we all know what happened last year. 

As of now, we have no defined 1B, 2B, LF power hitter, zero LH pitching, and a bunch of guys coming off injuries.

It's going to take multiple rookie of the year candidates and career years from from the rest to even get a sniff of the playoffs. Without a RH power bat, some speed and LH pitching, this is a B league team.

[JD-TWINS]

16 hours ago, amjgt said:

I’d bump SWR up to 5. I like Keaschall as a prospect, but Sim has done it in the majors, for basically an entire year. Like if you were making a trade with another team, and said “choose between these two,” I feel like more teams would take SWR, but I could be wrong.

Maybe I’d flip flop Lee and Rodriguez

Hard to quibble much with the rest. 

Agreed on SWR fitting in at #4 or #5 ……still in age 24 season and proven at MLB level.

Lee, on the other hand, may drift down into the #5-#6 range for me…….not sure how injured he was after having time off for back issue? He was OK in the field with flashes of. rey good - at the plate he looked like a guy just trying to lay the bat on the ball, far too often. Sooo many weak ground balls to second base - often tough to watch. From what I saw of Brooks and what I read about Keaschall, the latter may be playing 2B by July 1.

[JD-TWINS]

12 hours ago, roger said:

Still believe Prielipp has tthe highest upside of any pitcher in the organization.

That’s what people were saying about Mark Fydirich when he couldn’t throw any more for Tigers. Upside v. availability is the issue.

[JD-TWINS]

52 minutes ago, LambchoP said:

I think both Prelipp and Canterino should be given an opportunity to earn a bullpen spot in Spring training. Both these guys have insane stuff, just need to stay healthy. Sound familiar?

Let’s see them stay healthy and perform at a lower level for 6 weeks before burning veteran’s availability to the club.

[Charleo]

16 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Hope I’m wrong, but I don’t see Festa as a top of the rotation starter, aka number one. In my view he’s a 3+ starter, along the lines as Ober, which is pretty good! If his fastball improves to a consistent 97 or higher, he has a chance.

I agree.  I admit, I never watched him in the minors and most pitchers struggle a bit when first called up. But I also feel like a #3 rotation spot seems most reasonable.  Like you, I hope I'm wrong!

[JD-TWINS]

1 hour ago, Bob Twins Fan Since 61 said:

I think the chances you are wrong are pretty good.  Really like Festa's upside.  His stuff is nasty, and if he continues to improve his command, he's going to be really good, 

Agreed. His fastball velocity is fine - his elevation with that pitch and his ability to throw it at the knees is great! His secondary, off-speed stuff & command will elevate his spot in the rotation over time……if he gets to Ober’s level at any point, he’s good enough for me. Ober is a solid #2 on probably 24-25 teams.

[NYCTK]

I can't help but shake the idea that Rodriguez is never going to be more valuable than he is right now. I know the reports on his defense are pretty good, but I can't seem to find any videos except for one. His defense is going to be the deciding factor on if he's a huge bust candidate or an eminently valuable player. Like Julien, if he's not an average or plus defender his plate approach just doesn't seem like it will carry over very well. 

This is the one video I can find, and to be honest, it's just fine:  

https://www.milb.com/video/emmanuel-rodriguez-s-sliding-catch?t=playerid-691181

He looks like an average to below average major league CF to my eye.  But it's one play, so I can't draw a real conclusion. 

 

 

[gman]

Its kind of hard to squeeze 13-14 names into a 10 player list But for the best 10 this list works, I expect to see all of them in the majors by the end of 26. Except where will they all play?

[Rod Carews Birthday]

Rankings by their nature are pretty subjective unless you establish objective criteria -- trade value, value to future of team, ultimate career value, WAR, this year vs. future vs. career, etc.  That being said, it's a fun exercise.  For me, there are two misplaced people on the list.  I think SWR should be higher on the list -- he's done it well at the MLB level for most of a season and that is worth a lot.  I think Brooks Lee should be lower on the list -- he needs to prove he can hit.  After a flashy start with the bat, he was pretty much terrible, looking confused and lost before making enough contact to ground out to the infield.  I think it is also worth noting that these two players really moved in opposite directions in the past year.  SWR was being written off by many and now has climbed in peoples opinions, while Brooks Lee was the "surefire rookie of the year" candidate who now doesn't look very shiny.  I hope SWR can keep it going and I hope Lee can recover. 

[Blyleven2011]

21 hours ago, roger said:

Still believe Prielipp has tthe highest upside of any pitcher in the organization.

Preilipp and canterino have major league pitches already , there is no reason they should be on the roster at some point in the season , get them some innings at AAA  and hope health continues ...

There getting older and should be able to handle if healthy at the MLB...

[tony&rodney]

9 hours ago, NYCTK said:

I can't help but shake the idea that Rodriguez is never going to be more valuable than he is right now. I know the reports on his defense are pretty good, but I can't seem to find any videos except for one. His defense is going to be the deciding factor on if he's a huge bust candidate or an eminently valuable player. Like Julien, if he's not an average or plus defender his plate approach just doesn't seem like it will carry over very well. 

This is the one video I can find, and to be honest, it's just fine:  

https://www.milb.com/video/emmanuel-rodriguez-s-sliding-catch?t=playerid-691181

He looks like an average to below average major league CF to my eye.  But it's one play, so I can't draw a real conclusion. 

 

 

Forgive me because I have commented on this previously with you. Emmanuel is a better fielder than Keirsey Jr. as an example and I like Keirsey Jr. People tend to be skeptical of a really muscled up guy maintaining their speed and quickness and this will be an ongoing question for Emmanuel Rodriguez. From my perspective Emmanuel is a true centerfielder and I'm not alone, "His reads, routes, instincts and ball skills in center are all spectacular, and right now, he has the foot speed to play there." - from Fangraphs. I guess we shall see soon enough and I hope this happens from Day One of the 2025 MLB season because ER is ready. AAA will be pointless, which many people will disagree with because they look at his stats but haven't seen him play.

[h2oface]

I certainly get the, you know, the potential. The pedigree. The projection. But I also find it kinda depressing the 3 out of the top 5, and 6 of the top 10 have never even seen the Show, and only one has any real extended time there, and Woods-etal is the rated only the 7th best. Matthews, Festa and Lee..... all showed some hope, but certainly not a wow. Our best players under 25 on the Team, can't even make the team yet. I wold be more excited if the best young players actually were MLB players.

[amjgt]

11 hours ago, h2oface said:

I certainly get the, you know, the potential. The pedigree. The projection. But I also find it kinda depressing the 3 out of the top 5, and 6 of the top 10 have never even seen the Show, and only one has any real extended time there, and Woods-etal is the rated only the 7th best. Matthews, Festa and Lee..... all showed some hope, but certainly not a wow. Our best players under 25 on the Team, can't even make the team yet. I would be more excited if the best young players actually were MLB players.

Zebby and Festa are both 24 at the moment, but turn 25 before July 1 (SWR turns 25 in September).

Julien, Royce, and Martin are all 25 right now.

It not like they’re an old team. In 2024 they were around the 10th youngest, depending on how you track that, and our 3 oldest players on last years roster (Santana, Farmer, and Thielbar) are gone. 

 

[twinstalker]

Keaschall's their second best.