Looking WAY Ahead: Who Are the Twins' Top Prospects of 2027?

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of Cedar Rapids Kernels (Photo of Eduardo Tait)

The Minnesota Twins have continued to replenish their farm system with prospect-for-proven-player trades and strong draft classes. By 2027, several of those acquisitions and recent draft picks will be pushing toward Target Field. Today, we look ahead at who will be Minnesota’s top-ranked prospects in two years as the organization continues to develop its next core. It's important to note that the Twins are in position to have a top-five pick in the 2026 MLB Draft and that player would likely rank highly on this list. 

5. Riley Quick, RHP
MLB ETA: 2028
Minnesota took Quick with the 36th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft out of the University of Alabama. He is a hard-throwing righty who had Tommy John surgery during his sophomore collegiate season. With a sinker that sits in the high-90s and touches 99, Quick has the type of velocity that plays at any level. He has yet to make his pro debut as the Twins will likely have him work at the complex level and debut in 2026. 

What has separated him from other young arms is his ability to command a sharp-breaking slider and an improving changeup. His fastball and slider are already plus pitches. He stands at 6-foot-6 and 255 pounds, a frame that holds up throughout games. If he stays healthy, Quick projects as a mid-rotation starter with a chance to become a playoff-caliber starter by the end of the decade.

4. Quentin Young, SS
MLB ETA: 2029
Minnesota took Young with their second-round pick in July (54th overall). They have already promoted the 18-year-old to Low-A, where he is nearly three years younger than the average age of the competition. He has a limited sample size to date, with only 10 plate appearances, but the Twins believe he possesses all the tools to become an impact player. 

He is the nephew of Dmitri Young and Delmon Young, so baseball is in his bloodline. Some scouts have worried about his swing-and-miss tendencies, but the Twins felt strongly enough to sign him for his full-slot bonus. Defensively, his athleticism allows him to stick at shortstop for now, but he could shift to second or third base if his body continues to fill out. He is the furthest away from Target Field at this point, but has a lot of upside. 

3. Marek Houston, SS
MLB ETA: 2028
The Twins haven’t hidden their admiration for Houston since drafting him with the 16th overall pick. A slick-fielding shortstop, Houston is already viewed as one of the best defenders in the system, with scouts praising his range, instincts, and throwing arm. It takes a lot to be a shortstop at the big-league level, and Houston has already shown his 60-grade fielding during his pro debut with the Twins, already moving him from Low- to High-A.

At the plate, he’s still finding consistency, but there’s enough bat speed to suggest he’ll add some gap power as he matures. He added to his frame during his final two collegiate seasons and has started to pull the ball more often. If the bat develops even moderately, Houston could be a future Gold Glove-caliber shortstop anchoring Minnesota’s infield.

2. Dasan Hill, LHP
MLB ETA: 2028
Hill has developed into one of the most exciting arms in the organization since the Twins took him with the 69th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. Drafted with some risk attached due to rawness, his combination of size and athleticism has allowed him to make huge strides. He also won’t be 20 until later this year. During his senior year of high school, he shot up to 6-foot-5, allowing him to add velocity. There is likely room for even more growth, as he currently sits below 170 pounds. 

Across Low- and High-A, he’s made 19 appearances (62 IP) while posting a 3.19 ERA with a 1.36 WHIP and a 31.1 K%. He’s been young for both levels and has only faced younger batters in 15 plate appearances. His fastball sits comfortably in the upper-90s, pairing it with a devastating sweeper that misses bats at every level. The Twins have worked carefully to refine his mechanics, and his command has taken a noticeable leap. If Hill continues on this path, he could emerge as a top-of-the-rotation talent, something the organization has lacked since the days of Johan Santana.

1. Eduardo Tait, C
MLB ETA: 2028
Minnesota’s prized acquisition from the Jhoan Duran trade, Tait has quickly established himself as the jewel of the farm system. A switch-hitting catcher with advanced plate discipline and emerging power, he has all the tools to be an All-Star at a premium position. He makes a ton of contact and has shown the ability to drive the ball to all fields. In many other farm systems, he would be the organization’s top-ranked prospect.

Behind the plate, his arm strength is above-average, and he’s steadily improving in his game-calling and receiving. On a recent episode of Inside Twins, Drew MacPhail, Director of Player Development, praised his ability to work with starting pitchers. What makes Tait so valuable is his combination of offensive upside and defensive reliability, traits that are extremely rare at catcher. If his development continues on track, Tait could be Minnesota’s long-term answer behind the plate. 

The Twins’ 2027 top prospect list has the potential to look different than just a few years ago, with recent drafts and trade acquisitions all represented. Each of these players brings unique upside, and together they represent a system that consistently produces talent. For a franchise aiming to build sustainable success, this wave of prospects could play a pivotal role in shaping the next competitive Twins team.

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Should other prospects be added to the list? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[Dman]

Houston and Quick have a chance to be fast movers.  Depending on the lockout I could see them being ready by 2027.  

Young has amazing size for an 18 year old.  Right now his swing too often looks late to me.  It might take some time.  Still he currently has the agility to play short so he could grow into an amazing athlete in time.  Can he get the bat the ball enough? that will be the question.

I still like Soto and Bohorquez for this list.  Both pretty young arms that should make an impact as they move up.  It might be early, but I would have JImenez in that group as well. He has been obliterating A ball and that's not easy to do.  I am intrigued by Agbayani.  Maybe not enough tools in the end to be a star player, but the bat might carry him.

If I squint I could see Beltre added to this list. as well as Castellanos and Villoria. They are so far away though it hard to say what they will do.

The Twins have a good amount of high upside players, but the thing about most high upside players is they often times have high downside as well.

 

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Most likely whoever the Twins draft in the first round of this year's draft will be one of their top prospects in 2027. 

[tony&rodney]

The best athlete in the Twins system, hands down, also has a fair amount of development to accomplish before he is ready for Target Field; Brandon Winokur. Winokur has had challenges but he puts up numbers, he runs, throws, hits bombs, and can play pretty much any position. The kid is gifted. His hit tool has improved but he still has a ways to go. If he can make year by year progression, he is easily the top prospect in 2027.

[Patzky]

14 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The best athlete in the Twins system, hands down, also has a fair amount of development to accomplish before he is ready for Target Field; Brandon Winokur. Winokur has had challenges but he puts up numbers, he runs, throws, hits bombs, and can play pretty much any position. The kid is gifted. His hit tool has improved but he still has a ways to go. If he can make year by year progression, he is easily the top prospect in 2027.

Yes. He's not forgotten but he doesn't get talked about enough. 

[Nashvilletwin]

An already deep prospect list along with two years of top 1-5 draft picks on the way plus what we get for Ryan, Lopez and possibly Jeffers and Ober: as  long as Rocco is gone, things should really be looking up in ‘28 and beyond. 

[DocBauer]

*Tait bats LH. He's not a switch hitter. That would be Jiminez *

I'm guessing Young will end up at 3B or OF. 

I'd have Winokur and Soto worked in here. They're definitely top 10 for sure.

[Parfigliano]

Will MLB play in 2027?

[CRF]

I don't think my prospects are very good to make it to 2027...to see if the Twins prospects are any good. 

[tony&rodney]

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

Will MLB play in 2027?

Both sides of the bargaining table will posture plenty; huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down. There may be a few cold games cancelled in April, at most. Billionaires take losing money way harder than millionaires. Talk of a cancelled year are just b. s.

[Parfigliano]

27 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Both sides of the bargaining table will posture plenty; huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down. There may be a few cold games cancelled in April, at most. Billionaires take losing money way harder than millionaires. Talk of a cancelled year are just b. s.

Both sides really mistrust, border line despise each other.  I can easily see a less then 100 game season.

[tony&rodney]

4 minutes ago, CRF said:

I don't think my prospects are very good to make it to 2027...to see if the Twins prospects are any good. 

Minnesota is not a diehard baseball state.

Attendance was above average for the first 10 years (1961-1970), below for the next 16 years (1971-1986), rose above average for 3 years (1987-89), dipped below again for 2 years (1990-91), rose above average for 1 year after the '91 WS in 1992, went back below the average for 16 years (1993-2008, rose above average for 5 years (2009-2013), was below average for 5 years (2014-2018), went back over average for 1 year in 2019, Covid happened (2020), and then has remained below MLB's average in the 5 years thereafter (2021-2025).

If my math is correct that is 20 years above MLB average attendance and 44 years below MLB averages with Covid as a draw. 

The Twins finished in the top 3 in AL attendance 9 of their first 10 years in Minnesota (1961-1970). They have finished in the top 3 in AL attendance 3 times since that run (1988, 2010,2011).

When one takes away the first 10 years, baseball has had some rough years in Minnesota. One must acknowledge that there were many years where the attendance was strong and close to the league averages, but the numbers don't scream "State of Baseball".

The play, promotion, and public relations of the Minnesota Twins faces stiff challenges in the next few years. Due to market size, corporate strength, potential for success, and  a widespread lack of financial clout as well as potential less public support from other smaller metropolitan areas, it is nearly unfathomable to believe the Twins would ever relocate. The Twins are not moving.

The Pohlad family will soon come to the decision that waiting could be a real financial kick in their future financial draw from the inheritance. I expect the team to sell before the 2026 season begins. New ownership will bring a new POBO and manager. At that point some healing will begin and perhaps a new approach will recover trust in the community and bring fans back to baseball in Minnesota. I hope so.

[mikelink45]

I will take the top 2 the rest are wait and see. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

When there is a lockout after the 2026 season, if there is baseball just at chs field to watch practice with the minor leaguers, at least that’ll be something. 
I also think Charlee Soto should be in the top 5. Probably also 2026 draftee tbd. But they do have a lot of good looking prospects otherwise 

[S Bart]

Many articles about the "future"....nice.....but this team is so unstable ....and 2027 looks like strike season.....maybe look towards the 2028 season or wait until a system change/sale...it is tough to think about the prospects for me when this ship is so unstable. ....

[Nashvilletwin]

4 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Minnesota is not a diehard baseball state.

Attendance was above average for the first 10 years (1961-1970), below for the next 16 years (1971-1986), rose above average for 3 years (1987-89), dipped below again for 2 years (1990-91), rose above average for 1 year after the '91 WS in 1992, went back below the average for 16 years (1993-2008, rose above average for 5 years (2009-2013), was below average for 5 years (2014-2018), went back over average for 1 year in 2019, Covid happened (2020), and then has remained below MLB's average in the 5 years thereafter (2021-2025).

If my math is correct that is 20 years above MLB average attendance and 44 years below MLB averages with Covid as a draw. 

The Twins finished in the top 3 in AL attendance 9 of their first 10 years in Minnesota (1961-1970). They have finished in the top 3 in AL attendance 3 times since that run (1988, 2010,2011).

When one takes away the first 10 years, baseball has had some rough years in Minnesota. One must acknowledge that there were many years where the attendance was strong and close to the league averages, but the numbers don't scream "State of Baseball".

The play, promotion, and public relations of the Minnesota Twins faces stiff challenges in the next few years. Due to market size, corporate strength, potential for success, and  a widespread lack of financial clout as well as potential less public support from other smaller metropolitan areas, it is nearly unfathomable to believe the Twins would ever relocate. The Twins are not moving.

The Pohlad family will soon come to the decision that waiting could be a real financial kick in their future financial draw from the inheritance. I expect the team to sell before the 2026 season begins. New ownership will bring a new POBO and manager. At that point some healing will begin and perhaps a new approach will recover trust in the community and bring fans back to baseball in Minnesota. I hope so.

Nope - the Pohlads sell after the new CBA is enacted which could dramatically improve the financial outlook especially for mid market teams like the Twins in particular.  They will keep cash costs down for the next two years and then use a stable full of young promising controllable projectable talent as additional value enhancing asset.  They tried to sell, but couldn’t get their number. They are now willing to roll the dice on a two-three plan that they think will give them outsized returns vs. their other alternatives. 

[Parfigliano]

16 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Nope - the Pohlads sell after the new CBA is enacted which could dramatically improve the financial outlook especially for mid market teams like the Twins in particular.  They will keep cash costs down for the next two years and then use a stable full of young promising controllable projectable talent as additional value enhancing asset.  They tried to sell, but couldn’t get their number. They are now willing to roll the dice on a two-three plan that they think will give them outsized returns vs. their other alternatives. 

Buying for $44mil and selling for $1.7bil seems like an outsized return to me.

[Fatbat]

Its a good baseline list but the afore mentioned names (BW &CS) and the ‘26 1st round draft pick will definitely be top 5 ish so thats 8 guys. Houston could make the opening day roster in ‘27.  Also we could be looking at a comp pick and the 2nd rounder in ‘26 being in the top 10. 

[Nashvilletwin]

23 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Buying for $44mil and selling for $1.7bil seems like an outsized return to me.

The only math is the lower sale proceeds now (assuming a sale at any reasonable price was even feasible) reinvested over the next three years vs. keeping and selling three years from now (keeping in mind all tax considerations).  Given the recent poor financial performance of the franchise (including the tv revenue hit and its yet to be settled future) and the uncertainty inherent in the CBA talks, it’s likely that the latter alternative is a reasonable bet to outperform the former. 

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Nope - the Pohlads sell after the new CBA is enacted which could dramatically improve the financial outlook especially for mid market teams like the Twins in particular.  They will keep cash costs down for the next two years and then use a stable full of young promising controllable projectable talent as additional value enhancing asset.  They tried to sell, but couldn’t get their number. They are now willing to roll the dice on a two-three plan that they think will give them outsized returns vs. their other alternatives. 

Well, we are in fact just all wildly guessing. 

I find it mildly interesting that a number of people feel that a new CBA will alter the finances of the game in a major way. From various sources one can see (from whatever information you dig up) that somewhere from 3-10 teams lost money last year. Among those teams losing money were NYM, TOR, and PHIL, all large market teams. How will the 3-10 owners convince the 20 hauling in money to vote for a lockout. The teams with large media deals are not going to vote for substantial change. 

In other major North American sports leagues the dynamics are wildly different from seasons to games played to history. In some cases, revenue sharing was easy and necessary to build the leagues. 

Who is going to deliver the news to the Yankees and Dodgers that they can count their money from revenues but then pass substantially more of it off than they currently do? How can the Dodgers escape their contracts to fit below a cap? 

There will be some changes in the next CBA. My guess is that small changes will be made in service time and perhaps some increases in CBT penalties. The 1994 strike devastated baseball and did not break the MLBPA. There may be a short lockout that causes the loss of some cold April games, but I cannot foresee any way the owners risk so much as to ruin their investment and the current steady cash flows to their pockets. One can say, perhaps very accurately, that wealthy individuals can make much more money in other businesses. So these people can sell if they choose to do so but we sure haven't seen any signs of owners bailing as owners of MLB teams. 

Others see big changes, I will believe it when it is in practice just like the sale of the Twins to the Ishbias.

Edit to add to original post. - The author seems to have fallen in love with all of the new toys from this summer. There are a number of decent prospects that were signed or drafted prior to this year who may be tops for the Twins in 2027. Jose Olivares and Adrian Bohorquez are just a couple to watch. There are others.

[terrydactyls]

7 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Minnesota is not a diehard baseball state.

Attendance was above average for the first 10 years (1961-1970), below for the next 16 years (1971-1986), rose above average for 3 years (1987-89), dipped below again for 2 years (1990-91), rose above average for 1 year after the '91 WS in 1992, went back below the average for 16 years (1993-2008, rose above average for 5 years (2009-2013), was below average for 5 years (2014-2018), went back over average for 1 year in 2019, Covid happened (2020), and then has remained below MLB's average in the 5 years thereafter (2021-2025).

If my math is correct that is 20 years above MLB average attendance and 44 years below MLB averages with Covid as a draw. 

The Twins finished in the top 3 in AL attendance 9 of their first 10 years in Minnesota (1961-1970). They have finished in the top 3 in AL attendance 3 times since that run (1988, 2010,2011).

When one takes away the first 10 years, baseball has had some rough years in Minnesota. One must acknowledge that there were many years where the attendance was strong and close to the league averages, but the numbers don't scream "State of Baseball".

The play, promotion, and public relations of the Minnesota Twins faces stiff challenges in the next few years. Due to market size, corporate strength, potential for success, and  a widespread lack of financial clout as well as potential less public support from other smaller metropolitan areas, it is nearly unfathomable to believe the Twins would ever relocate. The Twins are not moving.

The Pohlad family will soon come to the decision that waiting could be a real financial kick in their future financial draw from the inheritance. I expect the team to sell before the 2026 season begins. New ownership will bring a new POBO and manager. At that point some healing will begin and perhaps a new approach will recover trust in the community and bring fans back to baseball in Minnesota. I hope so.

This is a great response if the topic was about the front office.  This article is about top prospects for 2027.

[tony&rodney]

9 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

This is a great response if the topic was about the front office.  This article is about top prospects for 2027.

Sorry. I got sucked in when a number of people began discussing 2027. I'm guilty as you stated. Mea culpa.

Those players not on the 40 person roster can still play minor league baseball even if something happens in MLB. 

The Twins have a few young pitchers in their system who could really rise in 2026 to become top 10 prospects in the system. I watch too much minor league baseball via milb.com. If ESPN takes over the media rights next season I will not see the prospects any more. It has been interesting to see the struggles and successes of a number of players these past couple of years within the minor leagues. 

If I had to pick a top prospect for 2027 today, I am going with either Brandon Winokur or Dasan Hill. Both of them are dripping with athleticism and talent. They are raw at this point but it is easy to see their potential. Reaching potential is a difficult task. I'm hoping minor league baseball is still available to reasonably access via the internet next season.

[twinstalker]

I think if we randomly chose a player out of the couple thousand available to be drafted and forced the Twins to draft him in the first round, we'd lose our heads and consider him a good prospect.  Because, after all, he's a first-rounder.

[Doctor Wu]

On 9/7/2025 at 12:08 AM, Permanent Twins Fan said:

Most likely whoever the Twins draft in the first round of this year's draft will be one of their top prospects in 2027. 

Yes, and yes again. Are we really that desperate for articles that we need one like this one trying to rate prospects in 2027?

[Doctor Wu]

On 9/7/2025 at 11:37 AM, tony&rodney said:

Jose Olivares and Adrian Bohorquez are just a couple to watch. There are others.

Yes, those and many others. Let's try this article again in another year.