7 Developments That Could Drastically Alter the Twins' Downward-Trending Fortunes

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of © Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins are a bad team right now. Since the All-Star break, they've been Major League Baseball's worst team. Are they going to be bad in 2026? Sure seems likely. But it's not necessarily set in stone. We've seen unexpected upstart competitive clubs spring forth from the most unlikely of places, with the Twins of 2015 serving as an apt example. 

Did that team make the playoffs? No, but they came pretty close, and gave us an entertaining product for the first time in many years, coming off four consecutive 90-plus loss seasons. 

There were a few key characteristics of that team that are worth noting as we think about the outlook for the 2026 Twins. One, of course, was the arrival of a new skipper in Paul Molitor. A managerial change could well be in play next year (and should be), but I'm not too interested in speculating about that right now. Instead, I wanted to take a look at some player-focused outcomes that could turn the tides.

The purpose of this piece is twofold: to illustrate both how challenging it would be for the Twins to contend next year, because they would need not one but several of these things to happen, but also how inherently plausible it is, because none of these developments is remotely out of the question. (Well, maybe the last one.)

Brooks Lee finds a sustainable power stroke.
I've become a skeptic of Lee and his ceiling. I've watched his skillset flounder at the big-league level and it has drastically reduced my confidence in what he can become. He can't run, that's not going to change. He doesn't read the strike zone, that's not likely to change. And he hasn't been able to hit for much power, at least not consistently. That last thing could change.

We've seen bursts from Brooks Lee. He was mashing the ball all over the field during a month of June, when he batted .348 with four homers and a .908 OPS. We saw another flurry in mid-August, when Lee popped two homers, three doubles and a triple in a six-game span. Most recently he flexed against the Yankees with a homer and double in Monday's 7-0 win.

The problem is that outside of these short and fleeting glimpses of slugging ability, Lee has been a gaping void at the plate, rattling off feeble and fruitless at-bats. The end result is a .379 SLG that is especially underwhelming when paired with a sub-.300 OBP. Among the 162 players with 450+ plate appearances, his OPS ranks 148th.

He's also still only 24. Lee's ability to not only make contact with extreme consistency, but with the good part of the bat — his squared-up rate is in the 74th percentile — bodes well if he can add a little muscle and swing velocity during the offseason. Lifting his average up and turning himself from a 15-20 homer guy to a 30-homer guy (and/or adding a lot more doubles) might be Lee's only path to becoming a standout regular, but it'd be a potential game-changer.

 

Connor Prielipp is the real deal.
Looking to the minor-league system, the vaunted high-level pitching depth has mostly been excavated, and unspectacular returns thus far. We've seen David Festa and Zebby Matthews falter and battle injuries. We've seen Marco Raya, Charlee Soto and others sidetracked in the minors. The Twins have yet to receive the immediate, electrifying jolt of a young pitcher who comes up and immediately outclasses the competition. 

Prielipp has that kind of potential. Following a long run of injuries, he has finally enjoyed a healthy season and it led him all the way to Triple-A, where he has struck out 30% of batters faced in 15 innings. It wasn't all pretty — he's also issued 11 walks and posted a 5.40 ERA — but this was just a tremendously encouraging year all-around, setting up Prielipp to make an impact early next year, if not out of the gates.

In watching Prielipp pitch, I've always gotten a bit of a Francisco Liriano vibe: well built 6-foot-2 lefty with a compact delivery, hard fastball and wipeout slider. I'm not saying he can make a Liriano-level impact as a rookie, but whether as a starter or reliever, who could give the Twins' pitching staff a massive boost.

 

The Twins got it right on at least a couple of these deadline trades.
Early returns haven't been great. But the early returns aren't what matter. These trades were about the future, and that starts in 2026. There are a number of players acquired in the deadline purge who have an ability to make a positive impact next year: Alan Roden, Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, James Outman. It would require, in most cases, turning around a negative trendline. It would also mean the Twins front office was right. 

Hard to have great faith in either of those things proving true at this moment, but in each case the capability is there. Roden has shredded Triple-A. Abel is a borderline top-100 prospect. Bradley touched 99 MPH in his latest start. Outman certainly has pop, and isn't THAT far removed from a breakthrough rookie season.

 

It would help if any of these guys looked particularly close to being effective regulars, but a new season will bring a fresh start, and you never know when a talented player will figure it out and turn the corner.

Prospects break through in a hurry.
Looking back at that 2015 team, rookie impact was the banner headline. Yes, there was a great deal of romanticizing about the vibe shift with a managerial switch and the return of a 39-year-old Torii Hunter. But it was the emergence of Miguel Sanó and Eddie Rosario, who finished third and sixth in the AL Rookie of the Year respectively, that ignited this offense.

Sanó arrived in early July and mashed for half a season, posting a .916 OPS with 18 home runs and 52 RBIs in 80 games. Rosario had arrived two months earlier, homering in his first at-bat on the way to a stat-sheet-stuffing debut: 18 doubles, 15 triples, 13 homers, 11 steals in 122 games. 

Heading into next year, the Twins will have prospects in play who are equipped to contribute at this level: namely, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez. It's not impossible that one or both could break camp with the big-league club, but if not they'll be only a step away at Triple-A. These are premier skillsets with superstar upside. 

That doesn't mean it will happen right away, as Byron Buxton demonstrated in that same 2015 season, but the potential is there for historic rookie campaigns as Jenkins and Rodriguez reach the majors. And Luke Keaschall, whose own rookie year has been memorable if cut short, will already be in the mix.

Royce Lewis remembers who he is.
This feels like such an essential X-factor. The dominant player we saw in Lewis' first two seasons has been amiss ever since, spare the occasional nostalgic glimpse. It never came together for him this year, but importantly, Lewis appears to be as healthy as he's ever been in the big leagues. He's been in the lineup almost every day since returning from the injured list in July, while playing strong defense at third and suddenly running like crazy on the bases.

Hitting is the missing piece. Lewis still looks out of sorts at the plate. But he's on track to finish the season in good shape physically, and he's got an offseason ahead to work on his swing. The last year has been rough, but let's not forget who Lewis is: a former No. 1 overall draft pick, top prospect, and emergent superstar who lifted the Twins out of a postseason curse. The 2026 season will be pivotal for the 26-year-old, who knows that as well as anyone.

 

Pablo and Joe stay, and starting pitching depth delivers as promised.
If there's one clear strength you can find when forecasting the Twins' 2026 roster (and I'd argue there is only one), it's starting pitching. This was a major focal point at the trade deadline, with Bradley, Abel, Kendry Rojas and a few lesser but potentially near-ready arms entering the mix. You put those names alongside Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Prielipp, Andrew Morris and others, behind an established frontline trio of Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober ... Yeah, easy to see the makings of an incredibly deep and talented starter pool here. 

But then, we often find ourselves saying this. The strength of Minnesota's pitching depth has mostly been more theoretical than practical. Yeah, Matthews and Festa were nice-looking prospects, but neither has been able to sustain health or effectiveness in the majors. Bradley, Abel and Rojas were interesting additions, but all three have made weak first impressions in the new organization. López, Ryan and Ober look like a playoff rotation nucleus at times, but they haven't collectively been able to get through a season without injuries or drop-offs. 

Ober is a big question mark right now. López and Ryan are at great risk of being shipped out over the winter, which would signal a lack of contention hope and would essentially render this entire conversation moot. The main reason I find this course of action likely is because of how very unlikely the final scenario is to reach fruition.

Somehow, someway, a competent bullpen takes shape.
It's not impossible. Good bullpens have materialized out of nowhere at times in the past. But this is the biggest stretch on this list, and at the same time, it's as essential as anything. Even if the starting pitching is good and the offense is improved, I can't envision the Twins being a legitimate competitive ballclub without at least a decent bullpen. Right now they are a long way from that.

Heading into next season, you've currently got Cole Sands and that's it. The path to a competent relief corps would like something like this: Sands bounces back to 2024 form. Front office strikes on a couple free agent arms and maybe a trade. Most importantly, a few internal starter-to-relief transitions immediately take hold, the way Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax did way back when. Maybe the Twins decide: Taj Bradley hasn't had it click in 400 innings as a starter, let's get him unleashing triple-digit heat in relief. He's our closer. Maybe they decide, for durability reasons, it makes sense for Prielipp to go straight to the pen. Multi-inning weapon?

These are the kinds of things you can dream on. And at least we have that for now. I fear that the coming offseason is going to feature little in the way of additive, contention-focused moves, but if the Twins do select to at least give it a modest effort next year (e.g. hold López and Ryan, keep the payroll at least above $100M), contention is not out of the question. Even from the eyes of someone like me, who has become very jaded and pessimistic about the outlook for this franchise. 

Show me you care, and maybe I'll change my tune. The opportunity begins as soon as this miserable campaign comes to a close. 

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[the_brute_squad]

I do like the Twins prospect pool and can see the Twins putting them on the field, much like what happened in 82 with Hrbek, Gaeitti, Viola, etc... and let them take their lumps. 

[In My La Z boy]

New Leadership can do wonders for a young talented group. We let the kids play in the early 80's, but didn't field a winner until TK came in late '86. We need a couple of rookie of the year candidates, and we need Buxton & Royce to be superstars. It's not out of the realm of possibilities. I'm always optimistic in the spring! Fall, not so much.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Since you went away the days grow long, And soon I'll hear old winter's song. But I miss you most of all my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall. 

[FlyingFinn]

Lee must be able to lay off swinging at balls in order to have sustainable power. 

[silverslugger]

Isn't that the funny thing though?  The entirety of the Falvey/Baldelli era I've been looking at the Twins roster and prospects and saying "if this happens and if that happens" then we'll have a 90 plus win team and we'll contend for the World Series.  I've watched prospects absolutely obliterate the minors, only to come up to the Twins and absolutely stink in ways you'd never imagine.  I've watched the starting pitching be great, only to see the relief corps give up inexplicable runs to blow a save.  I've watched hitters hit monster blasts 1 out of every 20 plate appearances while looking utterly overmatched the other 19.  And then, I've watched statues on the basepaths and A LOT of really poor defensive play.  Well, you get the gist.  If the Pohlads were anything other than the Pohlads, we'd keep Pablo and Joe and get rid of Derek and Rocco.  Instead, it'll be the opposite come February.  Oh well, at least Calvin Griffith no longer owns the team 😬

[Doctor Gast]

Lee has been holding up better than I expected & has been improving every season & I expect him to be more consistent with time. IMO, he's a key to the chemistry of the young players. Martin, Keaschall & some new players will be key to the long-overdue running game. Defense has to be stressed, which is very much lacking. The BP has been gutted beyond immediate repair. 

IMO, before we even think about competing, there has to be a change of philosophy from total dependence on cold, weird analytics to a baseball smart approach that's based on fundamentals, where the many human underlying conditions & intangibles (like heart, experience & gut feeling) are considered. 

IMO, the main factor of success was Molitor's smarts (he had faults) & Hunter's leadership that contributed to the success of our young players. Now we gave away Correa (that made a big hole in leadership) & we are baseball ignorant (the opposite of MIL) while basically eliminating the scouting department. We need to bring back leadership & baseball smarts that former players had to give, instead of avoiding it because of fear of contradicting their philosophies.

I have been very patient with Falvey. I have been criticizing him in hopes that he'd change. I have given up any hope that he'd change. Any hope of competing next year requires a total overhaul of management. Bring back Tori Hunter, bring back other former players, bring back Andy Macphail, promote Drew to FO, bring back Varland & some other players, let them figure it out.

[Glorybound]

That’s a lot of what ifs. Likely something good will come from the young talent pool but reality says cost cutting continues. Sands hasn’t been right for last 10 days which makes me wonder if he isn’t pitching hurt. Lopez came out last night with forearm tightness, the Festa injury likely is career threatening and on and on we go. Really hard for me to see much light at end of the tunnel for the next season. 100 losses looks like a lock for next year.

[mikelink45]

The season must be over - this reads like an off-season dreamscape.  What if we don't trade Ryan and Lopez?  What if Ober and Sands are not the pitchers we have seen this year?  What if Zebby and Festa can actually have ERAs under 5?  What is Lee and Lewis discover the magic that we foresaw when they came up as high ranked prospects?  What if we actually had a 1B and DH?  What is we could field the ball?  What if Roden and Outman could actually hit beyond AAA or Abel and Bradley could find the magic restart button?  What if the BP had Ohl, Adams, and Lawyerson make us forget the RP that we no longer have?  What is Falvey and Pohlad woke up and said, "What the Hell, let's spend a lot of money?"  What if Rocco is reborn with his running offense and sparked the boys to really play hard every inning of every game?

Yes, a few items to clear up, but what a nice dream.

[mike8791]

It's nice to see some optimism on TD, for a change.  Things look pretty bleak right now, so we ardent Twin fans need a little light to sustain us thru the winter.  I think some optimism is warranted.  The rotation should be stronger, assuming Lopez and Ryan are retained.  SWR looks like a keeper and either Mathews or Bradley should be a perfectly acceptable #5.  However, a lot will depend on Ober returning to form.

There is some hope in the lineup.  I like Martin and Keashall batting 1, 2, with Buxton in the 3rd spot.  While I don't count on Lee or Lewis emerging as stars, there is room for optimism.  With Jeffries, this trio should provide more juice than this year.  However, without significant middle-of-the-lineup additions at DH/1B, this team will have trouble scoring runs again.  Assuming no big FA signings, we can hope for one of Jenkins, ER or Gonzales providing added spark by midseason.  And a trade for a decent cleanup hitter might occur by giving up one or two of our top prospects or even Lopez, especially if another good starting prospect(maybe Abel or an improved Mathews) steps up in the spring.  But two hitters with ability to drive in runners will be essential for contention next year.  Larnach, Wallner, Clemens, Julien, et. al. are not the answers here.

Finally, as the OP cites, the bullpen needs big improvement!  A free agent closer must be signed!  Sands, Tonkin, Topa should not be counted on.  Perhaps guys like Lawyerson, Funderburk, and Adams can emerge as more reliable relievers as the season progresses, but that's a long shot.  Suffice it to say that if 2 reliable FA relievers are not signed, the 2026 season will be over by Memorial Day.

in summary, the Twins could return to contention in 2026 but the odds are similar to pulling an inside straight: small likelihood but possible.  I would feel much more optimistic if Falvey/Rocco were gone, but I'm afraid that is just delusional.  More likely, we'll have to await 2028 when new ownership is more likely to emerge.

[Riverbrian]

It is a lot of what if's... but it can come together quicker than most of us imagine it can. 

Can this front office produce enough major league level talent from their system.

I don't want to hear about a lofty farm system ranking anymore. Don't care if they are ranked 1st or 30th. They got to get to the point where they are graduating at least 4, hopefully 5 or 6 players from their system a year in order to work with the budget constraints that there is no escape from.  

Other teams are able to do it. Can this front office develop? 

This past trade deadline... they sure seemed to make a concentrated effort toward landing as much close to major league ready or actual major league ready prospects. This suggests that they may not be preparing for another bad year. 6 players acquired will need to be on the 40 man by December.  

Taj Bradley (Already on 40 and 26)

James Outman (Already on 40 and 26)

Mick Abel (Already on 40)

Alan Roden (Already on 40)

Kendry Rojas (Will Require a 40 man spot in December)

Henry Mendez (Will Require a 40 man spot in December)

Can the front office develop these players further. Can they develop players from the farm to join them.  

Not just one... Multiple. Players Plural. 

 

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I like this article a lot.  It’s a “where could we go from here” article.  It definitely beats the doom and gloom of the moment.  Certainly, these things can’t all happen at once, but it seems likely that at least one or two could.  That won’t put us back in contention in 2026, but it could hopefully give us a building block to go on from there.  

For me personally, I think that the starting pitching situation will be the thing that helps the most next year.  I think the raw material (and established material) is there to be successful.  I also, however, fear that there will be some ugly trades coming.  The bullpen, unfortunately, is going to be horrible, barring a real spending spree and a lot of luck.  With the exception of Taj Bradley, I don’t see much coming from the experienced returns from the deadline fire sale, but I do think that Jenkins and Rodriguez could be strong first year players.  

Hey!  A guy can hope, can’t he?

[D.C Twins]

 

Ugh Nick, the title of this article should have been "Sharing my bargaining stage of grief with you"

Abel, Rojas, and Bradley were likely brought in to pretend to fill the massive vacuum that will form with the trading off of Lopez and Ryan... sorry to burst one of your bubbles. We have no evidence yet that any of them will be more than AAAA fillers or bullpen. 

Outman is atrocious and should never ever be mentioned when discussing how the Twins could be good next year

Lewis has to both return to form AND stay healthy. Base on a pretty extensive history at this point, there is no reason to believe that he will do both simultaneously for an extended period of time.

After a few good appearances Sands has been an unmitigated disaster. Converting a bunch of failed AAA staters into relievers and hoping they light the world on fire is not a plan (neither is signing a bunch of cheap retreads but don't worry about choosing between the two because I'm sure they will do a little of BOTH with a dash of fairy dust!)

The list of things to be excited about next year?

Jenkins 

Luke K 

.... and that is about it.... 

Which is fine... as long as they play the kids and the trade pieces all year and know exactly what they have at the end of the year. NO RETREADS THIS WINTER 

[DJL44]

I would rather see Prielipp throw 80 innings in the Twins bullpen than 120 in the Saints rotation. Festa and Prielipp could help the bullpen a lot.

[PDX Twin]

5 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Hey!  A guy can hope, can’t he?

It's what Minnesota fans do. (As opposed to, say, winning.)

[Nashvilletwin]

The most likely and easiest to accomplish (and that’s even a stretch) of the listed possibilities is actually the last one - a decent bullpen.  A couple of converted starters, a few warmed up leftovers, and a wisely spent $3-5MM would get that job done.

The rest are way more difficult.

1. Lee, let’s face it, will never be more than a utility infielder after he holds down the starting SS role in ‘26.

2. Prielipp could be the real deal - but it won’t be in ‘26.  He just doesn’t have the ability yet to throw enough innings.

3. We will see about Bradley and, maybe, Abel (both look like pretty big works in progress to be even moderately effective contributors in ‘26).  But no one should be betting on Outman or Roden - take the under on both of them.

5. Jenkins should be a stud (but not in ‘26) and the Emma train has  left the station - all hat, no cattle. 

6. Ah, Royce Lewis. So much hope, so much potential.  Sad to say, but his best bet to become a passable major leaguer at this point is a change of scenery.  Maybe a new manager in the mold of TK could get more out of him.

6. Unless Pablo is actually hurt badly, both he and Joe will be (and should be) traded. They will never, ever resign with the Twins and so, with the lockout looming, 2026 is their last year with the Twins. Why waste the trade haul we could get on one year of both of them on a struggling team.

The bullpen is BY FAR the easiest of these to accomplish. And maybe only because the others have as much chance as a snowball in Hades. 

 

 

 

[Linus]

This is a good exploration of the current situation. However after reading it I don’t get a ray of hope rather a confirmation of how far away we are from contention. “If everything goes perfectly” is not a comforting strategy. 

[tony&rodney]

The current mix of players within the Twins organization that are potential contributors for the 2026 team could potentially win 70-77 games ..... IF ...... if so many things go their way.

The article does promote optimism and suggest a few paths. The most hopeful path forward (imo) needs to include a half dozen moves that bookend the decisions made in late July. 

As far as some of the ifs go: Outman would need a swing change, Lewis would need to be convinced that not every pitch needs to be pulled, etc., etc., etc. A pile of ifs, we all hope for them to occur next season.

[TopGunn#22]

It's early for an article like this...but it's really not.  This season is cooked and it wasn't a good meal.  We're just running out the string hoping desert saves the day.  IE:  we see glimpses of hope with Buxton completing the healthiest season of his career, Keaschall continues to impress, Lewis finishes strong, and the young pitchers show improvement.  The current state of our BP is horrible.  

In the A.L. Central, you're never really completely out of contention. 

Nick is right that a LOT has to go right for the Twins to even contend for a Wild Card spot.  But remember 1991.  Both the Twins and Braves came out of nowhere from last place divisional finishes to play a thrilling 7 game World Series.  In baseball, crazy things happen.

Where Nick is maybe a little too hopeful is that the Twins will keep both Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez.  I just think that, as disappointing as it would be to trade one of them, a trade of one of them is highly likely.  A trade of BOTH of them would be throwing in the towel no matter what the return was.

Any trades invloving Ryan/Lopez must bring back a good, solid, major league position player.  Prospects can be throw-ins, but a position player who would slot in #1-#5 in the Twins lineup next year is essential.  I posited in an earlier post that adding Josh Naylor and Jarren Duran to our lineup could be just the catalyst to make it deadly.   

We can hope the Pohlad's will still sell before spring training next year.  Probably not going to happen.  We can hope that an entirely new FO is installed before the Winter Meetings in December.  Also probably not going to happen.  We can hope that Rocco Baldelli and his entire coaching staff is replaced.  This is at least possible, even though he's been "extended."  He could be the fall guy ownership and the FO hopes takes the heat off them.  It won't.  Twins fans know better, but I think Twins decision makers could consider it. 

The Twins had young talent that was going thru the crucible of failure to eventually become good.  But those young players didn't really "get there" until Tom Kelly came on board.  So who could the next Twins manager be?  I have no idea, other than to say please don't promote from within. 

We need fresh ideas.  I would suggest that someone like Torey Lovullo, if the D-Backs choose to make a change would be an interesting guy.  The D-Backs were in the World Series just 2 years ago and lost to the Rangers.  Not only did his D-Backs compete with the Dodgers admirably, but they overcame other juggernauts like Philly, the Mets, Padres and Braves.  I doubt Arizona will move on from Lovullo, but if they did, I'd be interested.

 

[Nick Nelson]

24 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

The most likely and easiest to accomplish (and that’s even a stretch) of the listed possibilities is actually the last one - a decent bullpen.  A couple of converted starters, a few warmed up leftovers, and a wisely spent $3-5MM would get that job done.

I'd love to hear more specificity here. Which starters are getting converted to RP, instantly thriving in high-leverage roles, and giving up on their future as starters? What leftovers are we warming up? How often have the Twins spent "wisely" in RP free agency aside from Coulombe? 

I actually think the last item on this list is the only one that is pollyannaish and implausible.

[DJL44]

39 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

1. Lee, let’s face it, will never be more than a utility infielder after he holds down the starting SS role in ‘26.

They can’t contend with Brooks Lee as the starting SS. He will add half a run to the ERA of the pitching staff.

[ashbury]

Excellent checklist of things to watch for, and then cross off the list one by one as they fail to materialize.  🙃

I'm not ready to invest much thought in this until the FO outlines what the get-well plan is.  If they don't reveal it publicly, I'll take it to mean it's too dire to speak out loud, and I'll flush all hopes of 2026 contention.  Trading away all the useful bullpen pieces under control for 2026-27 was a pretty good clue.

[Nashvilletwin]

33 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

I'd love to hear more specificity here. Which starters are getting converted to RP, instantly thriving in high-leverage roles, and giving up on their future as starters? What leftovers are we warming up? How often have the Twins spent "wisely" in RP free agency aside from Coulombe? 

I actually think the last item on this list is the only one that is pollyannaish and implausible.

1. I said even that’s saying a lot.

2.  One or two of Festa, Raya, Prielipp, Ohl, maybe Bradley. Don’t need them all obviously.

3. Some subset of Funderburk, Sands, Topa, Adam.

4. Odds of finding a cheap, halfway decent FA reliever or two?  Even for the Twins, better than Lee or Lewis becoming regular above average infielders (particularly under Rocco) or Emma, Roden, or Outman ever becoming a decent major leaguer.

Didn’t mean to get you so upset.  Just keeping things real.  

[tony&rodney]

42 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

Any trades invloving Ryan/Lopez must bring back a good, solid, major league position player.  Prospects can be throw-ins, but a position player who would slot in #1-#5 in the Twins lineup next year is essential.  I posited in an earlier post that adding Josh Naylor and Jarren Duran to our lineup could be just the catalyst to make it deadly.   

While I agree that any trade of Lopez/Ryan must return quality, I'm hoping the Twins keep an open mind to all scenarios. Are there possibilities to return a Top 10 (in all of baseball) prospect for Ryan? Looking over the teams now hunting a World Series, there seem to be several who need a guy like Joe Ryan. The return is important. A Ryan-Duran exchange would likely improve both teams. What other teams have an interest in Ryan and are willing to part with a major player or top prospect? I keep going back to Detroit and wonder whether that is even a possible conversation. Mutually beneficial transactions are possible.

I'm not sure Pablo Lopez would return what the Twins would want/need for him.

[LyleCole]

3 hours ago, the_brute_squad said:

I do like the Twins prospect pool and can see the Twins putting them on the field, much like what happened in 82 with Hrbek, Gaeitti, Viola, etc... and let them take their lumps. 

I have been saying this for a while.  I think they need to commit to a consistent plan and make the moves accordingly.   Either go low budget-rebuild or go Twins max budget (which isn't very much) and try to be competitive building around the core group of players.  

While I think the first move meets the ownership's fiscal goals, I think they will not do this because they are looking at investors/sale over the near term and no one wants to invest in a loser.  And the second option, actually investing in a team that has a real chance to be competitive is against their fiscal wishes.

So, they will chose a the third option, which has been their stand by:  Low budget pretend to be competitive.

I think the rebuild should be the plan though.  Even if ownership put some money into the payroll, it will take almost every one of these 7 things to go right to move this team into the competitive ranks.  They would need to find a closer, which they had in Duran but dumped him.  They would need to find a bullpen, which they mostly had, but they dumped that too.  If they really wanted to they could have resigned Coulombe (who has pitched poorly in Texas) and Stewart in the offseason and rebuild their bullpen again, but with the top of it traded away they can't.  So they will find a bargain basement closer and bargain basement bullpen arms again.

The real question becomes what do you do with the core veteran players they have like Buxton, Lopez, Ryan, Ober and even Lewis.  What is interesting is that all of the key players on this team are essentially the same age.  Buxton is 31,  Ryan, Ober, Lopez are all 29.  Jeffers and Larnach are both 28.  Wallner is 27.  This is not a young team when you really look at it.  

I think the age factor is why you need to make the moves this offseason.  Trade Buxton at the peak of his value.  Trade 2 of the starters.  Get solid prospect packages and build them right into the opening 2026 day roster along side the best prospects from our system.  That team is probably going to lose 100 games in 2026, but if they made good prospect decisions, that is Jenkins and Rodrguez and Culpepper etc are the real deals like they have been talked about for years, they should be a good team in the future.

[Linus]

1 hour ago, Nick Nelson said:

I'd love to hear more specificity here. Which starters are getting converted to RP, instantly thriving in high-leverage roles, and giving up on their future as starters? What leftovers are we warming up? How often have the Twins spent "wisely" in RP free agency aside from Coulombe? 

I actually think the last item on this list is the only one that is pollyannaish and implausible.

Me too. It took them years to develop the bullpen they just blew up. There is nothing in their track record that suggests they could do it one off season. 

[gman]

The Twins have 2 veterans in Buxton and Jeffers. Lee is finishing his first full year in the majors and Lewis is finishing his 2nd full year. Martin has less than a full season of plate appearances and Keaschall only a third of a season.

I don't think Wallner and Larnach are long term outfielders for the Twins. I expect the corners could come from among Jenkins, Gonzalez, Rodriguez, Roden, Outman and Mendez. If Wallner makes the necessary adjustments he could be a good DH. Maybe a good regular DH for a change.  Pereda looks like he could be a good backup or at least workable and Fitzgerald could be a decent utility infielder and relief pitcher.

Not weighing any other minor leagues that could come up next year, I'd expect the starting lineup to come from the above. Hopefully we have a wave of healthy players in this mix. I'm not sold on Clemens as the regular first baseman, but since the team probably won't sign any free agents.

Starters we have plenty, and we will not trade for any unless we get one in return for Lopez or Ryan (who I hope we don't trade). The rotation I expect to be in flux for most of the year

The bullpen and someone to play first base on a regular basis that can hit, are the big question marks.

[Nashvilletwin]

8 minutes ago, Linus said:

Me too. It took them years to develop the bullpen they just blew up. There is nothing in their track record that suggests they could do it one off season. 

Please see my response above.

No one said or implied that we would have a shut down pen in ‘26.  But a passable pen? More easily doable than any of the others. Besides, on our vaunted recent relief corps you referenced, weren’t there at least a couple of former starters (certainly in the minors) before being converted to relievers (Jax, Varland, and Duran come to mind)?  

[bean5302]

Organizational change is needed to correct the direction.

Fire Falvey. Not one single drafted/developed All Star through 9 years for Falvey except trade toss-in Brent Rooker and his accomplishments with the Athletics. Maybe Falvey just needs another couple decades?

Baldelli needs to go, too. The team has clearly quit on him yet again. Another late season collapse as the team has gone 19-38 .372 (60-102 full season pace) after the All Star Game. 

We've had 1 good season in the past 5 years. No GM or manager gets that kind of leash in pro sports. 

[Linus]

1 hour ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Please see my response above.

No one said or implied that we would have a shut down pen in ‘26.  But a passable pen? More easily doable than any of the others. Besides, on our vaunted recent relief corps you referenced, weren’t there at least a couple of former starters (certainly in the minors) before being converted to relievers (Jax, Varland, and Duran come to mind)?  

I don’t disagree about the method of construction. I just don’t see it happening in one off season even if the goal is “passable”. Mostly because I don’t have much faith in the FO. But I’m more than okay with a difference of opinion.