Austin Martin Has Taken Advantage of His Opportunity. What Does It Mean for 2026 Minnesota Twins?

[Greggory Masterson]

Image courtesy of © Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

After the 2025 trade deadline, the Twins had spots to fill. Pitching got the most attention, but the Twins also needed to fill the holes left by Carlos Correa, Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, and Ty France. One of the beneficiaries of those vacancies was Austin Martin, and he’s really the only hitter to have successfully seized that opportunity. Since coming up at the beginning of August, he's batted .294/.385/.390 across 136 plate appearances, with solid defense in left field.

It wasn’t a foregone conclusion that Martin would see success. He struggled in 93 games in 2024, both offensively (his .670 OPS was 10% below average) and defensively. There wasn’t even a clear path to playing time this year (despite the departures of Bader and Castro), given the presence of Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Alan Roden, James Outman, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. in the Twins outfield picture. But Martin parlayed his .319/.431/.398 line at Triple-A St. Paul into a call-up, and he hasn’t looked back.

So, how does his unexpected emergence change things going forward?

Well, first, his presence adds yet another name to the list of corner outfield options that seems to get longer by the day. The aforementioned Wallner, Larnach, Roden, and Outman (and I suppose Keirsey and Carson McCusker, should they survive a winter's worth of roster pruning) will all vie for time in right or left field next year. Other options like Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Gabriel Gonzalez all await their chance at. Also, Kody Clemens can play out there, if that excites you—and Luke Keaschall might have to play out there, whether that excites you or not.

It’s unclear how much Martin’s play will change the Twins’ plans on any of those names right now. Few would have been surprised if Larnach were traded (or released) this offseason, even before Martin's hot stretch. Outman, Keirsey, and McCusker all seemed to be in line for more minor roles, if they’re even in the organization, and Martin isn’t going to divert any top prospects from the track they’re already on.

But it does give the Twins breathing room. Roden and the prospects, for instance, aren’t going to be thrust into roles the team doesn’t feel that they’re ready for just to fill space. Martin provides one line of protection there. It’s doubtful that the Twins feel any need to add a corner outfielder in free agency for that buffer—if they ever did at all.

Beyond just being a warm, capable body in the corners, Martin fills another couple of roles. He’s right-handed, unlike any of the names listed above other than Buxton and McCusker. He makes a nice platoon partner with whichever lefty outfielder you prefer in left field, if you aren’t convinced that Martin can handle a full-time gig. That underscores a lesser need to acquire another outfielder this offseason—a right-handed swinger, in this case.

Martin can also cover center field, if needed. It’s not pretty, but it’s likely better than what the team could get from Roden (or Clemens, who did play out there once this season), especially if the team elects to move on from Outman and Keirsey. Even if the Twins open the season with Martin covering the spot on Buxton’s days off, hopefully, Jenkins and Rodriguez would be able to step into the backup role before too much of the season elapses. It’s another fringe role that Martin can fill without the team spending any precious payroll space. He’s also an emergency infielder, which doesn’t really make that much difference, but I think we’re contractually obligated to say that anytime Martin’s name comes up.

Given the rest of the depth and options, though, it seems pretty low-risk to simply roll with Martin penciled into an everyday role (or something approximating it). The weird thing about his emergence is that it doesn’t have an enormous effect on the rest of the plans. Almost all personnel decisions—outside of perhaps bringing in a free agent righty—will proceed as planned, without regard to Martin’s play this season. They’re more dependent on the team’s evaluation of those other players and their individual performances.

Even if Martin is the team’s Opening Day left fielder in 2025, next season probably isn’t about him. It’s about Wallner having a bounce-back or Jenkins or Rodriguez settling into a role. Martin’s ceiling isn’t astronomical. He is a potentially good (but not elite) defender at a bottom-of-the-defensive-spectrum position whose offensive viability is predicated on his ability to flirt with a .400 on-base percentage with little-to-no power.

He can still carve out a big-league career. He can still provide value on a good team. He might be a viable, league-average regular, if the team gives him a full season to play most days. And even if he’s squeezed out of the “starting role,” he can carve out a niche within a team—even one stocked with corner outfielders. Starting against lefties (and some righties) and pinch-hitting in situations in which the team needs a baserunner, and pinch-running when the team needs a stolen base—that’s a viable career.

Martin, who has just one minor league option year after this season and will be 27 next year, might not have been in line for even this much of a big-league future if he didn’t make the most of his opportunity this summer. Outside of having one more reason to not go get a veteran righty outfielder, Martin provides another option to fill in the gaps of a roster that has many, many question marks, and it’s great to see him making the most of it.

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[Brandon27]

He probably going get traded in the offseason for someone who has arm issues

[mikelink45]

Nice to have Martin get some press, but the thinking of Falvey and the FO are too confusing for me to speculate.  Having acquired Roden and Outman Falvey might continue to push for playing time for "his" acquisitions despite their lack of production.  

The list of OF candidates is long, but how many have potential to be more than replacement level or below?  How do they rank?  I prefer the prospects, not that prospects always reach their potential, but because the other players have already shown their abilities and that is not good enough. 

[Whitey333]

Twins look to be a total train wreck next year at this point.  I am sure more trades are coming and the Twibs bs about all the great can't miss prospects they have.  That's their marketing theme:  hope and hype.  That's all.  Yes Martin deserved a starting spot next year.  Many of the people you listed as outfield competition for outfield positions next year have shown little or no ability to play Major League Baseball.

[HrbieFan]

Really don't understand why Roden, Outman, McCusker and Kersey are even being talked about for next year. Maybe Roden gets another look, the other 3 are 4A players at best. Between Martin, Fedko and ERod we have more upside than thise 3.  

[Otaknam]

Martin has earned a roster spot and is the clear choice over Outman, whose strikeout numbers make Sano look like Arraez. Clemens has actually at times hit pretty well with RISP, despite his .220 average. Also, Wallner, Lewis, and Larnach underperformed this year. They need to bounce back next year and will be challenged by EROD, Jenkins and Gonzalez for playing time. 

[Jeff K]

As it stands now, Martin should make the team and play a lot next year; hopefully with our rising outfielders with St. Paul and Buxton.  I know the numbers aren't great, but he plays a competent 2nd base as well.  Martin should be a valuable support player.

[Linus]

I haven’t been a fan of Martin but good on him for stepping forward when everyone else was stepping back. Is this him going forward?  Somewhat skeptical but let’s find out. 

[jmlease1]

4 minutes ago, HrbieFan said:

Really don't understand why Roden, Outman, McCusker and Kersey are even being talked about for next year. Maybe Roden gets another look, the other 3 are 4A players at best. Between Martin, Fedko and ERod we have more upside than thise 3.  

Agreed. Roden will and probably should get another look; while he's flunked out so far in MLB, it's literally his first taste of it and he's crushed AAA. While I was unimpressed with Roden's time in CF, the Twins seemed to think he could play there, so at the very least he should be a plus defender in a corner.

But McCusker and Kiersey are organizational filler, and really shouldn't even be on the 40-man. Despite Outman's ability to run into the occasional homer, he's been pretty bad for the Twins and should not be given any serious consideration for a job, and at 28 should be looking at a minor league deal.

Martin is a nice floor-raiser. (and that's important!) If the Twins go young, he's a nice 4th OF to protect guys like Rodriguez & Jenkins from tough LHP who will get on base any way he can and has the speed to do something when he gets there (even with the baserunning mistakes). He's going to avoid outs and can lead off or get you baserunners at the bottom of the order, and that's useful. 

Martin makes it easier for the Twins to move Wallner to DH or 1B if they're inclined. He sets the floor for what should be acceptable in the OF next season at a level that is at least solid, as opposed to incompetent or one-sided. This presumes that this season is more of who he is as opposed to 2024 Martin, but it doesn't seem unreasonable.

[Otaknam]

17 minutes ago, HrbieFan said:

Really don't understand why Roden, Outman, McCusker and Kersey are even being talked about for next year. Maybe Roden gets another look, the other 3 are 4A players at best. Between Martin, Fedko and ERod we have more upside than thise 3.  

Why Fedko didn’t get a chance at the ML level is head scratching. He had a great season, hit for power and average, has excellent speed and steals bases, and bat right handed, which they need in the outfield. Why not cut Outman, who has done nothing but strike out, and give Fedko a shot? 

[MinnInPa]

18 minutes ago, HrbieFan said:

Really don't understand why Roden, Outman, McCusker and Kersey are even being talked about for next year. Maybe Roden gets another look, the other 3 are 4A players at best. Between Martin, Fedko and ERod we have more upside than thise 3.  

luv to see Gonzales, Jenkins, Buxton and Martin in OF next year. we've seen enough of Kiersey, Outman(appropriate name), Wallner....maybe even Larnach ..to know they are not players to build a contender around. 

[Coach Wheels]

27 minutes ago, HrbieFan said:

Really don't understand why Roden, Outman, McCusker and Kersey are even being talked about for next year. Maybe Roden gets another look, the other 3 are 4A players at best. Between Martin, Fedko and ERod we have more upside than thise 3.  

Sort of agree with this post. I would not give up on Outman...yet.

[Trov]

What it does is make him relevant going forward either on our team or as part of a trade.  He would not net anything huge, but being he has shown he can get on base and has some speed.  Some teams will value this.  The Twins have so many options at the corner OF, and 2nd.  

I personally expect he will stay with Twins and they will DFA/non-tender Clemons.  They play the same position, basically utility guy, but Clemons showed some power from time to time, but outside of that he was negative hitter. 

[jimmiexx]

37 minutes ago, Otaknam said:

Why Fedko didn’t get a chance at the ML level is head scratching. He had a great season, hit for power and average, has excellent speed and steals bases, and bat right handed, which they need in the outfield. Why not cut Outman, who has done nothing but strike out, and give Fedko a shot? 

Exactly!!! This is the problem, why do the Twins think they can rebuild a real with a bunch of thirty year olds it makes no sense.

[T.O.]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

  Having acquired Roden and Outman Falvey might continue to push for playing time for "his" acquisitions despite their lack of production.  

Count on that.

[DJL44]

A bench of Martin (RH), Clemens (LH) and Lee (both) would be pretty good. Unfortunately, it looks like each of them will be starters.

[AceWrigley]

Outside of a few baserunning snafus, Austin Martin has played well since the roster outflux of 2025. I'm hard pressed to think of any Twins hitter in the aggregate who has had better plate appearances than Martin and defensively he's looked much better in left field, even making some really good plays out there. Unless he has an atrocious spring training or is injured I can see him as the starting left fielder next year.

[Permanent Twins Fan]

Martin has been great since his call-up. Ideally he would be a bench bat with all the young outfielders the Twins have coming up, but he will probably start at least early in the season. I think that he has the potential to be a better version of Willi Castro

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

Why Fedko didn’t get a chance at the ML level is head scratching. He had a great season, hit for power and average, has excellent speed and steals bases, and bat right handed, which they need in the outfield. Why not cut Outman, who has done nothing but strike out, and give Fedko a shot? 

Because he wasn't on the 40-man yet? Because we wouldn't have learned that much about him in such a short span and we might as well find out if Outman can be fixed? (seems like no) Because putting any of the stink of the 2025 Twins on Fedko in september would have caused the fans around here to turn on him immediately if he had a bad week? Because Fedko started the season in AA and this is the first time in his pro career he's had immediate success upon promotion, so maybe making him prove it at AAA isn't crazy?

I have little interest in Outman, but I don't really think they've done Fedko dirty here, who has still only played 42 games in AAA in his entire life.

[T.O.]

Martin acts like he's trying. So many players are phoning it in. 
Martin has been fun to watch. Larnach and Wallner are not.
Outman might have to be the "Out" man.

[Riverbrian]

In my mind... It simply means that he should be part of the plans for next year. No guarantees on what he will bring next year but he should be on the 26 man roster and given the opportunity to compete. Right now... I think he should primarily play OF but I believe that infield should remain part of his repertoire because team context will change with injuries and the ability to deploy Martin at 2B or 3B should injuries create the need will be helpful. The ability to deploy Martin in the infield could potentially allow Martin to create extra playing time for the rest of the outfielders on the roster. In my mind... the club has to sort out the players with decision deadlines hanging over them.      

Who knows what ingredients the front office is going to use this off season or how they use them to prepare this upcoming 2026 dinner. 

A trade of Ryan can shift the recipe quickly but maybe they don't trade him or any of the pitching. Maybe they decide to simply try and move forward from here. 

Before they call up Jenkins... they have to make decisions on those whose decisions are immediately due. Don't get me wrong... I can't wait for the arrival of Jenkins and I hope he becomes what we all hope he becomes but you don't want to toss a side potential major league talent to clear the space for him. Even if that potential major league talent turns out to be average major league talent in the end. You don't want to toss it. 

Martin has earned a 2026 job. He doesn't have to play every day but he deserves to play most days. He needs to be part of a group of players competing with each other for jobs in 2027 and beyond.  

 

 

 

[ToddlerHarmon]

I slightly disagree with the author's statement that Martin's emergence changes no plans: it should have the Twins vetting several of their corner outfielders for first base. It should also give them confidence to move on from the 4A experiments like Outman, Kiersey, McKusker, and maybe Roden.

To echo someone above, Martin should be the bar to clear, offensively, defensively, and by age. If you're not clearly better or younger, someone else needs a shot.

[Greggory Masterson]

1 hour ago, HrbieFan said:

Really don't understand why Roden, Outman, McCusker and Kersey are even being talked about for next year

Because they're in the organization, and ignoring that or pretending to know that they won’t have a role is silly, though most mentions of their names here are accompanied by something like “if they’re still around.”

[Greggory Masterson]

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

Why Fedko didn’t get a chance at the ML level is head scratching. He had a great season, hit for power and average, has excellent speed and steals bases, and bat right handed, which they need in the outfield.

My working theory is that they’d prefer not to keep him on the 40 man roster over the offseason because they don’t plan on protecting him from the Rule 5, but they also don’t want to waive him in November 

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, Otaknam said:

Why Fedko didn’t get a chance at the ML level is head scratching. He had a great season, hit for power and average, has excellent speed and steals bases, and bat right handed, which they need in the outfield. Why not cut Outman, who has done nothing but strike out, and give Fedko a shot? 

Fedko hit .268/.353/.476 in 187 PA in AAA

Outman has hit .283/.382/.579 in 870 PA in AAA

Gonzalez hit .316/.358/.504 in 148 PA in AAA

Rodriguez hit .258/.429/.423 in 212 PA in AAA

Why are you so anxious to call up an outfielder who has hit worse than Outman, Gabriel Gonzalez, and Emmanuel Rodriguez at AAA? Gonzalez has to be added to the 40-man and Rodriguez is already on the 40-man. Both should be ahead of Fedko in the pecking order.

[PDX Twin]

46 minutes ago, T.O. said:

Outman might have to be the "Out" man.

With that name, maybe he could be a pitcher...

[jimmiexx]

5 minutes ago, PDX Twin said:

With that name, maybe he could be a pitcher...

Hopefully he is better than Scott Blewett.

[Riverbrian]

2 hours ago, Otaknam said:

Why not cut Outman, who has done nothing but strike out, and give Fedko a shot? 

Many people are not happy with the Outman acquisition. 

However... they knew he was out of options when they traded for him.

If they knew and they had to know. He's back next year because it would make no sense to trade Brock Stewart for a two month rental on a team that is not going to make the playoffs.

They could have traded Stewart for a 19 year old that puts no pressure on the 40 man or 26 roster instead. 

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that Twins liked Outman and they went and got him.

I'll even go as far as to say. It appears that the Twins purposely tried to acquire major league ready or close to major league talent when making the deals they made. Which leads me to the conclusion... they ain't done yet since it all piled up in the starting pitching and outfield categories.   

[Riverbrian]

55 minutes ago, T.O. said:

Outman might have to be the "Out" man.

Outman is Out "Of Options" man. 

He's back in 2026. They are not giving away Stewart for a two month rental. 

[jmlease1]

16 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Why are you so anxious to call up an outfielder who has hit worse than Outman, Gabriel Gonzalez, and Emmanuel Rodriguez at AAA? Gonzalez has to be added to the 40-man and Rodriguez is already on the 40-man. Both should be ahead of Fedko in the pecking order.

I think it's because Fedko is the new shiny toy that hasn't had the chance to fail and disappoint us yet. I agree that Fedko should (and probably is) be behind Rodriguez, Gonzalez, and Jenkins in the pecking order for Twins OF prospects, but I understand the desire to move on from guys who look like Quad-A or retreads to someone that might provide hope and/or excitement.