Twins Daily Awards 2025: Most Valuable Player

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of Thieres Rabelo

The 2025 Minnesota Twins season did not go as planned. A year that started with postseason expectations ended in frustration as the team stumbled to the finish line. Even so, there were individual bright spots that gave fans reasons to stay invested, and that’s what makes TwinsDaily’s annual Team MVP voting so interesting.

With the front office already pivoting toward reshaping the roster for 2026, this vote provided an opportunity to acknowledge the few players who carried their weight in a turbulent season. From emerging young contributors to established stars who managed to stay healthy, the ballot reflected both the hope and the frustration of Twins Territory.

Before diving into the top three, let’s tip the cap to a few guys who received votes and played meaningful roles this season:

Honorable Mentions

• Luke Keaschall — In his rookie campaign, Keaschall hit .302/.382/.445 (.827) with a 128 OPS+ and 14 stolen bases in 182 at-bats.
• Pablo López — Despite being limited by injury, López made 14 starts and posted a stellar 2.74 ERA, striking out 73 in 75 2/3 innings. 
• Harrison Bader — The Twins acquired Bader on a one-year deal, and in 271 at-bats, he slashed .258/.339/.439 (.778) with 12 homers and ten steals before being dealt.
• Kody Clemens — Clemens chipped in as a versatile bench option and had some key moments during the team’s 13-game winning streak. Overall, he posted a 96 OPS+ and was a team leader. 

All four made valuable contributions and earned recognition in the voting, but none secured a spot in the top three.

3. Ryan Jeffers
Jeffers secured third place in the MVP vote, and for good reason. Offensively, he put up a solid line of .266/.356/.397 (.752) with a 108 OPS+ over 119 games. His fWAR ranked second on the team, but his rWAR ranked 11th on the team behind Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe. Defensive metrics continue to paint him in a poor light, but he’s still one of baseball’s best offensive catchers. 

On the offensive side, he made significant gains in Chase% (-10%), Whiff% (-2.5%), and BB% (+3.9%), with all three categories ranking in the 72nd percentile or higher. While his overall totals lacked the eye-catching peaks of the other two players on this list, his balanced contributions on both sides of the game made him a worthy third-place finisher. 

2. Joe Ryan
Ryan’s second-place finish was anchored in another season of pitching dominance. Ryan logged an impressive 3.42 ERA with a 125 ERA+ and 10.2 K/9.  He continued to be a horse in the rotation and earned an All-Star nod in 2025, a testament to his status among the staff.

His fWAR (3.1) and rWAR (4.5) were second only to Buxton among Twins in the 2025 vote. He finished in the AL’s top-10 in WAR for Pitchers (6th), ERA (10th), BB/9 (6th), K/9 (3rd), and K/BB (5th). He has a chance to get down-ballot votes for AL Cy Young, and it’s not hard to imagine his numbers being even better if he hadn’t struggled over the season’s final two months. In a down year for the club, his dependability held tremendous value, but he just fell short of being the team’s top overall player. 

1. Byron Buxton (Unanimous Selection)
Not even a healthy, thriving Buxton could save the Minnesota Twins from their demise in 2025. Amid the chaos of a 92-loss season, the 31-year-old center fielder authored one of the finest individual performances of his career.

Buxton slugged a career-high 35 home runs in a career-high 542 plate appearances, and he went a perfect 24-for-24 stealing bases, a dazzling combination of power and speed that made him one of the most dynamic players in baseball. After finally breaking the triple-digit games barrier in 2024 (102 games, his first time doing so in seven years), he upped the mark again in 2025 with 126 games played, setting career bests nearly across the board: hits, total bases, homers, triples, RBIs, runs, walks, and Win Probability Added.

It wasn’t just statistical accumulation, either. Buxton produced highlight moments that stuck with fans all year. Chief among them? Hitting for the cycle on his bobblehead day was a storybook accomplishment that felt ripped straight out of a marketing department dream.

Advanced metrics backed up his dominance. Buxton delivered 5.0 Wins Above Replacement (per FanGraphs), another career high that not only led the Twins but also ranked No. 9 among American League position players. To put it in perspective, that’s the highest fWAR by a Twins center fielder since Kirby Puckett’s 5.9 in 1992.

The fact that Buxton was the unanimous team MVP selection tells you all you need to know. In a season where nearly everything else went wrong for the Twins, he stood tall as the one constant. His year won’t erase the sting of 92 losses, but it did remind Twins Territory what peak Buxton looks like and why he remains the most indispensable player in the organization.

2025 may go down as one of the most challenging stretches in recent Twins history. Still, the MVP vote underscored an overarching theme: when the chips were down, Buxton continued to perform at the highest level of his career. Jeffers deserves credit for being the most consistent two-way contributor, and Ryan once again proved why he’s the anchor of this rotation.

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How would your team MVP ballot look? Leave your rankings in the comments and start the discussion. 

 

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[Linus]

Mine would have been Buck and then Ryan and then an empty ballot for the rest. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Some things to celebrate in a disappointing season.  I would have added Duran to the list at #3. I wonder if Duran could be converted into a successful starter?

[Richie the Rally Goat]

you mean it’s not Jose Miranda or Ed Julien? I’m shocked it’s Buck

[Paul Walerius]

1 hour ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Some things to celebrate in a disappointing season.  I would have added Duran to the list at #3. I wonder if Duran could be converted into a successful starter?

A dominant closer, you would want to convert to Starter so the Topa, Sands and Cabrerras of the world could be the closer?

 

[Nashvilletwin]

There is a decent chance that all of the players listed, except for Keaschall, are not on the Twins next year.

1. Buxton decides he wants to play for a winner and gets traded at the apogee of his trade value.  Probably makes sense for both sides.

2. With the ‘27 lockout looming, Ryan is really only here for one more year - there is little chance we resign him (although Rocco’s firing could only have helped).  He is also getting way more expensive via arbitration.  He likely gets traded.

3. Jeffers is also signed for only two more years. He probably stays as the near term catching pipeline is still very raw.  But if that prospect development accelerates, Jeffers could be moved at next year’s deadline.

4. Lopez, like Ryan and Jeffers, is only signed for two more years (so really one year).  His late season injury may hurt his expected trade value, but his cost is very high in the current Twins spending environment.  Look for him to be moved prior to opening day.

5. Clemens may or may not be resigned and he may decide to go somewhere else.  He might be a good, cheap piece for ‘26, but, let’s face it, he is not, nor will he ever be, a key piece of our post lock out future core.  He’s not in any way a dial mover, so does it really matter?

6. Bader is already gone.

7. At this point, Keaschall is a core piece of our future.  Let’s hope he stays healthy and continues to improve.

[Doctor Gast]

Buck is MVP on many levels. He has my vote, hands down. If Falvey had made a minimal effort in supporting the core, Buck's effort would not have been for nought.

[#3Killer]

31 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

There is a decent chance that all of the players listed, except for Keaschall, are not on the Twins next year.

1. Buxton decides he wants to play for a winner and gets traded at the apogee of his trade value.  Probably makes sense for both sides.

2. With the ‘27 lockout looming, Ryan is really only here for one more year - there is little chance we resign him (although Rocco’s firing could only have helped).  He is also getting way more expensive via arbitration.  He likely gets traded.

3. Jeffers is also signed for only two more years. He probably stays as the near term catching pipeline is still very raw.  But if that prospect development accelerates, Jeffers could be moved at next year’s deadline.

4. Lopez, like Ryan and Jeffers, is only signed for two more years (so really one year).  His late season injury may hurt his expected trade value, but his cost is very high in the current Twins spending environment.  Look for him to be moved prior to opening day.

5. Clemens may or may not be resigned and he may decide to go somewhere else.  He might be a good, cheap piece for ‘26, but, let’s face it, he is not, nor will he ever be, a key piece of our post lock out future core.  He’s not in any way a dial mover, so does it really matter?

6. Bader is already gone.

7. At this point, Keaschall is a core piece of our future.  Let’s hope he stays healthy and continues to improve.

So tired of this mantra!! Pessimistic and unrealistic. Another bad year and Flavely is out! He will and can construct a strong roster with a decent offseason and minor trades to build a bullpen. If he doesn’t choose to compete in 2026 NOBODY will attend games and he is fired. He has to be motivated.  We will win the Central in 2026. Maybe I’m overly optimistic but why keep obsessing with the dark side.

[mikelink45]

There was only one answer - no suspense.  I am sorry we lost Bader - I really liked what he brought in.

So who would get the least valuable player?  I know we have a lot of DFAs so I hesitate to look at them.  Julien and Gaspar are my choices although Wallner, Larnach, Clemens, Lee, Lewis has periods where they were higher in the rankings. 

In the pitching side I found too many to choose from and often such small samples.  So let's start with ERA over 7 (non pitchers excluded) and work our way up:

1. Travis Adams 7.49
2. Genesis Cabrera 7.98
3. Mick Abel 8.36
4. Jorge Alcala 8.88
5. Anthony Misiewixz 9.64
6. Brooke Kriske 11.25
7. Joey Wentz 15.75 
8. Noah Davis 16.20

Now it would be easy to choose Noah and he was terrible but overall it is more an indictment of the scrap heap signings of Falvey.  Since Alcala was in 22 games and expected to be a key part of the BP I would choose him. 

If we go by WAR Travis Adams at -0.9 just beats out Alcala at -0.8 (which ties him with Kriske).  In total we had 13 players with worse pitching WAR than Willi Castro.  

[Rhyno006]

4 hours ago, Linus said:

Mine would have been Buck and then Ryan and then an empty ballot for the rest. 

Jeffers is the John Cena of the Twins, there really wasn't anyone in that third place spot 🙃

[Permanent Twins Fan]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

So who would get the least valuable player?  I know we have a lot of DFAs so I hesitate to look at them.  Julien and Gaspar are my choices although Wallner, Larnach, Clemens, Lee, Lewis has periods where they were higher in the rankings. 

I think that the L.V.P. should be someone who had high expectations coming in. If I had to choose one I would go with Bailey Ober, because coming in to the year he was one of the top 25 or so Starting Pitchers in baseball, and he was borderline unpitchable for a lot of the season. I am still optimistic that he will bounce back in 2026, but he is my choice for LVP this year. As for me I would go with Buxton, Ryan, and Jeffers, but Clemens and Keaschall were also very good in their time with the Twins this season. 

[stringer bell]

Congratulations to Mr. Buxton. He stayed relatively healthy and was very productive. In the big picture, it doesn't matter much, but I hope he also is selected as a Silver Slugger. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

3 hours ago, #3Killer said:

So tired of this mantra!! Pessimistic and unrealistic. Another bad year and Flavely is out! He will and can construct a strong roster with a decent offseason and minor trades to build a bullpen. If he doesn’t choose to compete in 2026 NOBODY will attend games and he is fired. He has to be motivated.  We will win the Central in 2026. Maybe I’m overly optimistic but why keep obsessing with the dark side.

[DJL44]

I hope Buxton gets enough league MVP down ballot votes to trigger his bonus.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

9 hours ago, Paul Walerius said:

A dominant closer, you would want to convert to Starter so the Topa, Sands and Cabrerras of the world could be the closer?

 

200 innings of Duran vs. 70 innings of Duran.

[Doctor Wu]

19 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

There is a decent chance that all of the players listed, except for Keaschall, are not on the Twins next year.

I don't think the so-called "rebuild" will end up being that drastic or dramatic. The only player from that list that I think will be shopped might be Ryan. With all the depth (knock on wood) that we now have with starting pitchers, he is the one that might interest other teams the most. But back to the subject of this article, Buxton definitely was the hands-down only choice to win this award. So satisfying to see him healthy and productive all season, and playing with joy. 

[Paul Walerius]

12 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

200 innings of Duran vs. 70 innings of Duran.

It's not going to be the same Duran.   I bet he averages 95-96 (which is still fast) as a starter.  In the minors he was a starter and his ERA was 4.7 in majors as a closer his ERA is 3.15.