The Core Conundrum: Twins Hitters Are Trending Downward Across the Roster

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The end of a season, even a very bad one, offers a chance to dream. The offseason is a stage to strengthen the roster, along with individual skills; beyond it lies spring training and a fresh slate. The trouble for Twins fans is that there isn't much to dream on heading into 2026. 

Almost without exception, every hitter that is currently written into the team's plans next year is experiencing a downward trendline in terms of performance or skills. An inventory of where each player stands coming out of September shows just how lacking the 40-man roster is with offensive players on the rise. 

I'll start with the three players who bucked this trend by coming out of the season with some semblance of momentum, adding a note of caveat for each:

Luke Keaschall: Awesome MLB debut between the injuries, which have plagued him. Tough to nitpick a great rookie year but he did post a .685 OPS in September while flashing iffy defense. At the very least, enthusiasm has been tempered around his future as a cornerstone. 

Byron Buxton: Fantastic career year that is reaffirming for his ability to produce at the plate, but he turns 32 in December and his skills are declining in center. Buxton's probably the only hitter on the Twins with any substantial trade value, sans Keaschall, but has a no-trade clause.

Austin Martin: Made hay after the trade deadline, batting .282 with a .374 OBP. But even in this productive run, Martin's limitations were evident as he slugged .365 and played left field almost exclusively. He showcased the tools to be a solid role player, which is a step forward, but far from a game-changer.

Okay. Now let's turn our attention to the rest of the Twins' 40-man roster, in alphabetical order:

Kody Clemens: Cooled off immensely after a stunning midseason surge as (essentially) a waiver claim. Slashed .201/.262/.354 in his last 55 games, rarely showing much outside of an isolated 3-HR outburst in September. 

Ryan Fitzgerald: Quad-A player who finished the season 1-for-19 and batted .196 overall, though he did pop a few homers while showing a decent plate approach. Could be a usable bench guy.

Mickey Gasper: It would've been a cool story if Gasper could have taken advantage of the wide-open opportunity to solidify his standing as a big-leaguer in the second half. He did not, slashing .136/.212/.237 in 67 plate appearances after the deadline.

Edouard Julien: Similarly, it would've been great to see Julien step up and reassert himself post-deadline. In 104 plate appearances, he posted a .660 OPS with one home run, with his untrusted glove relegating him to 1B/DH duty.

Ryan Jeffers: Went from 21 homers in 2024 to nine in 2025 (including just two after the All-Star break), sacrificing a bunch of power for unspectacular gains in average and OBP. His defensive value is in rapid decline as he approaches 30, so the drop-off in power is alarming. Battled concussion issues late in the season.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr.: Zero hits or walks as a major-leaguer after July 28th. (Albeit only two MLB starts.) Clearly not a factor.

Ryan Kreidler: Hey, a newcomer! Perhaps a chance to deviate from the pattern of plummeting performance! Oh, what's that? He spent almost all of last year in Triple-A? He slashed .182/.333/.288 in his last 20 games there? He was waived by the 91-loss Pirates? I see.

Trevor Larnach: He looked to be carving out a spot as a lineup fixture with a 116 OPS+ in 2024, but regressed significantly to 99 in 2025 and hit just one homer after August 11th. Fielding value value fell through the floor, to the point he was almost exclusively used as DH in the second half. Non-tender candidate.

Brooks Lee: Not so much trending downward as continuing to stagnate with replacement-level MLB production. Lacking speed, power or discipline, Lee has shown no real standout skills in a Twins uniform. He batted .195 with a .531 OPS in September. Perfect example of a player the team is essentially tethered to because he's too young/cheap to give up on but has no trade value.

Royce Lewis: Similar deal here, although they surely could trade Lewis and get something for him, if motivated to do so. The market will hardly be hopping after a dismal campaign that ended without much positive motion — Lewis posted a .678 OPS and 25-to-1 K/BB ratio in September, albeit while looking more spry in field and on the bases.

Carson McCusker: Did nothing in the majors, and even his minor-league success came to look like a mirage after he cooled off big-time in Triple-A.

José Miranda: The ultimate stock drop. Miranda was on the Opening Day roster this year (remember that??) but by season's end found himself hopelessly mired in Triple-A, where he was overwhelmed. In August and September he batted .175 with two home runs for the Saints. 

James Outman: Two hits in his last 32 at-bats of the season, but at least they were both homers! That pretty much sums up Outman — an all-or-nothing hitter who lives up to his name with a .147 average and .558 OPS in his time with the Twins.

Jhonny Pereda: Probably not a big-league player, and unlikely to stick around. Did hit a little bit in 30 at-bats though.

Alan Roden: The most immediate return from the front office's deadline sell-off could have hardly made a worse first impression, hitting .158 with a .463 OPS in his first 12 games as a Twin before suffering a season-ending thumb injury. Turning 26 in December, he has yet to demonstrate he can hit in the majors at all. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez: Mentioned because he's on the 40-man roster, although he has yet to debut in the majors. One of the team's top prospects, although 2025 wasn't a real upward season for Rodriguez either — he battled injuries again and saw his power tamped down at Triple-A.

Matt Wallner: Wallner's season was one of the most discouraging developments for the Twins offense all-around in 2025. His OPS+ fell by almost 40 points from the previous season as pitchers leaned into his weaknesses and often left him without answers. He batted .157 with a .600 OPS in his final 20 games, ending the year with another oblique injury.

You take stock of all these Twins hitters and it's really hard to feel any kind of grounded positivity regarding the team's outlook. I mean, it's fairly common for talented players to turn around negative trends and bounce back from poor seasons. I'd bet on at least a couple of the above guys doing so. But in order to substantially improve on offense, Minnesota needs a TON of these wayward bats to round into form, and quickly. It feels like a stretch of the imagination at the moment, especially with their manager and hitting instruction group in total limbo.

At the same time, there's really not much choice but to stay committed to these players who've earned little on merit, because as a byproduct of their uninspiring performances, the Twins' current offensive assortment is almost bereft of trade value that would lend logic to a shakeup. 

When it comes to improving the offense, much like a majority of their hitters, the Twins are stuck in place.

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[Rik19753]

Tremendously depressing. I would be surprised to see another team in the MLB that has arrows pointing straight down for almost all of their players.

Making matters even more disappointing is that most of these players already had down years in 2024, so the expectation wasn't that high for this season to begin with. Julien, Miranda, Martin, Lee, Wallner and Royce all had seasons in 2024 that ranged from disappointing to disastrous.

 

 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Without being an article about the owners, front office or the managerial and coaching staff, this article points to failure from top to bottom in the Twins organization.  I am going to have to change my expectations for the Twins. It looks like many in the Twins organization just gave up for the second year in a row. . 

[dxpavelka]

7 minutes ago, Rik19753 said:

Tremendously depressing. I would be surprised to see another team in the MLB that has arrows pointing straight down for almost all of their players.

Making matters even more disappointing is that most of these players already had down years in 2024, so the expectation wasn't that high for this season to begin with. Julien, Miranda, Martin, Lee, Wallner and Royce all had seasons in 2024 that ranged from disappointing to disastrous.

 

 

No, but I'll be there are other major league teams whose fan bases feel this way.  

[dxpavelka]

James Rowson.  Hire him.  As hitting coach.

[Cory Engelhardt]

Gotta say, my enthusiasm wasn't tempered regarding Keaschall :)

[dxpavelka]

Calling ******** on your statement that Brooks Lee has no standout skills.  He can catch a baseball and throw it to first base.  The Twins haven't had many shortstops with that skill since Greg Gagne became a Royal.  Technically, Orlando Hudson & Luis Castillo could be considered to be in the mix but Hudson played one season here and do any Twins fans under the age of 35 even know who Castillo was? Other than that you've got Roy Smalley (more famous for being Gene Mauch's son-in-law and having been acquired in the Bert Blylevin trade than for his defensive chops) and Zoillo Versailles (been a while)

[mikelink45]

Regression in MLB for our prospects has been a trend in Rocco's years.  Whether him or the coaches it is a big failure.  Now we hope on Walker, Rodriguez, Gonzales but what are the expectations for them to continue to progress.  Wallner and Lewis and Julien and Miranda all had a decent start then the floor gave way.  

At least we can rely on the bullpen (sarcasm in case you wonder). 

[Reptevia]

Thank you Nick. This a reasoned and accurate summation of the current roster. 

[Doctor Wu]

Jhonny Pereda probably not a big-league player, and unlikely to stick around. Did hit a little bit in 30 at-bats though.

Sure, his time up with the Twins was brief, and he's already 29, but I think he showed enough that he COULD be the backup catcher we need for next season. And he already DID have some MLB experience before the Twins picked him up, so I wouldn't write him off just yet. 

[mike8791]

Nick, realistic summary of our offensive offense, but I draw a different conclusion.  Your analysis points to the necessity of trading one of our top of the rotation pitchers - either Lopez or Ryan - for a true cleanup hitter.  No, not a top prospect, but a young major leaguer(preferrably a 1B or DH) emerging as a 30HR/100RBI threat in 2026.  Such an acquisition, along with a medium-priced FA with 20-25HR/80 rbi history, could greatly ease the pressure on the rest of the lineup, especially young guys like Lee and Lewis(and maybe Wallner/Jeffers) who have demonstrated at least some ability in the past.  If one of our top prospects,e.g., Jenkins, ER, or GG also emerges, this offense could improve markedly.

Granted, this scenario is more hope than reality, but it is one path to contention that is feasible. Trade from strength(our rotation), rely on some improvement from guys like SWR, Mathews, Bradley, and/or Abel, and add a couple of veteran relievers and the window could open again.  I know, it's asking a lot of a FO who has Failed more than succeeded and ownership that just doesn't care, but it could happen even with the weaknesses you cite in your article.

[LA Vikes Fan]

I agree this is depressing, but I think you added some players that we really never expected to be long-term contributors like McCusker, Fitzgerald, Gaspar, and Kiersey. I also don’t think the organization was expecting a big turnaround from Julien and Outman was a complete crapshoot. Those guys were never “core“ guys. They are more like the typical 40 man flotsam every team has.I also don’t think it’s fair to say Martin has been disappointing given his last two months. He may actually turn into a core player. 

What makes this depressing is that the real core guys that we expected to be every day players were Wallner, Miranda, Lewis, and Lee, and they all disappeared. Those are the 4 real disasters that make one wonder if there is a core going forward to build around. 
 

 

[Whitey333]

Very nice well thought out article.  It sure points out a lot of problems with the organization.  Poor player development even down to the minors.  Players regressing is a huge concern.  Maybe they were over hyped like normal and just aren't that good.  Maybe it just reinforces what a failure Falvey and the front office has been.  It appears we may be in for a long haul of poor baseball.

[NYCTK]

59 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Calling ******** on your statement that Brooks Lee has no standout skills.  He can catch a baseball and throw it to first base.  The Twins haven't had many shortstops with that skill since Greg Gagne became a Royal.  Technically, Orlando Hudson & Luis Castillo could be considered to be in the mix but Hudson played one season here and do any Twins fans under the age of 35 even know who Castillo was? Other than that you've got Roy Smalley (more famous for being Gene Mauch's son-in-law and having been acquired in the Bert Blylevin trade than for his defensive chops) and Zoillo Versailles (been a while)

If you're an immobile statue it's not of much value to have a great glove. Brooks Lee is as slow as an up-the-middle defender can be, and that unfortunately extends to his range as a defender too.

But, he should be considered for the 2026 job, if not given it outright, seeing as the season is a repositioning year, letting the young talent settle into their roles and hoping the slew of young pitchers take a step forward. If he doesn't cut it at SS, he's a player that will be a MIF bench role player, still getting 80-100 starts a season. 

Looking forward to 2027, how many players currently on the 40 man roster do you want to see?

C:
C2: Pereda

1B: 
2B: Keaschall 
SS: Culpepper 
3B: Lewis
MIF: Lee

LF: Jenkins
CF: Rodriguez
RF: Buxton
OF: Roden

DH: Wallner
13M: Martin

 

This still looks like a weak team (with obvious holes) but holes that can be spackled. But like mike said, the needs are pretty large, and absolutely points to the Twins needing to trade a player like Ryan.

Not saying this is the best package it's the system I know and I think is close to a fair trade, but something like Ryan to the Mets for Jett Williams and Ryan Clifford. Moving Culpepper to 2B, Clifford to 1B, Keaschall to LF, Roden off the team and Rodriguez to the 4th OF role. 

Point being, Falvey needs to be very active in order to make this team an actual contender. 

 

[Parfigliano]

47 minutes ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I agree this is depressing, but I think you added some players that we really never expected to be long-term contributors like McCusker, Fitzgerald, Gaspar, and Kiersey. I also don’t think the organization was expecting a big turnaround from Julien and Outman was a complete crapshoot. Those guys were never “core“ guys. They are more like the typical 40 man flotsam every team has.I also don’t think it’s fair to say Martin has been disappointing given his last two months. He may actually turn into a core player. 

What makes this depressing is that the real core guys that we expected to be every day players were Wallner, Miranda, Lewis, and Lee, and they all disappeared. Those are the 4 real disasters that make one wonder if there is a core going forward to build around. 
 

 

There's a core it's rotted.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, dxpavelka said:

Calling ******** on your statement that Brooks Lee has no standout skills.  He can catch a baseball and throw it to first base.  The Twins haven't had many shortstops with that skill since Greg Gagne became a Royal.  Technically, Orlando Hudson & Luis Castillo could be considered to be in the mix but Hudson played one season here and do any Twins fans under the age of 35 even know who Castillo was? Other than that you've got Roy Smalley (more famous for being Gene Mauch's son-in-law and having been acquired in the Bert Blylevin trade than for his defensive chops) and Zoillo Versailles (been a while)

Lee is a below average middle-infield defender. Hudson and Castillo played 2B, not SS. I'd take Cristian Guzman over Lee.

[Cory Engelhardt]

3 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Lee is a below average middle-infield defender. Hudson and Castillo played 2B, not SS. I'd take Cristian Guzman over Lee.

Him coming into spring with back issues last year did not bode well for the upcoming season. Maybe what we saw in 2025 is what he is, but hopefully he can have a healthy offseason and then we see what he looks like in the spring. 

Also, they have to find the right coaching to get through to players. If players continue to regress with a new coaching staff then it's on the player no?

[DaveW44]

If all those players are on our 40 man roster there won’t be any problem making space for some more reclamation projects this winter. 

[DJL44]

2 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Him coming into spring with back issues last year did not bode well for the upcoming season. Maybe what we saw in 2025 is what he is, but hopefully he can have a healthy offseason and then we see what he looks like in the spring. 

Also, they have to find the right coaching to get through to players. If players continue to regress with a new coaching staff then it's on the player no?

You can hire a hundred coaches, but Brooks Lee will still be slow with limited range.

[EGFTShaw]

Played enough sports to know, just because you are good at one level, doesn't mean you are going to be good at the next level up.

BUT this trend and it has not been just this year and last year, is absolutely abysmal.

I can see some hitters flaming out, it's the nature of sports.  They are now going against pitchers, (even it is the 5th starter or a spot starter), that have been deemed good enough for their Cup of Coffee.

But this is an ugly trend that points to coaching. 
(Spoiler: Same with defense)

Scour the baseball landscape for a hitting coach who can, oh I don't know, IMPROVE our hitters.

I really think that the hitters need to be at least league average with the proper coaching.

 

[old nurse]

Developmental players, fill in players, change of scenery players, below average players and adjust, adapt and overcome players

Keaschall, Lee, Roden, Martin and Rodriguez are developmental players. Development is non linear has been a mantra here, except when it doesn’t fit the narrative. Lewis, Wallner, Miranda and Julian are slightly past that level. They could hit until the pitching adjusted.  They are the adjust and adapt stage. Doubtful for 2 of them.  Outman was a change of scenery guy. Great rookie campaign. Adjustments tried? Probably happened. Change of scenery? The team tried Roden out before Outman, so there is your expectation level.  Larnach has had up down alternating years.  Last year was the down cycle. Still a below average for a starter player.  The rest of the list with their amount of playing time is why league average is a useless stat. Nobody should consider these players as anything but fill in.  That is how they ended up on the roster.  

[Cory Engelhardt]

33 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

You can hire a hundred coaches, but Brooks Lee will still be slow with limited range.

That's probably true. I more meant that I hope his bat will be stronger next year than this year. But if that doesn't change, it's probable he is more destined for a utility role than a starter role

[David Maro]

The biggest problem here is that not everyone is a power hitter. There is other places to hit a baseball then over the fence. If you're lineup is hitting between 200-220 because they are all swinging for the fences you will loss games. With the infield shifts used there are big holes to get hits. Instead of swinging for the fences how about playing baseball and hit the other way. Watching this team leave bases loaded again and again without scoring was hard to watch. The worst thing to happen to Lewis was his 2023 grandslam run. He will never see again in his career. If you watched the Brewers loss to the Dodgers it's because they didn't play their game,they tried to play the Dodgers game and lost. The Yankees lost because they tried to beat the Jays by hitting more homeruns. Time to get back to playing baseball not just homerun.

[Coach Wheels]

2 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Without being an article about the owners, front office or the managerial and coaching staff, this article points to failure from top to bottom in the Twins organization.  I am going to have to change my expectations for the Twins. It looks like many in the Twins organization just gave up for the second year in a row. . 

Locks for the lineup in 2026 (my opinion):

Buxton, Keaschall, Lewis, Lee, Wallner, and Jeffers.

Jeffers can't be traded when you have zero options even close to him offensively. Wallner, hometown guy, gets more time; maybe at 1st base?

The rest are completely uninspiring, should I say less inspiring, and could be dealt. The roster isn't attractive and it's really depressing to dissect.

[mluebker]

30 minutes ago, old nurse said:

Developmental players, fill in players, change of scenery players, below average players and adjust, adapt and overcome players

Sounds like Falvey’s dream team and everyone else’s nightmare.

[mluebker]

28 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

You can hire a hundred coaches, but Brooks Lee will still be slow with limited range.

That's probably true. I more meant that I hope his bat will be stronger next year than this year. But if that doesn't change, it's probable he is more destined for a utility role than a starter role

Other than Buxton, is there anyone else on the roster who both hits and fields well enough to be an everyday player on a team that actually could contend? If there is, I’m not seeing him on that list.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

I don’t disagree with much in your article.  However, I might put in a middle ground between “good” and “bad”.  Jeffers, while not hitting as many HR’s was still an above average ML hitter (108 OPS+) and Wallner, while not living up to lofty expectations, was also a solid overall hitter (110 OPS+).  I think those two players can be counted on much more than the others on the naughty list.  

So at this point we have a black hole at 1B, a promising (although practically rookie) player at 2B, disappointments at SS and 3B.  Yikes!

[old nurse]

4 minutes ago, mluebker said:

Sounds like Falvey’s dream team and everyone else’s nightmare.

Sounds like someone is attributing opinions to someone without them ever being expressed by the person 

[jmlease1]

2 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

I agree this is depressing, but I think you added some players that we really never expected to be long-term contributors like McCusker, Fitzgerald, Gaspar, and Kiersey. I also don’t think the organization was expecting a big turnaround from Julien and Outman was a complete crapshoot. Those guys were never “core“ guys. They are more like the typical 40 man flotsam every team has.I also don’t think it’s fair to say Martin has been disappointing given his last two months. He may actually turn into a core player. 

What makes this depressing is that the real core guys that we expected to be every day players were Wallner, Miranda, Lewis, and Lee, and they all disappeared. Those are the 4 real disasters that make one wonder if there is a core going forward to build around. 
 

Yeah, I think the deck has been stacked a little here. What is a postseason waiver-wire claim in Kriedler doing here? He's not part of any core.

Roden had 12 games with us. was he bad? He surely was, but it's 12 games. He got here the equivalent of 20 minutes ago, and was hardly the key piece in the Varland deal.

The guys who were either looked at as being part of a core wave are/were: Julien, Wallner, Miranda, Lewis, Larnach, Lee, Buxton, Jeffers, Keaschall, and Martin. Clemens, Gasper, Fitzpatrick, Paredes, McCusker, Kiersey...these were fliers and waiver claims. Even if Clemens has turned back into a pumpkin, it's not like we've lost anything. Rodriguez hasn't played a game in MLB yet, what's he doing here?

There's plenty of worry and concern about the actually guys that matter without cherry-picking out everyone who didn't hit, or focusing only on the bad parts for every single player. Someone needed an editor here.

[DJL44]

36 minutes ago, mluebker said:

Other than Buxton, is there anyone else on the roster who both hits and fields well enough to be an everyday player on a team that actually could contend? If there is, I’m not seeing him on that list.

Lewis and Keaschall have shown flashes of potential. Jeffers is good enough to be the starting catcher on a playoff team.