The Twins Have Work To Do on Their Mess of a 40-Man Roster

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett, Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

The surest sign of a healthy competitive team is a constant 40-man crunch — when the roster is so laden with desirable talent that any decision to sign, claim or trade for a new player must be weighed heavily against the cost of losing quality talent that will be eagerly swooped up on waivers. 

The Twins have been in this type of position at times during the Derek Falvey era. They are far from it right now. 

Following a series of moves in recent days, Minnesota's 40-man roster is technically full, but it's not exactly brimming with quality. Particularly on the position-player side, it is staggering just how much of the roster is occupied by borderline (at best) major-league talents who are no longer young enough to offer meaningful upside. 

Of the 21 hitters currently on the 40-man roster, I would count a full third (7) in this category. Here's where each stands in the team's planning as we head into December:

Edouard Julien – Hasn't hit for two years and offers no defensive value. Julien is out of options next year and it's hard to see him making the roster barring injury or a huge spring. He seems to be merely keeping a spot warm, but at the same time, he's undeniably a tier above almost everyone else on this list in terms of proven track record.

James Outman – Similar to Julien in that he hit well in 2023 but hasn't since, and is beyond the post-hype phase approaching 30. He's more likely to stick around because he can play center (kinda) but it's highly questionable whether he belongs in the big leagues. The Dodgers' desire to clear him off their own 40-man roster played a role in the trade that sent Outman here for Brock Stewart.

Ryan Kreidler – Has appeared briefly in each of the past four seasons with the Tigers. Among players to receive 200 or more plate appearances during that span, he ranks 343rd out of 343 in OPS. The Twins recently got him off waivers from a fellow cellar-dweller in Pittsburgh. Sub-replacement level player.

Ryan Fitzgerald – A nice story and all, but there's a reason Fitzgerald was nearly 31 when he made his big-league debut for the Twins this past season. He flashed a bit in 50 plate appearances and I could envision him holding his own in a bench role, but again, we're talking about the definition of a fringe MLB talent here.

Mickey Gasper – Despite his success in Triple-A, he looked overmatched against major-league pitching at age 29, and he's a defensive non-factor aside from the ability to serve as an emergency catcher. Would any other team claim him off waivers? I find myself asking that about many of these guys. 

Jhonny Pereda – Another waiver pickup, added last July when the Twins needed catching depth. He rarely saw the field thereafter, though he spent a decent amount of time on the roster. Trading for Alex Jackson means Pereda's days are numbered.

Carson McCusker – Kind of stunning he is still on the 40-man roster after the Twins showed no interest in using him at all despite ample opportunity. Maybe some other team will think he's a big-leaguer but Minnesota made clear through their actions that they don't.

That's seven extremely fringe major-league talents occupying space on Minnesota's 40-man roster. All but one or two of these players would likely pass through waivers unclaimed. Not an ideal starting point for the offseason, especially considering that several other hitters I didn't name (Kody Clemens, Brooks Lee, Austin Martin, Alan Roden) are very much in doubt as MLB-caliber bats. 

But that's all this is: a starting point. Which brings us to the flip side. There's no shortage of room to add! 

The big question is how much they will. I would envision a couple of these roster spots going to newly acquired pitchers; they need more relievers and relative to the position-player side, there aren't many arms you'd want to part with among the 19 currently rostered. That will somewhat limit their ability to shake things up on the offensive end, but there's zero question that a shakeup is a needed.

You look at the current roster makeup and it's just structurally unsound. They have eight left-handed hitting outfielders. They have only a handful of hitters with any level of accomplishment in the major leagues. They have six pitchers with even modest experience in a major-league bullpen, and that includes Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl who have ERAs over five.

The front office has a lot of work to do, but still plenty of time to do it as the offseason gets underway in earnest. The Winter Meetings are in less than two weeks and that's often a catalyst for hot-stove action, though no one's really expecting the Twins to act quickly or aggressively.

I'm dubious they'll ultimately invest much at all in upgrading these spots, which is a bummer. But they've got to do something. Right now their 40-man roster is at capacity, filled with clutter and redundancy. Even through the scope of a non-competitive rebuilding team, which is the path they seem likely to follow, the makeup of the roster makes little sense at the moment.

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[bunsen82]

I fully agree with you the 40 man is cluttered with individuals who are not cutting it and I would be more than fine if we were to cut them.   There are a couple mentioned above I would be willing to give a little more run.  

1. Pereda - seems to be the ideal 3rd catcher.  Can keep him in AAA and bring him up if we have an injury.  The defense was solid and he made some good contact last year.  Yes he is older just like Jackson,  but that isn't the negative being a backup catcher.    

2. McCusker -  I am on the fence on.  Yes he struggled some last year.  But I would give him an equal chance to figuring it out compared to Roden.  Sometimes it takes some time to adjust to the tougher level,  sometimes they never figure it out.  

The rest I am fine with cutting for rule V, free agent signings or trades.  

For pitchers -  Adams, Ohl and maybe Raya. 

So ultimately I do see us having the ability to chop about another 4-7 players from the 40 man.  

[IndianaTwin]

I'd agree with you on this batch of seven. My DFA order would be McCusker, Kreidler, Fitzgerald, Gasper, Julien, Outman and Pereda as needed.

 

I assume your roster is four columns by 11 lines in order to accommodate the current roster, but it looks like filling the three reliever blanks would be a good fit! Let's start with McCusker for Coulombe. 

[DJL44]

Quote

They have eight left-handed hitting outfielders.

And that doesn't count Walker Jenkins, who will need a spot next summer. Thank goodness they cut Keirsey. They also have 3 RH hitting OF and two more in the upper minors (Rosario and Fedko). They don't need 14 outfielders.

3 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

Pereda - seems to be the ideal 3rd catcher.  Can keep him in AAA and bring him up if we have an injury.  The defense was solid and he made some good contact last year.

Pereda seems to be able to hit and throw but struggled to actually catch the ball.

You didn't even get into the marginal players like Kody Clemens, Austin Jackson and Eric Orze who were recently acquired for nothing or next to nothing.

[baul0010]

I was already depressed because of the snow.  Then I read this.

[nicksaviking]

Agree except I'd count nine fringe (very generous word) players, not seven. Kody Clemens for sure is fringe and unless we buy 100 plate appearances for a 30-year-old journeyman catcher, the newly acquired Alex Jackson is the definition of a fringe player.

And it's frustrating, this is a rebuilding team and these are not young players. By all rights, this team shouldn't be rostering any of these nine. 

[bunsen82]

21 minutes ago, baul0010 said:

I was already depressed because of the snow.  Then I read this.

No snow for us yet,  but talk of potentially 8-12 inches this weekend.  

[Reptevia]

There’s at least 11 position players that would likely easily make it through waivers. Buxton, Jeffers (😬) and Lewis (😳) and maybe Wallner are the only real MLB locks. Just about anyone else (minus a few rookies who haven’t burned their bridges yet) would struggle to remain on any average to good team’s 26. Then the pitching 🙄. Given the way things are shaping up, it looks more and more likely that Lopez, Ryan and maybe Ober are going to be salary sacrifices. As long as they take Falvey with them…

[Cory Engelhardt]

All of this tells me there will be a LOT to come this offseason. Moves are definitely coming. 

[IndianaTwin]

5 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

All of this tells me there will be a LOT to come this offseason. Moves are definitely coming. 

Implied here seems to be the encouragement for folks to not get their collective shorts in a wad when not every need has been addressed by the end of the winter meetings.  

[rdehring]

Very interesting report, Nick.

When they added the 40-man guys the other day I took a look at the roster.  Was pleasantly surprised when looking at the pitchers that there weren't any of the 19 who were guys who clearly didn't belong.  The only problem I also noted was that 19 was a couple pitchers too few.

With the winter meetings ahead, will be interesting seeing how many of the seven you mentioned are with the Twins come the opening of spring training.  If it is most, booooo!  Like others, I see a couple who have a reason to stick.  But at least five of those guys should be long gone.  There area a couple not mentioned who should also be moved.  Hopefully, for something of value in return.

Did anyone else notice yesterday's trade of Sonny Gray to Boston?  Guess that takes one landing spot away for a potential Ryan trade.  Or does it?  Must admit it didn't seem like a top return for the Cards.  Is Gray viewed as being on the back end of his career?

[Cory Engelhardt]

5 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Implied here seems to be the encouragement for folks to not get their collective shorts in a wad when not every need has been addressed by the end of the winter meetings.  

Agreed. Moves for them will very much go into January and February. LOTS of moves will happen, it just has to

[nicksaviking]

11 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

All of this tells me there will be a LOT to come this offseason. Moves are definitely coming. 

I hope so, but with no ownership resolution yet, the expiring CBA, and the existing owners historically being reactive instead of proactive, my initial take on this offseason was the Twins would most likely be sitting on their hands.

[Cory Engelhardt]

3 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I hope so, but with no ownership resolution yet, the expiring CBA, and the existing owners historically being reactive instead of proactive, my initial take on this offseason was the Twins would most likely be sitting on their hands.

Maybe. But at the same time, we saw at the 2025 trade deadline the front office made a LOT of moves in a quick amount of time. They have the ability to make a number of moves, and once the minority owners are clarified, I would imagine a number of moves will happen between then and spring training starting. Minimum, a 1b/dh, 2-3 outside relievers and probably another trade or two at minimum.

[IndianaTwin]

3 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Agreed. Moves for them will very much go into January and February. LOTS of moves will happen, it just has to

 

2 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I hope so, but with no ownership resolution yet, the expiring CBA, and the existing owners historically being reactive instead of proactive, my initial take on this offseason was the Twins would most likely be sitting on their hands.

All in all, this FO seems to make a higher than average number of moves. I hope that's the case again. I think the challenge (both for the FO and for fans' patience) is that most of the moves are likely to be what I call needle-nudgers rather than big splashes. Signing Orze and trading someone with little chance of playing for a potential backup catcher in Jackson are both needle-nudgers. 

[Nashvilletwin]

Thanks Nick for laying things out so clearly.

This article demonstrates quite definitively why it makes absolutely no sense to run it back this year with Lopez and Ryan.  There just aren’t enough good players and there isn’t any money or trade capital (other than Buxton) to bring in new ones.  There is zero reason to waste the highest value Ryan and Lopez will ever have while they run out the clock on their time with the Twins.

The TDers hoping to compete in ‘26 with this roster are dreaming.  There is exactly one above average major leaguer on this roster when healthy (Buxton).  And exactly one average major leaguer at best (Jeffers - who only has one year left with the club). The best of the rest (Lewis, Wallner, Keaschall, Martin, Lee) are (generously) at best currently fringe major leaguers, albeit with possibly some upside potential.

Just go all in on the rebuild.  That’s really the only option if this team has any chance to compete post the lock-out when Ryan, Lopez, Jeffers and likely Buxton are all gone anyway.  

[IndianaTwin]

2 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Maybe. But at the same time, we saw at the 2025 trade deadline the front office made a LOT of moves in a quick amount of time. They have the ability to make a number of moves, and once the minority owners are clarified, I would imagine a number of moves will happen between then and spring training starting. Minimum, a 1b/dh, 2-3 outside relievers and probably another trade or two at minimum.

Overall, they've cast themselves with youth, which I think is the right call. If the youth don't come through, signing Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso wouldn't be enough to put them over the edge. But if the youth do come through, a Santana-level 1B along with 2-3 Coulombe-level relievers would go a long way in shoring up the gaps you've named. 

[old nurse]

In the last seven days there have been 2 articles on who is available for rule 5 draft, one on who has been DFAd, one on non tendered relievers, one on non tendered starters, and 2 on non tendered bats. So far that means the Twins Daily writers must see the solution to what Nick brings up is more of the same. Somewhere Kafka is laughing 

[Cory Engelhardt]

4 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

Overall, they've cast themselves with youth, which I think is the right call. If the youth don't come through, signing Kyle Tucker and Pete Alonso wouldn't be enough to put them over the edge. But if the youth do come through, a Santana-level 1B along with 2-3 Coulombe-level relievers would go a long way in shoring up the gaps you've named. 

My hope is a deal with Boston for Tristan Casas. They may need to look to move him anyway, and I think he has it in him to be a good player. Could even be more of a DH, but with health he has the type of bat to be a middle of the order bat. 

[IndianaTwin]

5 minutes ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Thanks Nick for laying things out so clearly.

This article demonstrates quite definitively why it makes absolutely no sense to run it back this year with Lopez and Ryan.  There just aren’t enough good players and there isn’t any money or trade capital (other than Buxton) to bring in new ones.  There is zero reason to waste the highest value Ryan and Lopez will ever have while they run out the clock on their time with the Twins.

The TDers hoping to compete in ‘26 with this roster are dreaming.  There is exactly one above average major leaguer on this roster when healthy (Buxton).  And exactly one average major leaguer at best (Jeffers - who only has one year left with the club). The best of the rest (Lewis, Wallner, Keaschall, Martin, Lee) are (generously) at best currently fringe major leaguers, albeit with possibly some upside potential.

Just go all in on the rebuild.  That’s really the only option if this team has any chance to compete post the lock-out when Ryan, Lopez, Jeffers and likely Buxton are all gone anyway.  

I get what you're saying, but...

To be competitive I think you need to have a couple studs amongst your young guys. You have the studs in place in Ryan, Lopez, Buxton. Trading them and Jeffers gives you more prospects, but you then have to assume that several of the prospects are going to become the studs. If you're going to assume that several of the prospects are going to become studs, you might as well pair them with the existing studs you have. 

I would listen to offers on Ryan and Lopez (and only trade one), but I'm only trading them for two players already in the majors. I'm not sure other teams will offer that. 

You can say that I'm a dreamer...

[Cory Engelhardt]

Just now, IndianaTwin said:

I get what you're saying, but...

To be competitive I think you need to have a couple studs amongst your young guys. You have the studs in place in Ryan, Lopez, Buxton. Trading them and Jeffers gives you more prospects, but you then have to assume that several of the prospects are going to become the studs. If you're going to assume that several of the prospects are going to become studs, you might as well pair them with the existing studs you have. 

I would listen to offers on Ryan and Lopez (and only trade one), but I'm only trading them for two players already in the majors. I'm not sure other teams will offer that. 

You can say that I'm a dreamer...

I do think now is the time to very much listen on Ryan. Height of his trade value, team control and you move him if you do get a HAUL.

But yeah, you have to get back current help for him. Either 2 major leaguers, or one core hitter and one high upside arm or 2 is what I would need.

[IndianaTwin]

7 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

My hope is a deal with Boston for Tristan Casas. They may need to look to move him anyway, and I think he has it in him to be a good player. Could even be more of a DH, but with health he has the type of bat to be a middle of the order bat. 

In my previous post, the example that I considered using was Ryan or Lopez for Casas and a position player (Mayer?). 

(When you get the GM job, can I be your assistant? We seem to be on the same page.)

[Mike Sixel]

9 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

My hope is a deal with Boston for Tristan Casas. They may need to look to move him anyway, and I think he has it in him to be a good player. Could even be more of a DH, but with health he has the type of bat to be a middle of the order bat. 

Blech. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

2 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

In my previous post, the example that I considered using was Ryan or Lopez for Casas and a position player (Mayer?). 

(When you get the GM job, can I be your assistant? We seem to be on the same page.)

See, I'd very much be open to Casas and Mayer, especially if they don't see Brooks Lee as the guy at SS. That seems inevitable. 

I would VERY much be open to the GM job IF it can just be about 6 hours per week and only in a message board :)

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Blech. 

Just look at his 2023. That is a middle of the order type bat.

I'd very much rather make a play for him compared to say mid 30's year old free agent. 

 

[nicksaviking]

14 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

My hope is a deal with Boston for Tristan Casas. They may need to look to move him anyway, and I think he has it in him to be a good player. Could even be more of a DH, but with health he has the type of bat to be a middle of the order bat. 

Casas and Wallner? Half the board already wants Wallner off the roster and I'd argue Wallner is a much better hitter than Casas, while nobody likes the defense either offers.

[Mike Sixel]

4 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Just look at his 2023. That is a middle of the order type bat.

I'd very much rather make a play for him compared to say mid 30's year old free agent. 

 

And 24 and 25? Sure,I have no interest in old guys at all ... But there are other options. 

[IndianaTwin]

6 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Just look at his 2023. That is a middle of the order type bat.

I'd very much rather make a play for him compared to say mid 30's year old free agent. 

 

And the 2024 he was off to before injury. He had a 124 OPS+ and was on pace for 33 HR, etc. He's not quite 26 yet. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

3 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Casas and Wallner? Half the board already wants Wallner off the roster and I'd argue Wallner is a much better hitter than Casas, while nobody likes the defense either offers.

I'd rather have Casas at 1b/DH (more DH maybe?) than I would Wallner at RF/DH. Just my opinion. But really, let's say Rodriguez or Jenkins or Roden all show they are better defensive options in the outfield than Wallner is. Then the question (nothing to say about Casas at all) is Wallner truly a core guy in 2027 ongoing?

But yeah, I don't know that I see both of them here and that working. I agree with that.

[Cory Engelhardt]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

And 24 and 25? Sure,I have no interest in old guys at all ... But there are other options. 

There are, that's true. But via trade he won't cost all that much comparatively.