The Top Minnesota Twins Player Assets of 2026: Part 3 (6-10)

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Jerome Miron, Bill Streicher, Matt Blewett - Imagn Images

Here at the start of 2026, we're taking stock of talent in the Twins organization by ranking their top 20 player assets. Went over the ground rules in our introductory post from Monday, but the short version is this: We're trying to answer the question, "Which current players in the organization are most indispensable to fulfilling the vision of building a champion?"

Check out Monday's and Tuesday's posts for breakdowns of each player, but here's a quick glance at the list so far:

• 20. Marek Houston, SS
• 19. Ryan Jeffers, C
• 18. Brooks Lee, SS
• 17. Bailey Ober, RHP
• 16. Connor Prielipp, LHP
• 15. David Festa, RHP
• 14. Eduardo Tait, C
• 13. Royce Lewis, 3B
• 12. Matt Wallner, RF
• 11. Zebby Matthews, RHP

Now we dive into the top 10 with an overview of my picks for the 6th through 10th most essential players to the outlook of the Minnesota Twins.

The Top 20 Twins Player Assets of 2026: 6-10

10. Taj Bradley, RHP
Age: 24
Controlled through: 2029
2025 Ranking: NR

The Twins acquired Bradley at the trade deadline as a distressed asset. If a Tampa Bay Rays blogger were putting together a list similar to this one for their org, Bradley would've previously been near the very top of the rankings for many years in a row. He was one of the very best pitching prospects in baseball, and the fact that he has already made 73 major-league starts before turning 25 says a lot about how he's viewed.

But, so does the fact he was demoted to Triple-A when Minnesota got him last July. Bradley just hasn't been good. The high-end stuff is there, the durability is there, and it's really not hard to envision him as a frontline starter, but the breakthrough hasn't come. Bradley has a career 85 ERA+ and a mediocre 4.38 FIP to match. He got knocked around for a 6.61 ERA in his first six starts as a Twin. 

With four more years of team control remaining, there's still plenty of time to figure it out, and he would seemingly have a pretty safe fallback as a quality reliever – likely a big part of the Twins' reasoning when they dealt two years of Griffin Jax for him. I had Jax ranked in the exact same spot last year (10th) some form that perspective its a very even value swap for the Twins.

 

9. Mick Abel, RHP
Age: 24
Controlled through: 2031
2025 Ranking: NR

Abel is altogether pretty similar to Bradley: promising young righty arm, acquired at the deadline in exchange for a top reliever, and valued for his upside and team control. On the latter front, Abel still has at least six full years remaining, as he has barely started his MLB service clock. 

Like Bradley, Abel has multiple plus pitches and the potential to pan out as a frontline starter, even if a mid-rotation or bullpen role is ultimately more likely. While his first foray into the majors in 2025 was rocky overall (6.23 ERA), he showed what he's capable of in his first start for Philly and his final start for Minnesota – 6 IP, 0 R, 9 K in each. 

Abel won't even reach arbitration until 2029 at the earliest. It's easy to see why the rebuilding Twins were swayed to trade Jhoan Duran when getting him alongside Eduardo Tait (ranked #14 on this list).

 

8. Byron Buxton, OF
Age: 32
Controlled through: 2028
2025 Ranking: NR

Once a mainstay at the top of these rankings, Buxton has struggled to crack the top 20 in recent years, with relentless injuries and a sizable (albeit reasonable) contract keeping his asset value in check. There are still factors weighing him down in this exercise: he just turned 32 as a player whose game is highly dependent on premium athleticism, and his history of unavailability remains. 

But Buxton is coming off a career-best season that offered more reason for optimism around his health outlook than we've ever really had. He's feeling good enough to join Team USA for the World Baseball Classic, which would've been an absurd proposition not long ago. In the short term, Buxton is without question one of the most important players to the Twins' fortunes, but they do have another star center fielder on the rise as Buck reaches his mid-30s. 

 

7. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF
Age: 22
Controlled thorough: 2031+
2025 Ranking: 7

As I internally debated where to put players in these rankings, Buxton versus Rodriguez was a tricky dichotomy. Looking at the big picture for a semi-rebuilding team facing payroll constraints, how do you compare the proven All-Star, who's aging into his mid-30s and making $45 million over three more years, to the 22-year-old top-tier prospect on the verge of his major-league debut? 

In some ways, placing Rodriguez one spot higher feels like falling into the trap of "shiny new object" fixation. But that also undersells how special of a talent he is. (And, more practically, the value of three extra years of control at league minimum). 

Rodriguez has a unique, extreme skill-set that gives his MLB outlook a lot of variance. There's a fair chance of stardom, and a fair chance of not making enough contact to stick at all. His first exposure to Triple-A in 2025 was fairly underwhelming but he did post an OBP over .400, as he's done everywhere. Rodriguez needs to overcome the injury bug (sound familiar?) and has some aspects of his game to solve, but time is very much on his side.

 

6. Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP
Age: 25
Controlled through: 2030
2025 Ranking: 19

Woods Richardson is one of those guys who often gets talked about as underrated. Well I'm not going to underrate him anymore. This is a borderline top-five asset in the organization, and a case study in gradual, steady improvement.

I've talked about the value of controllable young starting pitching, and how that element pushed names like Abel and Bradley into the top 10. Woods Richardson doesn't have the upper-90s fastball or gaudy strikeout rates of those two. The ceiling is not as high at a glance. What he does have is a well-established track record of consistently solid MLB performance over the past two years. The dude can just pitch.

He was only picking up steam toward the end of 2025, posting a 2.33 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 27 September innings. There are hints of a #2 or #3 starter in there, especially if he can unlock just a bit more velocity. I think we'd all be talking more about last season as another major step forward for Woods Richardson if not for the unfortunate battle with a stomach issue that cost him much of the second half. 

 

We've almost reached the end of the list. Share your thoughts about the rankings so far in the comments and circle back tomorrow morning when we wrap up with the top five.

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[jmlease1]

I've been a big fan of SWR, who keeps getting the job done even when other shiny new objects don't. Yes, they've protected him to some extent, and he hasn't shown the highest end upside...but dude keeps working, keeps battling, and keeps performing. To me, he's earned the 4th spot in the rotation as things stand, and it's part of why the Twins rotation depth really does look so good.

Bradley is a guy I don't know how to rate. He can look so good, and then look so bad. The consistency isn't there and if he finds it, he's a weapon. If he doesn't, he's heading to the bullpen. How long is the rope, especially with him out of options?

Rodriguez needs to play. While I generally approve of raising the floor on the MLB club (you really can add quite a few wins by giving more ABs and innings to average/ok players rather than flat-out bad ones), it also closes off opportunities for unproven guys, and with all of the young players with higher upside in the OF, I'd like for there to be a real opportunity for one or more of them to actually play, and Emma should be one of them.

[Eris]

Emmanuel Rodriguez is an interesting prospect. His stats have a lot of similarities with 3 time AL MVP Aaron Judge. There a difference in K%. Judge averaged 25% SO in his MiLB career whereas ERodriguez has averaged 30% across his minor league career. It took Judge 6 seasons to get his MLB SO rate down to his minor league average. 

[bean5302]

SWR, front line starter! I don't think I've ever heard such a bullish take on the pitcher. Certainly not since he reached AAA several years ago. While SWR did have a great finish to the season, it came with an average exit velocity against him of 92mph (terrible), a 9% barrel rate (terrible) and a 40% hard hit rate (from Statcast, terrible) yet with a miserly .152 BABIP against. He did dramatically increase his K rates, and that's a positive, but he's flashed K rates before. With a track record of over 50 starts as a barely adequate #5 with uninspiring peripherals under his belt, it'll take a lot more than 3-4 lucky games chained together to get me on board. Especially given his history of seemingly having conditioning issues and being difficult to coach.

Emma is a reach in the top 10 at this point as well.

[tony&rodney]

The Twins only have one position player of absolute certainty, which makes me believe Byron Buxton belongs at the top of the list. Likewise only Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan rate highly among the pitchers. These lists are always interesting and fun with some thoughtful words attached to the players. I have no quibble with the posts or the order. I am just identifying the obvious 3 true MLB players on the roster who would fit in on any club. 

Looking at organizational players over a five year span likely puts Walker Jenkins, the #3 draft pick in July of 2026, potentially the #1 pick in July of 2027, Kaelen Culpepper, and Luke Keaschall at the top of the lists.

[sweetmusicviola16]

Bradley? Simply no, period. If Bradley is top 10 it shows just how far this franchise has fallen.

Abel? Too high also. Could be switched out with anybody 11-20 imo. Rodriguez. I've long been a fan. But reality is starting to show through.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

An interesting and fun article to read each year. However I expect is is a tough article to write. Thanks Nick. 

[mikelink45]

These lists are always a good place for discussion and debate. Might be take away is that so far THIS IS NOT A ROSTER that looks like a winner. At least not this year.

 

[rdehring]

This exercise is getting more interesting as we approach the finish line.  Thanks Nick.

Really like this group, although am a bit surprised that both of the young starters made the Top 10.  As Rodney Dangerfield once said in Back to School, I may be living in fantasy land as I remain hopeful that one of the two becomes a top starter for the Twins.  Heck, maybe even an ACE.

Like most I don't think of SWR as a front-line starter.  Yet, his results game after game give the Twins a W or real shot at getting the W.  Question?  Is he somewhat comparable to Brad Radke?  I recall that Radke was never considered a true Ace, yet he was very solid as the Twins #1.

 

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

SWR, front line starter! I don't think I've ever heard such a bullish take on the pitcher. Certainly not since he reached AAA several years ago. While SWR did have a great finish to the season, it came with an average exit velocity against him of 92mph (terrible), a 9% barrel rate (terrible) and a 40% hard hit rate (from Statcast, terrible) yet with a miserly .152 BABIP against. He did dramatically increase his K rates, and that's a positive, but he's flashed K rates before. With a track record of over 50 starts as a barely adequate #5 with uninspiring peripherals under his belt, it'll take a lot more than 3-4 lucky games chained together to get me on board. Especially given his history of seemingly having conditioning issues and being difficult to coach.

Can you cite something on SWR having conditioning issues or being hard to coach? Because I don't recall that. 

And if SWR is "barely adequate" as a #5 after his actual performance the last 2 seasons, I would like to know what your standard is for a #5? Cle & Det would have killed to have SWR as their #5 last season.

[sweetmusicviola16]

5 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Can you cite something on SWR having conditioning issues or being hard to coach? Because I don't recall that. 

And if SWR is "barely adequate" as a #5 after his actual performance the last 2 seasons, I would like to know what your standard is for a #5? Cle & Det would have killed to have SWR as their #5 last season.

Calling Richardson a hint of a #2 SP is also a far overreach. 

[thelanges5]

I like the rotation and depth, bullpen needs 2-3 outside adds, position players are a bit of a mess. Hard to put the puzzle together with the wrong pieces. Still time until ST so I expect some moves are coming. 

[David HK]

Well, this is cool. 

I didn't know there were 10 assets left. 

[LastOnePicked]

Every team covets and protects MLB-ready starters with frontline potential. I'm just very skeptical about Abel and Bradley. I think their respective teams had seen enough to know they weren't losing much.

If the Twins have some kind of magic formula for refurbishing young starters, great. Maybe they just need additional guidance and confidence. It will be hard to build that confidence with the league's worst defense behind them, though.

[arby58]

1 hour ago, mikelink45 said:

These lists are always a good place for discussion and debate. Might be take away is that so far THIS IS NOT A ROSTER that looks like a winner. At least not this year.

That it's not a 'this year' roster is the point of assigning value to assets for their useful life, not their current value. Obviously, if we were talking current value as an MLB player, Walker Jenkins would have already been on the list (and current MLB players like Ryan Jeffers and Bailey Ober wouldn't be trailing the likes of Bradley or Emma).

[arby58]

My guess is the 'final five' are 1. Jenkins 2. Ryan 3. Keaschall 4. Culpepper 5. Lopez.  I'm pretty sure of the 'top 2' and the other three are somewhat interchangeable. 

In some other posts, I've compared this list to that generated by the Baseball Trade Value Simulator. By far the biggest outlier (in terms of this list having higher value than the trade simulator) is SWR - they don't have him in their top 20 Twins trade assets (although I think they have him too low). Assuming Lopez is in the top 5, he is also more highly valued than the simulator, which ranks him 15th. Same with Culpepper, who they rank 14th. I tend to agree with the higher value for Culpepper and am not sure about Lopez.

On the flip side, it gives much higher value to Lee (5 vs. 18) and Bradley (4 vs. 10). I'm not sold on Lee, but Bradley is intriguing.

As I said elsewhere, this is all subjective, and only time will tell. It would be an interesting look-back exercise in three or four years.

[amjgt]

The only thing I really take issue with here is Bradley at 10. If he still had all 6 years of team control, maybe, but he only has 4 years left. Having Abel only 1 spot better than him with his 6+ years of control, and in my opinion a more likely path the SP success, seems out of balance.

Also, was Buxton really NR on your 2025 list, or is that a typo?

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

Its nice to Woods Richardson finally getting some well deserved credit. He's constantly down played or said to not have a firm hold on a rotation spot. He's put up consistent results as a solid pitcher in a decent rotation. 

[Nick Nelson]

56 minutes ago, LastOnePicked said:

Every team covets and protects MLB-ready starters with frontline potential. I'm just very skeptical about Abel and Bradley. I think their respective teams had seen enough to know they weren't losing much.

If the Twins have some kind of magic formula for refurbishing young starters, great. Maybe they just need additional guidance and confidence. It will be hard to build that confidence with the league's worst defense behind them, though.

Your last point here is super valid and probably one that deserves more attention/discussion. But I guess it underscores the value of Bradley and Abel being (theoretically) high-strikeout pitchers.

[Fire Dan Gladden]

2 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins only have one position player of absolute certainty, which makes me believe Byron Buxton belongs at the top of the list. Likewise only Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan rate highly among the pitchers. These lists are always interesting and fun with some thoughtful words attached to the players. I have no quibble with the posts or the order. I am just identifying the obvious 3 true MLB players on the roster who would fit in on any club. 

 

Apologies, but if you are saying that the Twins only have 3 players that would definitely play on any other MLB team, that is an absurd statement. Any team in baseball would take Jeffers. Outside of LA, any team would take Ober, Wallner, and Sands on their roster. There are strong arguments to be made for others (Bell, Keaschell, SWR, Lewis)

Do not disregard players because they are not upper-tier.

[Nick Nelson]

3 hours ago, bean5302 said:

SWR, front line starter! I don't think I've ever heard such a bullish take on the pitcher. Certainly not since he reached AAA several years ago.

I don't know if seeing "hints of a #2 or #3" is the same as calling him a frontline starter, but I realize I am probably out on a limb in rating SWR this high. 

When I'm trying to compile these rankings, I challenge myself to weigh certainty and track record against upside and potential. No one would blink at saying Bradley or Abel have frontline potential, but at the same time ... they're almost the same age as SWR and have both accomplished far less in the majors. A 2.4 bWAR from a 24-year-old is really good and really promising! 

Every one of the pitchers in these rankings, sans Ryan and Lopez, has improvements to make in order to become a high-quality MLB starter. The way I see it, Woods Richardson has less ground to make up than anyone else, and with five remaining years of control he's got plenty of time to reach that level and hopefully sustain.

[Nick Nelson]

56 minutes ago, amjgt said:

The only thing I really take issue with here is Bradley at 10. If he still had all 6 years of team control, maybe, but he only has 4 years left. Having Abel only 1 spot better than him with his 6+ years of control, and in my opinion a more likely path the SP success, seems out of balance.

Also, was Buxton really NR on your 2025 list, or is that a typo?

Fair enough on Bradley and Abel. Much of it comes down to: I have almost no doubt Bradley can be a good back-end reliever (which the Twins now badly need). Abel still needs to prove he's a big-leaguer. I also look at the way these guys were objectively valued in the trade market -- Abel came alongside another top-20 asset in Tait, while Bradley was a standalone. Is the gap between Duran's and Jax's value really that huge? (To be clear though, I thought the Duran trade was very good and the Jax trade was very bad.) 

Re: Buxton. He was not on the 2025 list, mainly as a carryover from his value bottoming out the previous year and still not showing in 2024 that he could stay particularly healthy. But yes, I was sort of kicking myself for not including him at the time and in retrospect it just looks silly. 

[Brandon]

Marcus Stroman is the comp for SWR.  Stroman has 8 seasons of #3 starter stats.  From what I understand they both throw similar stuff.  I could be wrong, but I see SWR as a longer term Ober before last season and without the injuries.

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

Every team covets and protects MLB-ready starters with frontline potential. I'm just very skeptical about Abel and Bradley. I think their respective teams had seen enough to know they weren't losing much.

If the Twins have some kind of magic formula for refurbishing young starters, great. Maybe they just need additional guidance and confidence. It will be hard to build that confidence with the league's worst defense behind them, though.

I'm far more skeptical of Bradley... the guy has gotten 3 years to start in the majors and the Rays couldn't figure out how to coax better play out of him and moved on when he still had 4 years of control left for two years of a [more expensive] reliever. Seems like he is a mediocre starter and if any organization were to unlock him, it would be the Rays. Maybe his best fit will be as a reliever but I don't expect to see him in the pen until he has failed out of the rotation.

Abel has only 40 major league innings under his belt compared to Bradley's 385, I am much higher on his upside. And from the Phillies' perspective, they moved him for one of the best relievers in baseball and still held onto their best starting prospect. Feels to me less like the Phillies giving up on Abel and more that they are trading from an abundance of options in their rotation.

[Brandon]

These lists are subjective and fun to compile and nitpick.  I still have Buxton higher on the list because he will still be valuable when he shifts to a corner OF spot and is likely to resign here at a reasonable price if the Twins are smart enough to keep him as a one team player..  I know you don't count extension potential in these rankings but Buxton will likely stay or want to stay if we are competitive at the end of his contract.  

Bradley, Abel, Dasan Hill who is probably on the next list and SWR it will be key for the Twins to develop an elite rotation.  Ranking these pitchers on potential ina ranking like this is not an exact science.  

Another fun ranking would be key player metrics for us to compete countdown.  Like Buxton starting 110 games in CF and 30 at DH or Bell hitting 30 HRs and Lopez and Ryan throwing 180 innings each...... Keaschal hitting .290+ average with 15 HRs

 

[amjgt]

40 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Abel has only 40 major league innings under his belt compared to Bradley's 385, I am much higher on his upside. And from the Phillies' perspective, they moved him for one of the best relievers in baseball and still held onto their best starting prospect. Feels to me less like the Phillies giving up on Abel and more that they are trading from an abundance of options in their rotation.

re: Phillies
And a GM that has no issue trading good prospects for elite MLB players. Dombrowski, perhaps more than any other PoBO/GM sees prospects as trade chips over an MLB pipeline of talent.

[bean5302]

2 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

Can you cite something on SWR having conditioning issues or being hard to coach? Because I don't recall that. 

And if SWR is "barely adequate" as a #5 after his actual performance the last 2 seasons, I would like to know what your standard is for a #5? Cle & Det would have killed to have SWR as their #5 last season.

It's circumstantial, but there are what I consider to be supportive of my position. 

First is in regard to his conditioning. SWR has demonstrated his endurance is lacking. He gets pulled after 4-5 innings regularly, often with a velocity drop corresponding with about 80 pitches thrown. It's often cited how SWR wore down late in the year in 2024 after 112.1 innings in the big show (125.2 IP on the season including MiLB) with a 2mph drop off for his average FB in his final 5 starts vs his previous 5. Last season, he also showed reduced velocity at the tail end. His 6 starts prior to his demotion to AAA in July averaged 93.7mph on the fastball. Despite the sparkly ERA, his velo was down to 92.8mph over his last 6 starts coming back to the big show to finish the season out.

Second is his coachability. The Twins coaches had apparently given up on him in 2023. For 2 years there were comments from the front office and coaches about SWR's inability to repeat his mechanics and adjust. He looked absolutely cooked and he was down to his last chance coming into 2024. SWR had to go to the coaches to seek help and almost overnight, once he finally was willing to listen, his mechanics got better and he picked up 3-4mph of velo going from wash out to legitimate rotation prospect. SWR continued to struggle a bit with repeating his mechanics throughout the 2024 campaign, but that's only natural considering the lack of experience with the effort.

Barely adequate. A 4.55 xFIP in 2024, 2 demotions to AAA due to performance problems last year (5/14, 7/28) and a 4.71 xFIP on the 2025 season while averaging just 4.2 IP per start. That's barely adequate in my book.

I don't see him as a legit desired rotation option for a playoff caliber team going forward. Do other teams have worse pitchers in their rotation? Sure. Do they WANT those worse pitchers in the rotation? Absolutely not.

[ashbury]

With E-Rod, I thought the question about Walks would have been settled by now, but it still is a giant X-factor. 

In 2025 he walked in 21% of his plate appearances at St Paul. Nobody in the majors walked even 20% of the time, and the two who came closest are bona fide superstar hitters, Judge and Soto.  Is Rodriguez perhaps in their class?  He sure doesn't homer at the rate those two do.  Interestingly, both of these two potential comps walked at a much lower rate when in the minors, so it;'s not as close of a template to follow as one might think.  Rodriguez had even higher walk rates in the lower minors, hard as that is to believe - video game numbers of 29% at single-A Ft Myers.

The guy I know of who did have similar BB% in the minors is our own Edouard Julien. That's a bit of a cautionary tale; Eddie met with success in his first taste of the majors but then pitch selectivity seemed to go haywire for him.

A related X factor for any high-BB prospect is the coming of the challenge system at the major league level.  Maybe Julien will turn things around at the plate if he now has permission to tell the ump, "uh uh, you're squeezing me."  Maybe Rodriguez will benefit from this, from the git-go, and not have to deal with any psychological issues of failure.

What I keep coming back to for Rodriguez is the following question: given that no one walks at the rate he does in the majors, what happens to the portion of the plate appearances where the walks surely go away?  They turn into something else, but what?  Strikeouts looking because major league pitchers are just better and the risk he takes looking at a close two-strike pitch is no longer a winning bet?  Strikeouts swinging because he gets into unfavorable counts more often than before?  Base hits because the major league pitchers are coming in with strikes more often and his patience actually pays off?  Home runs, same logic?  Or merely weak fly balls and ground outs, where he's trading walks for contact but it's on the pitcher's terms?  

I honestly don't know what to expect from him.  I'll say this, though: the batting average of .258 this past season at AAA doesn't quite line up with what should be an elite eye for spitting on pitches outside the strike zone.  And he already strikes out a lot. 

The potential for "bust" is pretty high.  And yet, would I trade him, on the theory that he's at peak value?  Um, no.  I want to watch what happens with him because he's so unique, and I want it to happen with my team.

[mickster]

5 hours ago, Eris said:

Emmanuel Rodriguez is an interesting prospect. His stats have a lot of similarities with 3 time AL MVP Aaron Judge. There a difference in K%. Judge averaged 25% SO in his MiLB career whereas ERodriguez has averaged 30% across his minor league career. It took Judge 6 seasons to get his MLB SO rate down to his minor league average. 

Erod is an example that I would like to sell high on, as I think he has a greater shot at being a bust then a star.   Not sure who to target, but he should be at the top of list of prospects if we make a trade to compete and not rebuild

 

[jccracraft]

Your take on Bux is too low. I kinda get your logic, but if you look at his WAR over the past 5 years, it's been pretty solid. 11th in MVP voting last year. Yes he's 32, but would you trade him for any of the prospects on this list?