The '27 Twins are gonna need hitters! But who?

[TNtwins85]

The 2026 Minnesota Twins were fun( from my perspective anyway). We got to see a "competitive" team (albeit with a down league overall leading to their contention) heading into the trade deadline. They bought instead of selling giving the fans some hope for a day or two until they came back down to earth. This set up a terrible August ultimately putting them in the position they are in. Not out of it technically but out of it. 6 games out of the division after tripping over their own feet in between second and third base and  4.5 games back slipping on the grass coming around third. 

As I've watched this team one big thing comes to mind. The thing that drove them in May/June/July that has abandoned them in later July/August and now September. Hitting. As seen too often this season the Twins winning or losing has come down to one thing. Did they score enough runs realistically to win the game? More often than not the answer has been no other than the random 1-2 games a week when the offense just seems to not be able to stop hitting. More often than not the starter will give up a few runs early in the game, the offense will answer back, then they make the opposing pitcher look like Cy Young the rest of the game. Byron Buxton is the one superstar player on this roster but as we've come to learn the past decade he cannot carry a team like a Jose Ramirez or a Vlad Guerrero. Not because he doesn't have the ability but because he simply cannot stay healthy and be expected to play more than 100 games a season. They are losing some key hitters to free agency this winter so they will need to replace these bats somehow. Some of the next wave of hitters can supplant that but the Twins need to infill the ups and downs of the future young guys with some veteran guys as well. If Tom Pohlads words speak true they need to spend money in free agency, make a bold trade or both.

First lets look at the free agency route. The Twins will have money to spend if they choose to spend it. The hitter FA class is down this year. I think there are a few fits and none better than Randy Arrozarena. He's not an upper echelon star but he does possess a few qualities that the Twins could use. He's a perennial candidate as a 20-20 guy and he plays. Since exploding on the scene in 2020 he's played 141 games or more in every season. The Twins need that. He doesn't possess elite batspeed but his squared up %, LA sweet spot % and average exit velocity have and still are elite. When he hits it he hits it hard as can be seen in his elite hard hit percentage which has come down this year but still above average as he's upped his batting average this year putting more balls in play yet getting on base more as well. He brought his K% down to an average level this year. He has always walked a fair amount and improved on that a bit this year. I think he pairs well with the current Twins OF/DH projection. a rotation of Arrozarena/ Buxton/ Jenkins/ Rodriguez/ Keaschall provides a perfect mix where you still have 3 capable CFers in Buxton/Rodriguez/ Jenkins while shuffling guys with days off and Arrozarena occupying a mostly DH role with the occasional days in LF. I believe its the perfect mix without blowing up the young core that has emerged. That ultimately means you get rid of the dead weight that is Martin/ Roden/ Wallner/ Larnach. How I don't but that's not the point of this. As far as terms I believe that if the Twins jump on this out of the gate and simply overbid with a a high AAV contract for less years its a win-win. He's projected for roughly a 3-4 year deal in the $60-85 million range. I say offer a 4 year deal for $100 million. Go above and beyond because you want this guy. don't play around the edges to save a million or two. Just go get what you want.

Another option would be Seiya Suzuki. He's a year older but offers better fielding value and pairs well with the younger OF's as well. He has an elite BB%, doesn't chase and still barrels the ball up at an above average/top tier rate. He's going to command about the same type of contract as Arrozarena with a 3-4 year deal in the $60-85 million range. I just believe being one year older gives you one less year of above average production. I like Randy better for that reason.

I believe the Twins need to spend on someone and yes they probably need another BP guy but I'm not as worried about that as how to hand leads to those guys. As far as trades I would love for them to go out and get a catcher to bridge the gap as its one area they need to improve on and its an area they can improve. Milwaukee is known to flip guys before FA so maybe a package for Contreras is possible. Maybe a package led by one of Rodriguez/Keaschall with Tait in there gets something done? 1B could be an area to find a guy for but there's not really anyone in FA that gets me excited that could legitimately replace Lewis. He's been up and down but we've rode with him this long what's one more year. Especially when he goes into the year knowing he's gonna be the 1B. He's athletic so he can only get better defensively I hope and I just don't see an obvious upgrade without a trade. What do you guys think? Who must they go out and get without blowing it up and looking to improve on this year and be more " competitive."