For 2027, Twins Have a Gaping Hole Behind Home Plate

[DannySD]

With all the young players and current catching pipeline, they can easily afford a 4 or 5 year market-rate extension for Jeffers. 

[D.C Twins]

3 minutes ago, DannySD said:

With all the young players and current catching pipeline, they can easily afford a 4 or 5 year market-rate extension for Jeffers. 

Do you think that the Yankees will limit themselves to 'market rate?"

[PuckettPond]

Drafting quality athletic catchers solve many problems. Hopefully the 2026 draft is only the beginning. 

[Maybe Next Year]

I don't see much of anything happening this offseason until the CBA is resolved. I believe the Twins will make Jeffers a qualifying offer after the World Series. If he signs the offer they could still trade him at some point. If he doesn't sign and becomes a free agent the Twins can still negotiate with him on a multi-year contract. It will be interesting to see what happens after the CBA expires December 1st. If there is a lockout obviously both sides will have to compromise to get the season rolling and nobody knows what impact that will have on free agency, salary caps, revenue sharing etc... If the players and owners can agree on revenue sharing and a minimum team payroll it shouldn't be a problem paying Jeffers big money - the Twins will need to up their payroll by 50+ million dollars. If there is no minimum team payroll/ revenue sharing Jeffers, if he doesn't sign, would be taking a chance on free agency under very uncertain conditions. If I were Jeffers I would sign the one year $24 million offer knowing he would be getting a huge increase in salary and still be a free agent the following year.

[DannySD]

8 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Do you think that the Yankees will limit themselves to 'market rate?"

Someone has to set the market. 

[Nashvilletwin]

4 minutes ago, DannySD said:

Someone has to set the market. 

 

13 minutes ago, D.C Twins said:

Do you think that the Yankees will limit themselves to 'market rate?"

Might depend on how quickly the cap rolls in. Yankees might not have a ton of cap room. Maybe Jeffers likes living in MN. Who knows?

[LA Vikes Fan]

4 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

The decision is a no-brainer: re-sign Jeffers to a 4 yr. $70MM or so deal.

Jeffers is C1 in ‘27 and probably ‘28 or until Lackey is ready. After that, he starts at 1B, is DH on the other days, and is emergency C3.

We will have plenty of cash with a new floor and after losing both Ryan and Lopez after the strike shortened ‘27 and Buxton after ‘28.

Easy peasy.

 

I know we all kind of want to snicker at this given the Twins history but NashvilleTwin has exactly the right answer. Jeffers is likely to get a 3 or 4 year deal, probably 4, $17-20M AAV is probably the sweet spot. We need the bat in '27 and '28 and the prospect timeline is probably at least 2 years out. He would be the perfect signing if the new CBA includes a salary floor combined with some kind of NBA style cap (the union will never go for a hard cap).

Here's my thought for the off season. Re-sign Jeffers, 4 years $68-75M. Re-sign Lopez for 4 years $90-100M. He wants to stay and is at a low leverage point coming off TJ. Re-sign Minter, 2 years, $18-20M. Trade Larnach for prospects, be willing to throw in an A or AA back end of the top 30 guy to get a better prospect, middle infielder preferred.  Trade Ryan for a projectable middle of the order bat. I would target Michael Busch of the Cubs or Samuel Basilio of the Orioles in a 1-1 trade although the Twins might need to add a 15-30 prospect to balance out the control timelines. Another thought would be to trade Ryan to Boston for Tristan Casas (risky because coming off injury) and either Connelly Early or Allan Castro plus.  To increase the possibility of Ryan re-signing and thus his trade value, talk to the California teams about trading him for Bryce Eldridge (SF),  Dalton Rushing (Dodgers), or maybe to the Angels for a package of Christian Moore (2B, 22 years old), Grayson Rodriguez, and a lower level guy. Trade Lewis back home to the Angels as the classic change of scenery candidate for an upside package like Grayson Rodriguez or George Klassen plus Moises Ballesteros. That's it. No signing averageish vets to fill holes. Drop either Ober or Kremer by trading them for a prospect, start at least two of Prielipp, Matthews, Abel, and Rojas in the #4 and #5 rotation holes (all 4 will get starts with injuries in 2027), and play Keaschall, Culpepper, EmRod, Jenkins, and Lee every day. Pick the rebuilding around current core lane and commit to it. 

[Cory Engelhardt]

5 hours ago, laloesch said:

Pretty much this.  Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers will be gone at the end of this season. 

I didn't realize this but Joe Ryan's contract has a mutual option meaning even if the Twins want to pick up his option he HAS to agree, otherwise he can walk at the end of this season.  I hope he wants to stick around but I've heard he wants to go back to California.  It's very possible both Ryan and Jeffers walk as soon as the season is over.  Jeffers wants a long contract and a big pay day and the Twins are unlikely to give him that. 

Lopez's contract ends at the end of the 2027 season (if there is one).  I think it's safe to assume it's gonna take him a good chunk of the 2027 season to get his feet under him (this is his second TJ surgery), but then he's a free agent as well at age 31/32.  I doubt the Twins re-sign him unless it's a good deal for the team.  

Buxton's contract ends at the end of 2028.  I can't imagine he'll sign an extension.  Given his health issues I believe he will retire.

I also doubt the Twins carry Ober and Larnach beyond 2027. 

The Twins will have shed a huge amount of salary by then (over 63.75 million annual).  At the conclusion of 2028 the Twins will also stop paying 10 million a season for what's left of Correa's contract as well.  

They will have to spend a TON of money to meet a 171.2 million dollar floor if that makes it into the new CBA.

No. If he doesn’t agree to that number then he would go to arbitration. After this season do you think he is set to make more than 13 million in arbitration for 2027?

[LA Vikes Fan]

27 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

I know we all kind of want to snicker at this given the Twins history but NashvilleTwin has exactly the right answer. Jeffers is likely to get a 3 or 4 year deal, probably 4, $17-20M AAV is probably the sweet spot. We need the bat in '27 and '28 and the prospect timeline is probably at least 2 years out. He would be the perfect signing if the new CBA includes a salary floor combined with some kind of NBA style cap (the union will never go for a hard cap).

Here's my thought for the off season. Re-sign Jeffers, 4 years $68-75M. Re-sign Lopez for 4 years $90-100M. He wants to stay and is at a low leverage point coming off TJ. Re-sign Minter, 2 years, $18-20M. Trade Larnach for prospects, be willing to throw in an A or AA back end of the top 30 guy to get a better prospect, middle infielder preferred.  Trade Ryan for a projectable middle of the order bat. I would target Michael Busch of the Cubs or Samuel Basilio of the Orioles in a 1-1 trade although the Twins might need to add a 15-30 prospect to balance out the control timelines. Another thought would be to trade Ryan to Boston for Tristan Casas (risky because coming off injury) and either Connelly Early or Allan Castro plus.  To increase the possibility of Ryan re-signing and thus his trade value, talk to the California teams about trading him for Bryce Eldridge (SF),  Dalton Rushing (Dodgers), or maybe to the Angels for a package of Christian Moore (2B, 22 years old), Grayson Rodriguez, and a lower level guy. Trade Lewis back home to the Angels as the classic change of scenery candidate for an upside package like Grayson Rodriguez or George Klassen plus Moises Ballesteros. That's it. No signing averageish vets to fill holes. Drop either Ober or Kremer by trading them for a prospect, start at least two of Prielipp, Matthews, Abel, and Rojas in the #4 and #5 rotation holes (all 4 will get starts with injuries in 2027), and play Keaschall, Culpepper, EmRod, Jenkins, and Lee every day. Pick the rebuilding around current core lane and commit to it. 

Last thought as I avoid doing work today. Here's the steps and lineup/roster:

Trades - Ryan and 15-20 prospect to Cubs for Michael Busch. Ober for A ball lottery ticket. Lewis to Angels for Moises Ballesteros and Grayson Rodriguez. 

FA singings - Jeffers, 4 years, $68-75M. Minter, 2 years $18-22M. Lopez, 4 years, $90-110M. Bell goes elsewhere.

Lineup (in rough batting order) - Keaschall (OF/DH), Buxton (OF/DH). Busch (IB), Jeffers (C), Lee (3B), Clemens (2B), Culpepper (SS), two of EmRod, Jenkins, Ballesteros (DH/OF). balance out the 7-9 spots with Culpepper to avoid two LH hitters back to back. 

Bench - 1 of EmRod, Jenkins, Ballesteros (DH/OF), Martin (OF/2B), Caratini (C),  Kriedler or Ross (UTL IF), one of Roden, Jackson, or the Kriedler/Ross loser.

Rotation - Lopez, Bradley, Prielipp, Kremer, Matthews (Abel, Rojas, Grayson Rodriquez, Bohorquez, and either CJ Culpepper or Ryan Gallagher the AAA rotation pitching starters workloads to be ready for the inevitable injuries/non-performance issues).

Bullpen - Hoffman (late inning/closer), Gomez (late inning/closer),  Minter (late inning/closer), Morris (late inning/closer), Banda (2nd LH), David Festa (late inning/closer), Nance (middle relief), one of Funderburk, Peredes, Adams, Sands, Acton - the other 4 plus Anderson, Orze, Raya, and either Culpepper or Gallagher in the AAA BP as depth). 

[miller761]

Jeffers is not a good catcher. He has more than his share of passed balls and some wild pitches that should be passed balls. His value is in his hitting and that maybe a bit of a gamble to the team he signs with. He reaches for too many balls instead of moving his body and his throwing arm is average at best. Let Caratini play 4 or 5 games in a row to see what happens. I don't think we will as bad as people think at the position next year.

 

[Andy MacPhail]

In '19, the Twins were set at catcher. Mitch Garver 4.1 WAR, Jason Castro 0.6 WAR with promising Ryan Jeffers & Ben Rortvedt as prospects. Along with a bad Donaldson contract, the Twins took a nose-dive in catching priority. They devastated the catching position to unload Donaldson contract & put all their eggs in Boras's client Jeffers, IMO, that was a grave mistake that they never rectified until they drafted Lackey, That 5 yrs. wait was too long because '27 & beyond until Lackey is ready, we be really hurting at catching. During that 5yr wait I have suggested many promising young MLB-ready catchers that the Twins should target, Here, are 2 who I suggested this season, Adley Rutschman (BOS picked him up & turned their season around), Ethan Salas (his BTV was a bargain at 20.6 now it's 49.6) both were desperate for SP, Ryans BTV was 49.6, now it's 18.5 & falling. Twins could have picked up Salas & a lot of pitching for Ryan. 

March 28, 2026

Yankees

Name	Age	Level	P1	P2	Availability	Years	AFV	Salary	Surplus	Low	Median	High
Ryan Jeffers	29	Majors	C		Low	1	18.4	6.7	11.7	9.4	11.7	14
Adrian Morejon	27	Majors	RP		Low	1	15.9	3.9	12	9.6	12	14.5
Cole Paplham	26	Minors	RP			0	0	0	0.9	0.7	0.9	1.1

Total Value:

24.60

Padres

51

Name	Age	Level	P1	P2	Availability	Years	AFV	Salary	Surplus	Low	Median	High
Paul Goldschmidt	38	Majors	1B		Very low	1	4.4	4	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.5
Joe Ryan	30	Majors	SP		Low	2	64.9	15.4	49.6	39.7	49.6	59.5
Ryan Gallagher	23	Minors	SP			0	0	0	2.4	1.9	2.4	2.9

Total Value:

52.4

Twins

41

Name	Age	Level	P1	P2	Availability	Years	AFV	Salary	Surplus	Low	Median	High
Camilo Doval	28	Majors	RP		Medium	2	8.6	6.1	2.5	2	2.5	3
Jeremiah Estrada	27	Majors	RP			4	39.7	22.2	17.5	14	17.5	21
Ryan Weathers	26	Majors	SP	LRP	Low	3	22.8	6.8	16.1	12.8	16.1	19.3
Ethan Salas	20	Minors	C			0	0	0	20.6	16.5	20.6	24.8
Bradgley Rodriguez	22	Majors	RP			5	1.7	0	1.7	1.3	1.7	2
J.C. Escarra	31	Majors	C	1B		5	10.9	5	5.9	4.7	5.9	7.1

Total Value:

64.3

 

[laloesch]

2 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I am happy to report that you are incorrect. Yes, Ryan and the team do have a mutual option for '27, but Ryan remains unted team control whether that mutual option is exercised or not.

My mistake. I misunderstand the mutual option aspect. But it matters not. If he expresses that does not want it they will trade him like they should have at this trade deadline along with Jeffers 

[laloesch]

19 minutes ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

No. If he doesn’t agree to that number then he would go to arbitration. After this season do you think he is set to make more than 13 million in arbitration for 2027?

Almost certainly