Who Was the Least Valuable Player on the 2026 Twins?

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Last week we handed out our honorary Twins Daily Awards for the 2026 season, highlighting our picks for Most Valuable Player, Best Pitcher, Rookie of the Year and Most Improved. It's important to recognize and shine a light on the standout performances that elevated this team and offered real reason for encouragement.

However, since this team ultimately fell short of its goals and finished below .500, it also feels worthwhile to look at the MVP conversation from the other side: who was least valuable to the 2026 Twins? Which players were most complicit in holding the club back from being a true contender in this watered-down American League?

There are a few ways to look at this. It's not as simple as asking who had the worst base numbers. Guys like Justin Lawrence (18.00 ERA in 6 IP), Luis Garcia (10.38 ERA in 8 ⅔) and Kyler Fedko (0-for-16 with 8 Ks) would qualify by that measure, but none played enough to have a truly substantial impact on the team's fate. 

Here are seven players who merit consideration for 2026 Twins LVP, with an added note at the end on why it matters moving forward.

Victor Caratini

A randomly excellent month of June is the only thing salvaging what was otherwise a disastrous season for the free agent signee. Even with his 1.059 OPS that month, he still finished with a 77 OPS+ and a negative-1.35 Win Probability Added that ranked worst among all Twins position players. He was one of the slowest players in the league, clogging the base paths when he got on, and defensively he was totally unable to control the opposing run game, allowing 64 steals on 77 attempts.

The Twins signed Caratini to a two-year deal with the expectation that he'd take over for Ryan Jeffers as starting catcher in 2027, but they've got to be having second thoughts about that plan with Caratini coming off an alarmingly lackluster season at age 33.

Justin Topa

He borders on too small of a sample, having thrown just 19 innings before being released in late May, but Topa packed a whole lot of badness into his 23 Twins appearances: 8.05 ERA, 6.47 FIP, 2.00 WHIP, 12-to-11 K/BB ratio. Making matters worse is that the team was counting on him for a semi-significant role, coming into the year as one of the more established members of a piecemeal Opening Day bullpen. 

He was decent for the first month but went off the rails afterward, and largely epitomized what was wrong with this relief corps before it got revamped. 

James Outman

Not a serious contender because he didn't have a big enough role, but with Outman it's more about opportunity cost. The Twins could have used those 70 plate appearances more productively on just about anybody. Instead, Outman batted .156 with 29 strikeouts, and his outfield defense was not nearly strong enough to make up for the offensive ineptitude.

The situation was more frustrating in terms of optics than functional damage done. It was always obvious Outman was not a good player. He was bad before the Twins acquired him last year, bad after they acquired him, and bad this year when given another chance. He somehow got another 100 plate appearances in Detroit after the Twins cut him loose in June, and was bad there too. 

Tristan Gray

A strong candidate. The Twins took an inexplicable liking to him and ran him out for 52 starts, mostly at shortstop, before his demotion to Triple-A around the All-Star break. Offering little on offense or defense, Gray was chiefly responsible for turning the shortstop position into an area of massive disadvantage for Minnesota in the first half.

The only redeeming quality of Gray's time with the Twins is that he batted .300 with runners in scoring positon and had a few memorable clutch hits, compiling 29 RBIs in his 188 plate appearances. He might skirt LVP status for that reason alone despite sub-replacement level production overall.

Matt Wallner

Wallner, conversely, provided little in terms of positives to offset his poor performance. The combination of a .167/.259/.292 slash line with bottom-barrel defense in right field led to negative-0.8 fWAR and negative-1.4 bWAR, both surpassing Gray for lowest among Twins position players. Wallner also had the second-worst WPA (ahead of only Caratini), so his lack of offensive output was costly. 

The 28-year-old was optioned to Triple-A in mid-May and never made it back, despite hitting pretty well for the Saints. It's been a dramatic fall-off for a hitter who was one of Minnesota's best in 2023-24. 

Simeon Woods Richardson

In the span of 12 appearances (10 starts) for the Twins, Woods Richardson was about as bad as can be. He posted a 7.74 ERA and 6.16 FIP, allowing a jaw-dropping 65 hits and 25 walks with only 26 strikeouts in 47 ⅔ innings. The team went 1-9 in games he started. His negative-2.24 WPA was not only the worst on the team, but in all of baseball.

The performance was discouraging enough that the Twins simply released Woods Richardson in early June — a stunning turn of events for a 25-year-old starting pitcher with a recent track record of MLB success. 

Royce Lewis

Lewis is a bit different from everyone else on this list. Relatively speaking, his performance wasn't horrible, just well below average. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference both pegged him as modestly above replacement level. He stayed healthy, hit some homers, drove in some runs, played a ton.

But that last part is sorta the issue. Lewis had by far the most playing time of anyone here. When healthy he was consistently an everyday player but rarely was he helpful. Yes, his 86 OPS+ is better than the 77 from Caratini, but Lewis made 130 more plate appearances and he was putting forth this sub-mediocre production from an offense-driven position, especially after the move to first base.

So, where do you land on the least valuable player for the 2026 Twins? For me it's probably between Wallner and Woods Richardson, but Caratini has a case and I think Lewis might have an even stronger one. That's where this discussion takes on forward-looking relevance. Because while some of these guys are already out of the picture and others are on their way, Lewis and Caratini remain penciled into 2027 plans as of now. 

This sets up a critical question for the offseason: Are the Twins content to hope that two of the players most responsible for their disappointing outcome this year will reverse course, despite giving little tangible reason for such belief? Or will they seek to find ways to upgrade at catcher and first base? The latter would be a bit easier, given that Lewis is arbitration-eligible whereas Caratini is locked in for $7 million with a $3.5 million buyout for his 2028 option.

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[mnfireman]

SWR had -2.24 WPA, worst on the team.....pick him

[Peter Gravett]

Thought provoking read here. Dang... these are all strong candidates for this prestigious award Nick.

Sample size definitely a strong consideration. As much as they left me horrified, that "relieves" Topa and Lawrence. I put my money on Simeon, Outman or Wallner. Great point too on the lost opportunities for others. With a stacked pool of left-handed outfielder, that narrows it down to Outman and Wallner. Now it comes down to our tendency to hang on to guys because "they're out of options". A little tired of that rationale, so my clear winner is Outman.

[DJL44]

Gotta go with Wallner who was expected to bat in the middle of the lineup and was equally terrible on defense and offense. 

[Russ]

The sad part is there are too many choices

[StiltedGopher]

Crazy thing looking at all those bad players who were jettisoned from the club mid year, the team did just as poorly after they were cut (take SWR, Twins were 27-30 with him, 50-55 w/o).  
 

That leaves me voting for a full year dead weight.  I’ll vote Caratini.
 

Of course, it was Shelty who trotted him out so much - even putting him at 1st and DH at times.  Can we vote for Shelty?
 

And yes, it is very scary that Caratini is the primary catcher so far for 2027.  

[Peter Gravett]

38 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Gotta go with Wallner who was expected to bat in the middle of the lineup and was equally terrible on defense and offense. 

Good point with the terrible D... Equally tired of that.

[dberthia]

If it's expectations vs reality, I gotta go with Lewis. He had a few weeks where it looked like he'd figured things out after the demotion, but then he reverted to borderline useless down the stretch. He strikes me as yet another in a long list of Twins who tank here but go on to blossom somewhere else.

[Jeff K]

So many great choices is truly a bad thing.  I'm going with Caratini because he was an unforced error by Falvey/Zoll.

[Jack Pine]

I'ld go with Outman who was aptly named.

[mikelink45]

So many good choices I have to go  a different direction.  We signed Lopez to be an Ace, we gave him a big contract (in Twins terms) and never got to see him on the mound.  From a dollar standpoint he was least valuable. 

[Parfigliano]

Wallner, Outman, and Jackson the bench player that never plays.

[Woof Bronzer]

Alan Jackson!  You can't get less valuable than taking up a roster spot on a team that will not play you, especially after you've passed through waivers already and could have easily taken up a roster spot in St Paul instead.  The Twins may as well have rostered a stuffed animal.  

[MackMan]

I would have to go with SWR. He looked good his first couple starts, then the wheels exploded of the proverbial wagon. There was absolutely nothing to redeem about his season to this point. Even when he was acquired by another team, they tried trotting him out there and much the same happened. I have a feeling he is going to have a journeyman career with a spot start before DFA'd by every team he pitches on. But who knows. Maybe he'll end up on some team who'll use him outta the pen and only being a 1 or 2 pitch type of guy. 

But honestly, there really is now true "Worst" player the Twins had. Of all the players, Caratina and Lewis were pretty much up on the big league roster the whole time, so those 2 are major candidates. Lewis because he is not playing or living up to being the #1 overall pick back in the day, and Caratini just because he didn't do anything right outside of a hot June. Wallner was supposed to be our big power guy with a cannon in RF. Neither of those tangibles came to play this year and will more than likely be in a new clubhouse next year. 

This was definitely a great article showcasing (is that right word in this situation) the Twins and their lack of accountability, building toward the future, or holding onto someone far longer than they should have. Maybe the "New" FO will start to see that it is okay to move on from some of our players who have been holding down a spot and getting nothing in return for it. 

[The Great Hambino]

An (dis)honorable mention should go to Justin Lawrence for how acutely terrible he was during his seven-game, six-inning stint that really highlighted the downside of trying to MacGyver a bullpen together on the fly

It's even worse when you consider that he was sorta getting acceptable results in his first three outings: 2.2 IP, 0 runs allowed, 1 hit, 4 K.  Sure, he handed out three free passes in one outing and allowed two inherited runners (which turned out to be the winning runs) to score in another, but hey - he was available for a reason.

But in his last 4 outings: 3.1 IP, 12(!) earned runs allowed on 12 hits, including 4 homers and 6 walks, plus an additional inherited runner allowed to score for good measure.

He obviously didn't play enough to be LVP, which requires threading the needle of being bad but not so bad that you get cut or benched.  But he was the exact opposite of bang for your buck - they even signed up to pick up his full non-minimum salary.  Luckily the Nationals were kind enough to take him and his salary commitment off their hands

[Twins GFP]

Not to be confused with most disappointing, I am not sure how anyone competes with SWR in this category. Arguably the biggest reason the Twins did not make the playoffs this year (don't go down that rabbit hole, another discussion for another thread).

[Coach Wheels]

1 hour ago, dberthia said:

If it's expectations vs reality, I gotta go with Lewis. He had a few weeks where it looked like he'd figured things out after the demotion, but then he reverted to borderline useless down the stretch. He strikes me as yet another in a long list of Twins who tank here but go on to blossom somewhere else.

For what we expected from Royce vs everyone else on this list, he gets my vote as well. 

We've run out of positions to hide him at and he hasn't lived up to any expectations of a #1 overall pick; it wasn't health related this year either.

[MeleMouth]

Pablo Lopez was the least valuable player on the roster, although it's not his fault because he was injured.

The Twins should have traded Lopez and Ryan before the season, because they were expensive luxuries for a not-great team who nonetheless could have brought back some good assets for future teams and, as pitchers, they are always at risk of career-changing injuries. Because the Twins kept Lopez and Ryan in order to have a mirage of competing, Lopez ended up costing almost $22 million (more than 20% of the team's non-Correa payroll) while providing 0 innings.

You could combine Lopez with acquisitions like Outman and Topa, as well as the architecture of the season-opening bullpen, and give the LVP to the front office. If you were to rank the performance of major league front offices over the last several years, you'd put Angels and Rockies on the bottom, then you'd have Twins and Reds, just below Pirates, Athletics, Royals, and Mets.

[mnfireman]

Lopez haters are 🫏🤡

[S Bart]

10 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

Lopez haters are 

Not his fault....

[S Bart]

TC Bear...need a new mascot. Take a hint from the Brewers' sausages. Need running fish...Northern Pike, Walleye, and a Bass.

[The Great Hambino]

2 minutes ago, S Bart said:

TC Bear...need a new mascot. Take a hint from the Brewers' sausages. Need running fish...Northern Pike, Walleye, and a Bass.

At the very least, get him some pants - there are children in the crowd, for Peter's sake

[S Bart]

TWINS still sending 10 million to Carlitos Correa ....and he was injured most of the season for the Astros..

[Linus]

And the LVP goes to the front / ownership group. The players are trying to- it’s the FO / ownership group’s responsibility to put better lineups out there. 

[old nurse]

The MVP is usually for the player who played most of the season with the team. The LVP shoud have to meet the same criteria. That should eliminate the injured for the year and jettisoned players from consideration. 

Position players who played. More than 100 games with an fwar less than 1 would be Lewis, Caratini, Bell, and Martin. They all have negative WPA for the season. Starters with at least 20 starts and an fwar less than one would be Zebby.  Relievers who managed to pitch 40 innings and you could question would be Orze,  and Adams,  Adams is a development project, Orze had a decent FIP, but poor results. Zebby is a development project. That leaves the 3 position players. And Bell. It is a pickem on the players. I would thing voting would be a tie for Lewis and Caratini 

[jmlease1]

It's a close battle between SWR and Wallner, IMHO. Both players with real and not unreasonable expectations to be contributors, and both of them were terrible. Either is a reasonable pick.

At the end of the day, I have to go with SWR, which sucks because I really liked the guy. But he was brutal when he pitched and his career is at a crossroads. He wasn't just worse by every measure (except homers) he was massively worse. He became incredibly hittable, couldn't strike anyone out, walked too many guys...it was all bad. You used to be concerned about a 3rd trip through the order, but this iteration was falling apart by the 3rd inning.

Wallner was bad, but at least has the dual excuses of we were looking for/hoping for a bounce back season from him and he was put in a place to fail by being asked to face LHP on the regular because poor roster management from Falvey/Zoll left us without enough RH bats. That's not to say he was any more valuable, but some of this you could see coming and has to go on Falvey/Zoll/Shelton.

Caratini wasn't good and didn't meet his salary demands, but again: I blame some of this on Shelton for playing him too much at 1B for...reasons? Seemed weird and unproductive. But at the end of the day he had 1 good month at the plate (a great month, in fact) and was otherwise an awful hitter. But the catching defense was ok and he was quite good on challenges.

I'm never going to give a Least Valuable Player award to a guy who got hurt. 

[old nurse]

59 minutes ago, Twins GFP said:

Not to be confused with most disappointing, I am not sure how anyone competes with SWR in this category. Arguably the biggest reason the Twins did not make the playoffs this year (don't go down that rabbit hole, another discussion for another thread).

If SWR had results similar to 24 and 25, the difference for 26 might be 4 more wins. Matt Wallner in 23 and 24 was a .875+ ops.  He fell to worse than a backup defense first catcher. SWR probably doesn’t even win the most disappointing award 

[MeleMouth]

15 minutes ago, old nurse said:

The MVP is usually for the player who played most of the season with the team. The LVP shoud have to meat the same criteria. That should eliminate the injured for the year and jettisoned players from consideration. 

What you defined could "meat" (sic) the criteria for the most disappointing player, of course if you define it that way the award could go to the rally sausage. In contrast, the least valuable player, at least from an economics standpoint of value, is the player who provided the least benefit for his cost.