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Preseason rankings abound, but MLB.com recently delivered a bleak forecast for the Minnesota Twins. MLB.com’s Mike Petriello recently grouped every Major League club into tiers reflecting their potential to win during the 2026 season. Instead of ranking teams from 1 to 30, he grouped organizations into roughly 8 or 9 groups based on expectations, roster strength, and overall outlook.
At the very top sits a tier of its own occupied by the Los Angeles Dodgers. The next level includes a collection of clear contenders like the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and New York Yankees. Minnesota, however, landed on the opposite end of the spectrum.
Petriello placed the Twins in the lowest league tier, with only the Angels sharing that spot. It's a grouping that raises a pressing question: What is the path forward?
To be clear, Petriello did not suggest these teams will necessarily finish with the worst records in baseball. In fact, he acknowledged that both the Twins and Angels still have talent on their rosters, including superstar players like Byron Buxton and Mike Trout. The concern is less about pure ability and more about the direction of the organizations themselves.
According to Petriello, the issue primarily concerns the vibe around the clubs. For Minnesota, the last several months have shaped those vibes. Uncertainty after last year’s trade deadline and injuries to key pitchers like Pablo Lopez and David Festa have created a sense that the franchise is straddling competing and retooling. Outsiders often struggle to interpret that ambiguity positively.
The data-driven projections do little to calm those concerns either. FanGraphs currently projects the Twins for the 23rd most wins (78 wins) in baseball during the 2026 season. The Angels sit even lower at 27th in those projections (73 wins). Only a handful of teams project worse, including the Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals, and Colorado Rockies, who FanGraphs expects to finish with fewer than 70 wins.
Ironically, Petriello placed several of those clubs in a higher tier than Minnesota. The Cardinals, Rockies, Nationals, and White Sox all landed in the eighth tier rather than the ninth. His reasoning was that those organizations appear to have a clearer long-term plan in place, even if the short-term results may still be rough. That distinction highlights the real criticism facing the Twins right now. It is not just about wins and losses. It is about perception.
Minnesota still features a roster capable of surprising people if things break the right way. Young players could step forward, the pitching staff could stabilize, and a few early-season wins could quickly change the narrative around a team. But heading into the season, the national view of the franchise remains uncertain.
The Twins may not accept the assessment, but it clearly outlines the challenge they face as they enter 2026. If the organization wants to shift the conversation about its future, it must do so on the field once the games start.
- nicksaviking and DannySD
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