Offseason Status Update: New Year, Same Team

These status updates are intended to sporadically catch you up on the happenings of the Twins offseason, recapping and contextualizing any news you might have missed. This winter, there hasn't been much in the way of news to miss. But there have been some minor moves, some intriguing rumors, and some indicators of things to come. With a new year underway, let's get up to speed on the state of the offseason and what's still ahead.

The Twins Offseason So Far
Here's a full rundown of everything the Twins front office has done so far this offseason. Needless to say, it has not been particularly active two months.

• Lost LHP Caleb Thielbar, IF Kyle Farmer, OF Manuel Margot, OF Max Kepler, 1B Carlos Santana, RHP Caleb Boushley to free agency.
• 1B Alex Kirilloff retired from pro baseball.
• Extended arbitration tenders or agreed to terms with all 11 eligible players: RHP Jhoan Durán, RHP Griffin Jax, RHP Bailey Ober, RHP Joe Ryan, C Ryan Jeffers, 3B Royce Lewis, OF Trevor Larnach, UTIL Willi Castro, RHP Michael Tonkin, RHP Justin Topa and RHP Brock Stewart.
• Re-signed RHP Daniel Duarte, 1B Yunior Severino and RHP Scott Blewett after removing them from the 40-man roster.
• Added RHP Marco Raya and RHP Travis Adams to 40-man roster.
• Selected RHP Eiberson Castellano in Rule 5 Draft.
• Traded LHP Jovani Morán to Boston for 1B Mickey Gasper.
• Signed Alex Speas, Huascar Ynoa, Mike Ford and others to minor-league contracts.

The Twins have not signed a single free agent to major-league deal, and in fact they haven't acquired a single a player whose odds of making the Opening Day roster seem better than 50/50. However, the two journeymen they've added most recently seem to have a reasonable shot, all things considered.

Gasper, Ford Enter First Base Mix
The first base market in free agency has been whittled down, with nearly all of the upper-tier options having found landing spots. That includes Carlos Santana, who signed a one-year deal worth $12 million with the rival Guardians. To fill his vacancy, it sure looks like the Twins will see what they can do with a group of internal options and some low-stakes additions to compete with them.

Since we last checked in, the front office brought in a pair of minor-league punishers to compete with José Miranda and Edouard Julien at the position. First they traded left-hander Jovani Morán to the Red Sox for Mickey Gasper, who has played some catcher and second but is primarily viewed as a first baseman. Then the Twins signed Mike Ford to a minor-league contract with an invite to big-league camp.

Neither player boasts a great track record. Gasper, a switch-hitter, is 29 and has just 23 hitless plate appearances in the majors. The lefty-swinging Ford has amassed 781 MLB plate appearances at age 32, but with a 93 OPS+, and in 2024 he slashed .150/.177/.233 with two walks in 62 PAs for Cincinnati, spending the latter part of his season in Japan. 

But when in Triple-A last year, Ford posted a .920 OPS, and he has an .860 lifetime OPS at the level. Meanwhile, Gasper posted a .970 OPS to lead all of Triple-A, earning him a late-season shot in the majors and a 40-man roster spot that he now retains (albeit with a different organization).

Given the front office's lack of resources, this approach makes some sense. Bring all these guys into camp and see who looks most ready for the assignment. It's far from ideal but there's definitely hitting talent within this group; hopefully someone is ready to step up as at least a temporary stopgap at first base.

Read more:

• Is Mickey Gasper In Line for an Opening Day Roster Spot?
• What to Know About New Twins First Base Contender Mike Ford

Twins Among Teams Showing Interest in LHP Hart
The Twins already have a conspicuous scarcity of left-handed pitchers that could credibly be viewed as MLB options, and this was true before parting ways with Morán in the Gasper trade. They currently have two southpaws on the 40-man roster, Kody Funderburk and Brent Headrick. Those two have a combined 75 innings (and 5.38 ERA) in the majors.

With minimal flexibility to pursue the free agent market, the front office could get creative in casting a net for lefty arms. One name they've shown interest in, according to Will Sammon and Katie Woo at The Athletic, is 32-year-old Kyle Hart. Minnesota is mentioned alongside the Yankees, Brewers, Astros and Orioles as targeting Hart. 

While he doesn't bring much in the way of MLB experience (four appearances back in 2020) nor an extended track record of success, Hart has created a market for himself via his strong showing last year with the NC Dinos in the KBO. He posted a 2.69 ERA with a league-leading 182 strikeouts in 157 innings. "In South Korea, Hart pitched more off his fastball, which allowed his slider to act more like a chase pitch," per Sammon and Woo. That's the kind of recipe the Twins are known to favor.

At the start of the offseason, FanGraphs ranked Hart near the back of their top 50 free agents list, at 48.  

Read more:

• This Star KBO Pitcher Could Be a Hidden Gem for the Salary-Restricted Twins

The AL Central Has Been Quiet in General
While none can quite match Minnesota's level of inactivity this offseason, the rest of the AL Central hasn't outpaced them by much. It's a bit inexplicable after three seemingly rising contenders in the division reached the postseason last year, but for the Twins, this lack of action is theoretically beneficial. While they might not be getting better, their rivals aren't stacking up and creating distance.  

2025 Roster & Payroll Projection
Below is my best guess at how the Opening Day roster would shape up if all remained the same up until then. It's pretty tough to map out the infield but I'm guessing there would not be a lot of consistently set positions day to day; rather guys like Lewis, Miranda, Julien, Gasper (or Ford) and Brooks Lee rotating through first, second, third and DH in some fashion, with Willi Castro also factoring into the infield mix (if still around).

Clearly, things are still going to happen. At minimum the front office likely needs to shave off around $5-10 million in salaries just to get within ownership's payroll mandate. Can they find ways to shake things up beyond trading away a Christian Vázquez or Chris Paddack? Do they want to?

With less than six weeks remaining until pitchers and catchers report, we're going to find out soon enough.