The Top Minnesota Twins Player Assets of 2026: Part 4 (1-5)

Great piece that generates lots of thought about what could be, both short and long term. I’m hopeful that the highly touted prospects are able to advance and succeed at the MLB level. I also see that much of the value on this list is generated from their trade value. Thats a problem for this FO since they don’t trade their top rated prospects. As others have pointed out here, this FO track record for players development is poor at best. As far as recent Twins player development under this FO, I can’t recall any prospects that have turned into all-stars. Joe Ryan was developed by the Rays, so outside of him, I can’t think of any. 
I put a lot more value on young guys with MLB experience. Guys like SWR, Bradley, Abel, Keaschall, and Lee. They’ve shown there is talent there, with flashes of all-star level talent. They should be higher than prospects that haven’t reached MLB yet. I get the thought behind these rankings, but a bird in hand is worth two in the bush (or something like that). 

Buxton should be much, much higher! 

If you are looking at who can drive success in the future, it has to be the relentlessly faithful Buxton.  He is the heart and soul of the Twins team right now.  And, he is the single most talented players on the team in every way.  He's our only five tool player on the field.  Even as he is aging, he brings it every night.  He has to be #1.  

He's expensive because he's earned it.  

20 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

As a 20 year old in AA he put a .912 OPS, and .719 in AAA. 

Would you prefer he was playing in A+ doing better than he did as a 19 year old? (.862)

Sometimes guys with his type of skills don't need to dominating before moving on,  (Jackson Merrill for Chourio for example both have lower career minor league OPS than Jenkins) Would I like to see his number more like Langord, yes but he also played college ball. 

 

i still look at batting average, RBI and K ratio...I'm old school..dont even follow all the new stats

1 hour ago, MinnInPa said:

i still look at batting average, RBI and K ratio...I'm old school..dont even follow all the new stats

so OBP (.399) and SLG (.464) are new? 

Jenkins has a minor league batting average of .295, 114 RBI in 854 plate appearances (115 walks, 137 K's) with a 16% K ratio and still below 20% if you exclude walks all while still under the age of 21.

In all honesty I would view Joe Ryan as our top asset right now. I think many others would too.. So what does the organization do? They take him to arb court over 500k. If Ober is worth 5.2mil after that lousy season and injury concerns then Joe Ryan is worth 6.35mil. For those who have dreamed of a Ryan extension, forget about it. My guess is Joe will be requesting a trade soon if he already hasn't. Such a well run organization we have here. 

23 hours ago, D.C Twins said:

Great series Nick... 3 bonus questions for you (and the class):

Which player would you pick as 

1. The biggest riser (in ranking) within this group of 20 next year

2. The biggest regression (in ranking) within this group of 20 next year

3. The player not in this Top 20 most likely to rank the highest on this list next year.

1) Culpepper or Tait.

2) Joe Ryan. Ryan, Pablo Lopez and Buxton are all declining assets, but Ryan loses the most trade value after this incredibly cheap season.

3) The 2026 #1 draft pick. If not him, I will pick Dasan Hill.

On 1/8/2026 at 2:24 PM, arby58 said:

My non-Nick personal opinion is if there is a 2027 season, the Twins could be in 'legit championship window.' This could be their starting line-up:

What happens to their "window in 2028 when they lose both Ryan and Lopez after 2027?  The consensus here and I basically agree, is that Ryan and Lopez are critical cogs.   IDK that I would be managing for a one-year window, especially when that year is probably a short year.   IMO, they need to amass more long-term/cost-controlled talent if they are going to create a legit Championship window.

1 hour ago, arby58 said:

Ryan was a decent starter but not 'other world' until last year. Lopez has been steadily good but never up to the 4.5 WAR Ryan put up last year - his strongest suit (before last year) was a really good innings eater. In other words, there isn't any reason the Twins can't develop another elite starting pitcher or two. They've got some of their own prospects that should be ready by 2027 or 2028 - Dasan Hill, Charlee Soto, C.J. Culpepper. They've also got Bradley, Abel, Rojas, Gallagher that they acquired in last year's trading sell-off.  I don't think the cupboard is bare starting-pitching-wise.

It's also possible that they could use Prielipp in relief for a year or two and transition him back to being a starter, if he can build up his arm - ala Santana.

 

I agree there is a good chance several of their prospects, including their SP prospects, could become assets over the next couple of years.  The suggestion that this terrible team can open a window of legit contention is very optimistic.  What do you suppose the odds are Cleveland, Tampa, or Milwaukee would squander the opportunity to trade for assets that could contribute for 6-7 years in the exact same position.  Their track record would suggest it's pretty much certain they would handle this differently.  Their track record for putting a good product on the field would suggest the Twin's would be wise to take note but I don't a wise approach going on with this organization.  Not of the goal is a real contender.  If you want to pretend to be trying to build a true contender, they are doing great!

7 hours ago, arby58 said:

It is interesting that other models do not believe this is a bad team, even as currently constructed. I will grant you that these same models have projected it to be better than they ended up being, although the tear down at the end of last year has something to do with that. Maybe new leadership will help.

They retooled last year with what I believe was a clear indicator they were looking beyond 2026. They do have a lot valuable pieces.

 

If everything goes great it might not be a bad team but the odds of it being a good team are remote.  They were bad before the sell-off and they were terrible after the sell-off and they have done very little to replace what they sold-off.  Once again, they are going to hope that a bunch of players improve dramatically.  The successful organizations that are disadvantaged in terms of revenue have been successful because they manage their assets quite differently. 

On 1/9/2026 at 9:57 PM, arby58 said:

It is interesting that other models do not believe this is a bad team, even as currently constructed. I will grant you that these same models have projected it to be better than they ended up being, although the tear down at the end of last year has something to do with that. Maybe new leadership will help.

They retooled last year with what I believe was a clear indicator they were looking beyond 2026. They do have a lot valuable pieces.

 

If you compare the opening day 26 man roster for the 2025 Twins to the 26 man roster right now, the 2025 one is considerably better and that team won 70 games. With that said I have high hopes guys like Lewis, Wallner, and Lee will be much better this year and a rookie or two will step up. but I have reservations about this team staying healthy enough to compete for a division title because that is something they haven't really done (staying healthy that is).