Twins Daily's Call to the Pen: Bold Predictions for the 2025 Minnesota Twins

In the runup to Opening Day, we asked Twins Daily writers to come up with bold predictions for the 2025 season. These aren't hot takes, though. The assignment was clear: bring us something you earnestly believe. Be able to cogently defend it. As they always do, the team came through. Get ready to have your world rocked by the truth and temerity of these bits of soothsaying.

@Peter Labuza: Derek Falvey will trade for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the trade deadline.

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Even in a world where Ty France, José Miranda, and Edouard Julien outperform their expectations at first base, the Twins will likely enter the pre-deadline window with one specific need: a big bat. With extension talks seemingly DOA and the likelihood of playoff contention murky this season, the Blue Jays will surely want something for their potential Hall of Famer if they’re playing poorly in July. Hence my bet: Derek Falvey does what he’s been unable to do for multiple seasons, and grabs the hottest trade candidate out there. The cost will be steep—even for a rental—but the team has never been in a better place to move top prospects without hurting their future. Perhaps, by ponying up in terms of young talent, they'll even get Toronto to cover part of Guerrero’s pricey arbitration salary—or perhaps the Pohlads are visited by three ghosts and make him a parting gift. Walker Jenkins is untouchable, but I could see a package that includes Luke Keaschall and Marco Raya to entice the Jays to let go up their franchise superstar. The bigger question: if the Twins land the Dominican bomber, can some richer, more aggressive new owner pony up enough to keep him?

@Lou Hennessy: The Twins will have three All-Star pitchers—and none of them will be Pablo López.

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This is a two-part prediction (thus much bolder and cooler than those of my colleagues). First, I'm banking on three arms emerging as first time All-Stars this season; and second, I'm suggesting three pitchers will be better than López by the time mid-July rolls around. Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober are prime candidates to break through, and it's easy to imagine Griffin Jax continuing his dominance to relief superstardom. The same goes for Jhoan Durán, if he can find a way to miss bats despite being a few ticks lower on his heater. 

 

A dark horse to receive this honor? Keep an eye on Zebby Matthews, who will have to wait for an opportunity in the big league rotation. But that bill will come due eventually, and if he performs as he did this spring (12-1 K/BB rate), he might just shoot the moon.

@Eric Blonigen: Zebby Matthews supplants multiple healthy starters and forces his way into the playoff rotation.

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Matthews will surpass both Chris Paddack and Simeon Woods Richardson by the end of the season, even if both stay healthy. In 2024, he was a little too in the zone, and was facing elite competition for the first time after beginning the season in the low minors. With the offseason to develop, he will be positioned to maximize his skill set. His home run-per-fly ball rate will NOT be third-highest in baseball like it was last season; his added velocity will lead to a few more swinging strikeouts; and he will locate his pitches more effectively outside the zone. All of this will lead to a sub-3.50 ERA, and he will elevate into a clear roster building block.

@Matthew Trueblood: Carlos Correa will lead the team in innings at third base, and he'll never go back to shortstop on a full-time basis.

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Correa, as it turns out, is 6-foot-3, not 6-foot-4, in the wake of rigorous and objective measurements taken this spring to help the league calibrate automatic strike zones for future use. That makes him a slightly less improbable fit at short than he's always been, but it was never going to be his height that pushed him off the position. It'll be his age, and his injury issues. After two straight seasons affected by plantar fasciitis, the big, powerful, extremely expensive and valuable Correa will join the litany of shortstops in recent years who have had to move to another position shortly after turning 30. He hit that age milestone last September.

Last season, no player manned shortstop for 120 or more games at age 31 or older, the culmination of a years-long trend toward youth at the most demanding defensive position on the infield. With Royce Lewis hurt, Correa will slide to third at some point in the first half (perhaps upon the return of Brooks Lee from the injured list), and the move will quietly become permanent. Remember, Correa was all set to take over the hot corner two full seasons ago, when he briefly agreed to sign with the Mets. He ended up staying with the Twins, and staying at shortstop, but now, the inevitable will come for him.

Short-form bold predictions from other authors:

• @Greggory Masterson: Ty France will lead the team in both plate appearances and hits. He's going to play every day, rather than being platooned at first, and he's played a ton for most of his career to date.
• @Sherry Cerny: Amid Lewis's latest spate of injuries, this will wind up being Austin Martin's breakout season.
• @Seth Stohs: For the first time since the 2019 Bomba Squad, the Twins will have two different hitters drive in 100 or more runs: Trevor Larnach, and Matt Wallner.
• @Cody Pirkl: Larnach will outhomer Wallner, with at least 35 dingers.
• @Steven Trefz: The Twins will stop pinch-hitting (before the 8th innings of games), and their offense will improve by 1.8 runs per game.

We want to hear your bold predictions, too. Let us know who went too crazy, and whose takes were too mild—and enjoy Opening Day!