Nick Nelson

FORT MYERS - Minnesota Twins baseball returned on Friday night, though it won’t count even in spring training’s Grapefruit League standings. The Twins beat the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers baseball team, with Zebby Matthews starting and Cole Sands following him on the mound. Gophers pitchers faced a mix of veterans (Josh Bell - 1B, Kody Clemens - 2B, Gio Urshela - 3B) and top prospects (Emmanuel Rodriguez - CF, Henry Mendez - DH, Gabriel Gonzalez - RF; Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper subbed in midway). I’m not going to go over any of their stats, because it would create the false impression that any of it means anything. Instead, I’ll tell you that it was a beautiful night, included a great sunset, and was appreciated by an appropriately sized half-full Hammond stadium. Matthews threw hard and seemed to feel good, which is probably the most important takeaway. Tomorrow afternoon, the Grapefruit League schedule will start with a home game versus the crosstown rival Boston Red Sox, and with Joe Ryan starting the game. Ownership Thoughts New Twins executive chair Tom Pohlad has spent the week in Fort Myers with his family, the team, management, and even the media. The message has been consistent: he wants to be hands on, he wants to be aggressive, and he wants the team to win this year. The reaction, of course, has been skepticism, because the Twins have consistently spent less under the Pohlads than the average MLB team for at least the entirety of 21st century. View full article

Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images The 2025 trade deadline saw a lot of outstanding talent shipped out by the Twins, with Jhoan Duran topping the list. It was a bold strategy for the front office, and the wisdom of their audacious gambit will ultimately be dictated by the impact of those players who came back in the veteran purge. Mick Abel, acquired alongside teenage catcher Eduardo Tait in exchange or Duran, stands out as one whose development will greatly influence how the controversial '25 deadline sell-off is remembered. Long viewed as a top prospect before debuting in the majors last year, Abel had an up-and-down rookie season that featured plenty of struggle, but also real indicators of future potential as a rotation building block. That included his final start of the year, against the Phillies, in which Abel was lights-out: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K. It was a performance that lived up to the hype of an overpowering arsenal, for which the 24-year-old has garnered much acclaim. While it's far from clear that Abel and his shaky command are going to succeed in the big leagues, especially right away, it is evident that he's ready for the challenge. There's little left to accomplish in Triple-A, where he's thrown over 200 innings. As such, it felt odd that — heading into spring camp — Abel appeared very much in line to start the season in St. Paul. With López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober locked into the top three rotation spots, Abel was competing for one of the final two openings against several pitchers with more MLB experience and more proven track records: Simeon Woods Richardson, Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews, David Festa. Even accounting for a bullpen conversion or two, Abel was going to need to leapfrog multiple guys ahead of him on the depth chart. But now, López is out for the year, causing a major shakeup in depth atop the rotation picture. Ryan and Ober each slide up a spot, and the back end becomes more of an open field. According to observations from early in camp, Abel is ready to make his case. In his "Live from Fort Myers" blog highlighting on-the-scene observations earlier this week, Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune wrote that Abel "looked like he was in midseason form" during his first live bullpen section on Day 2. "His fastball was sitting from 96-98 mph," Nightengale reports, "and he was mixing all his pitches." Derek Shelton, per Nightengale, was impressed with what he saw. “Abel is one of those guys that, I mean, you guys saw it last year, what he did to the Phillies late in the year,” the new Twins manager said. “He's got electric stuff. I mean, he throws the first pitch out of his hand, it's a 98-mph sinker to [Byron Buxton]. I mean, that'll make you smile.” Twins fans could use something to smile about in the wake of the devastating López news. Hopefully a clear path for Abel to step in and take hold of a rotation spot will be that. In a year that figures to be primarily focused on development and building toward the future, he's exactly the kind of player fans should want to tune in and watch. View full article

Genuine question: what "emerging young stars" are you looking to lock up in 2028-30 at high salaries? Royce Lewis? Matt Wallner isn't due for free agency until 2030. Luke Keaschall not until 2032. The Twins have essentially no payroll commitments in that timeframe, and there aren't any big expenses creeping up in the current core. If they're going to invest in winning during those years, they'll need to pay some veterans to supplement the young core. Personally, I'll go with the player who I know and believe in like Lopez vs some high-priced FA mercenary like Framber Valdez.

Image courtesy of Jonah Hinebaugh/Naples Daily News/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Twins spring training started with a thud on Monday. All of the customary positive energy and vibes from the opening rally cries and first full-squad workout were dampened by Pablo López's ominous report of elbow soreness. He underwent an MRI and on Tuesday we learned that its results confirmed, essentially, the worst: López has "significant tearing" in his UCL and is almost certainly headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery. There's no downplaying the catastrophic impact on whatever slim chances this year's Twins team had to contend in the AL Central. López is arguably their best player, and his absence will leave a huge void atop a rotation that needed to be Minnesota's carrying strength if they were to take the league by surprise. In my opinion, though, that was already a pretty substantial long shot. And it's not just my opinion: Even with a healthy López, the Twins had a Vegas over/under of 73.5 wins, and I don't think any projection system pegged them as even a .500 team. The bullpen and lineup challenges will be so much to overcome. The emerging young core hasn't quite arrived. As I wrote in my overview of the organization's talent landscape, 2027 feels like the most realistic target for any type of short-term contention. And through that lens, maybe the López news doesn't feel quite so dire. Look at it this way. The best-case scenario this year for López was a fully healthy rebound that saw him reliably take the mound every fifth day and resume pitching like a frontline starter. Those efforts would've probably gone to waste on a Twins team that lacks the offensive strength and bullpen to win regularly, so the odds of López being traded in this scenario — at the deadline or after the season — seem pretty high. But now, if he misses the entire season, López is all but assured of being back in 2027, albeit probably with a slightly delayed start. This would enable him to potentially support a more developed, well-constructed team with actual championship aspirations. Of course, with the CBA about to expire and labor tensions already running high, there's a distinct possibility that a lockout could wipe out some or all of the 2027 season. That'd be a bummer for the Twins and their timeline but look at it from López's perspective: He'll miss out on some or all of his salary in the final year of his contract, and he'll be staring down free agency as a 32-year-old with little production to showcase from the past three years, and maybe not a single pitch thrown in the past two. It's a sobering reality for the right-hander, who has built up an impressive résumé that includes an All-Star appearance, playoff success, and — previously — a pretty good track record for durability (he ranked seventh in the majors in IP from 2022 through 2024). He faces a great deal of uncertainty as he stares down a lengthy recovery from his second Tommy John surgery, and an ensuing lockout. This opens the door for a mutually beneficial contract extension that would give López some long-term stability and peace of mind, while theoretically securing his services post-2027 at a very favorable value. I'm not sure exactly what terms would make sense for both sides but I'm very interested in a multi-year extension that locks up, say, his age 32-through-34 seasons (2028 through 2030) for somewhere in the range of $15-20 million annually. It wouldn't exactly be new ground for the Twins, who signed Michael Pineda as a free agent and Chris Paddack to an extension under similar circumstances, albeit at a smaller scale. Results have been mixed in past instances. But with his legendary work ethic and exceptional talent, I have little doubt López will eventually come back strong from this latest setback, and I love the idea of entrenching him as an ongoing veteran rotation leader for whatever team emerges out of the current "reset." If Tom Pohlad wants to make a demonstrable investment in the future success of the team, this would be a good way to do it, and it's also a very sensible baseball decision for a franchise that seems destined to compete on middling payrolls. It's the kind of move that probably wouldn't have been possible if López had a healthy, stellar season this year and either got traded or priced himself out of Minnesota's comfort zone. Is this all a bit of mental gymnastics? Probably. It’s never good when your ace blows out his elbow and a season that already felt tenuous suddenly tilts further toward irrelevance. There’s real pain in losing López for a year — for the clubhouse, for the fans, and especially for him. But as someone who genuinely loves watching Pablo López pitch — the craft, the intensity, the professionalism — the idea of trading one lost year for several meaningful ones on the other side is the only silver lining I can muster right now. If 2026 was always unlikely to be the year anyway, maybe the best outcome is ensuring López is still here when the window actually opens. It’s a stretch, sure. It requires patience, optimism and a front office willing to act boldly. But at a moment when the short-term outlook just got a lot bleaker, betting on López being part of the next good Twins team feels like something worth holding onto. View full article

Image courtesy of Jonah Hinebaugh/The News-Press/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers reported to camp on Thursday, so spring training is officially on. Position players will trickle in over the weekend leading up to the first full-squad workout next Monday. Exhibition action kicks off with a contest against the Gophers on Friday, February 20th, followed by the first Grapefruit League game against Boston the following day. Coming off a 92-loss season, and a chaotic winter that saw more change off the field than on, expectations are fairly low but uncertainty is running high. The Twins have much to figure out and many questions to answer in the six weeks leading up to Opening Day in Baltimore on March 26th. Key Position Battles Backup SS: Brooks Lee has not proven himself in terms of ability or durability, making this a critical piece of depth. The main contenders are Ryan Kreidler, Tristan Gray and Orlando Arcia, with the latter needing to earn a spot on the 40-man roster. 4th and 5th SP: The three proven veterans — Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober — are locked into the top spots, leaving the bottom of the rotation open for competition. Presumably Simeon Woods Richardson and Taj Bradley are currently topping the chart, since they've got significantly more experience than the rest of the pack, but guys like Zebby Matthews, David Festa and Mick Abel could shake things up with strong, healthy showings. 4th OF: As things currently stand, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner appear to be the starting corner outfielders, at least against right-handers. Byron Buxton will of course be in center. The Twins need a player who can back up all three outfield spots, and might have room for only one between Austin Martin, Alan Roden and James Outman. 6th, 7th, 8th RP: The following bullpen spots are more or less claimed, pending health: Cole Sands, Taylor Rogers, Justin Topa, Eric Orze, Anthony Banda. These are all relatively proven MLB relievers. That leaves three spots up for grabs among a group that includes incumbents Kody Funderburk and Travis Adams, along with numerous NRIs and starters with conversion potential. It's going to be a free-for-all, but situational usage in spring games should give strong indication of who the team favors. Health Situations to Monitor Bailey Ober: His mechanics were a mess last year, which Ober admits was due in part to nagging injury issues. He spent the offseason trying to get right, but his velocity and overall quality of stuff in camp will tell the story. David Festa: His 2025 season ended with a scary diagnosis of thoracic outlet syndrome, but Festa avoided surgery and supposedly went through a fairly normal offseason. He's a really important part of their pitching plans, whether as starter or reliever, so hopefully the righty is able to quickly put last year's shoulder problems behind him. Cory Lewis: He's in camp as a non-roster invite and looking to put himself on the MLB relief radar, but Lewis and his intriguing knuckleball will be slowed out of the gate by a "moderate subscap" (shoulder) issue, keeping him down for at least the first two weeks. Matt Canterino: Recovering from shoulder surgery, Canterino is not expected to pitch this spring, but he's still in camp, soaking everything in. It's been a hell of a road for the right-hander, now 28 with just 85 professional innings thrown, but he's worth dreaming on because the raw stuff is amazing. Royce Lewis: No specific injury concerns, but it seems silly not to list Lewis as a health situation to monitor. Last year he suffered a hamstring injury in spring training that cost him the first month, adding to a string of misfortune that finally seemed to let up in the second half last year. How will Lewis look physically coming off an offseason spent building on his healthy finish? Top Twins Storylines to Follow in Camp Building a bullpen from scratch Sorting out the bullpen makeup and hierarchy feels like easily the most pressing challenge ahead of Derek Shelton and Co. this spring. They've got a lot of high-leverage gaps to fill and a lot of unknowns vying for opportunities. Exhibition games in March aren't always the best basis for informing important roster decisions, but that's the task at hand. Keep a close eye on who's getting put into games and when. WBC departures create veteran leadership void The Twins opted to build around their trio of veteran All-Star talents rather than trading one or more and committing to a full-on rebuild. They see value in staying relatively competitive, as well as keeping these respected voices in the clubhouse to guide a bunch of developing players. But for much of this spring camp, all three of Ryan, Lopez and Buxton will be away, representing their countries in the World Baseball Classic. That could create some tricky dynamics as Shelton looks to establish a new clubhouse culture, but the flip side is that there will be more innings and at-bats available for other auditioning players. "The one good thing about that this spring is because of the WBC, and we’re losing three starters to the WBC, we’re going to be able to evaluate guys in more meaningful innings. And what I mean by that is, the challenge with evaluating pitchers, especially starting pitchers, in the spring is who they face. Because all of a sudden they end up piggybacking or pitching innings 4-6 and then they get guys that may be in Double-A or Triple-A because Major League players have rotated out. This spring we’re going to have the ability to evaluate because three of our top guys are pitching for their country." - Derek Shelton to media including Twins Daily on Thursday Eyes on the shortstop position There's a reason I listed backup shortstop atop the list of key position battles above. The Twins have much to figure out at this all-important spot in the post-Carlos Correa era. FanGraphs has Minnesota ranked dead last in projected WAR at SS. We've got to see something from Lee this spring, or at the very least he needs to stay healthy and keep the back problems at bay. The notion of Tristan Gray or Ryan Kreidler as Opening Day starting shortstop is scarily plausible. Will Kaelen Culpepper make a statement and accelerate his timeline? Prospects showcase what they've got On that note, the biggest reason to feel optimistic and hopeful about the Twins — even if not in the short term — is the wave of talented, highly-regarded prospects who are on the doorstep of the major leagues. Many of them will be seeing plentiful action in Twins camp, including Culpepper, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Connor Prielipp and Gabriel Gonzalez. Up-and-comers like these offer the most compelling reason to tune into some of Minnesota's 25 spring games available to stream. It's been a long, tumultuous offseason and I find myself feeling as low on the outlook of the Minnesota Twins as I have entering any spring in a long time. Still, I'm very happy baseball is back and there will no shortage of things drawing my interest over the next month and a half leading up to Opening Day. What's catching your attention as 2026 spring training gets rolling? View full article

Image courtesy of Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Last year around this time, Twins fans were buzzing about the team's bullpen outlook. With Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax leading a deep unit, Minnesota was projected to have the highest fWAR in baseball from relief pitchers – one of the big reasons for optimism surrounding the 2025 club. In some respects, the bullpen was living up to this billing through midseason. At the point that they traded everyone away last July, the Twins did indeed rank first in the American League in fWAR at the position. And yet, the team was well below .500 and fading from relevance, largely because – for all the strong underlying stats and indicators – Twins relievers weren't making the desired impact. They ranked fourth in FIP but 23rd in ERA and 25th in WPA. The talent and ability across the relief corps were plain to see, but these pitchers were lapsing too often when it mattered most. It proved costly. So it goes with bullpens. We're talking about small samples and situational outcomes. Sometimes a good group of relievers amounts to sub-par effectiveness overall. The Twins are hoping for the opposite this year: a bullpen that is greater than the sum of its parts. Some of the outside factors have changed. There's a new bullpen coach leading the crew in LaTroy Hawkins, and a new manager determining usage in Derek Shelton. Other factors will likely remain constant: these relievers will be protecting slim leads (if that) and the defense behind them is not going to be very good. Despite parting with their three best relievers, and not replacing them with anyone on remotely the same tier, the Twins still have some intriguing arms in the mix and a track record for successful reliever development under Pete Maki. They have significantly less proven quality to work with than in the past, and the pressure will be high under Tom Pohlad's "be competitive" edict. For the Twins bullpen to hold its own, they need most, if not all, of the following things to happen. At least one more impact arm joins the fold There's no one left in free agency that's going to provide a slam-dunk upgrade at this point, but there are at least a few wild-cards offering the upside to be a real difference-maker if things break right. Michael Kopech is the standout name, but Shelby Miller and José Leclerc are other examples of veteran free agents who've been dominant at times. Trades are also still an option. The hope here would be to catch lightning in a bottle, if even for a temporary spell, until others break through later in the season. I'm reminded of how Brandon Kintzler sprung up as an out-of-nowhere All-Star closer in 2017, helping that team shock the baseball world coming off a 103-loss campaign. Cole Sands recaptures his 2024 form It's clear that the Twins are really counting on this. The only remaining holdover from the previous late-inning relief mix was one of its top performers in 2024, posting a 3.28 ERA and 85-to-12 K/BB ratio in 71 innings. He took a step backward last year, but the peripherals weren't as bad as the ERA and the stuff still looked pretty good for the most part. Sands in 2024 showed the profile of a credible relief ace. Last year he was barely good enough to trust in the sixth inning. In order to have a shot at competence this year, Minnesota's bullpen needs him to gravitate back toward his previous breakthrough form. Taylor Rogers and Justin Topa are extremely reliable These aren't ceiling-raisers but they can bring a needed level of sturdiness and steadiness to the table. Both in their mid-30s, Rogers and Topa aren't going to blow anyone away. You don't want them facing the opposing lineup's biggest threats in the highest leverage. But they've been around the block, they're crafty and they've both been perfectly solid in terms of recent results. Since 2023, Rogers has a 3.16 ERA in 162 innings and Topa's at 3.15 in 131 innings. Continue to operate at that level and these seasoned hurlers will play key roles in stabilizing the pen with experience. Surprising depth emerges What really worries me about the Twins bullpen is the depth. You take the three guys mentioned above, plus Eric Orze, plus hopefully one more decent addition, and you've got the potential makings of an okay unit. But as we know, people are going to get hurt. Probably in spring training. And then you start digging into the thin layers of depth left behind from the deadline purge. It's not just downgrading from, say, Jax to Topa in the eighth inning that hurts you. It's the corresponding downgrades for the fourth and fifth right-handers in the bullpen, where Topa used to slot. And it's the guys who are stepping into those spots if anyone above them goes on the injured list. As things stand we are dangerously close to seeing a large amount of innings go to the likes of Travis Adams, Marco Raya, etc. They Twins are going to need some unexpected and largely unknowns to step up and hold their own. This is where their self-belief will really be put to the test. Keep a close eye on the non-roster invites this spring to see who might establish themselves atop the reinforcement ranks. Prospects and converted starters quickly break through Ultimately, this will make or break the 2026 Twins bullpen. There's no two ways around it. It's clear that the team's plan is to transition some of their many starting prospects into relief roles, mirroring the approach that yielded Jax, Sands, Louie Varland and others. But who specifically will they push down this path, and how quickly will it pay dividends, if at all? The Twins have enough MLB-ready pitching outside of their Big 3 vets to instill some level of confidence, but they've got work to do in determining how it will all shake out. It's great to say, in theory, that a few arms out of a group that includes Simeon Woods Richardson, Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews, David Festa and Mick Abel will develop into effective bullpen arms, but putting that plan into practice is another story. You've got to get the players on board, you've got to accept the trade-offs in terms of SP depth, and you've got to make the switch actually click. It's not difficult for me to envision, say, Matthews and Festa offsetting a considerable amount of the dominance lost in relievers like Jax and Duran. Will it actually happen, and how long will it take? This question, more than any other, will dictate the upside of the Twins' relief corps in 2026. What am I missing? What else needs to play out this year for the Twins to find surprising bullpen success? Or is it a moot point given the personnel and timelines at hand? I'd love to hear from you in the comments. View full article

To be clear, I'm not expecting them to make all 5 of these moves. That said ... why not? The Twins can still have a decent catching unit without Jeffers and a decent rotation without Ryan. If they're going nowhere, you hope Kopech is having a good year and you can trade him at the deadline.

Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-Imagn Images Under Derek Falvey, the Twins front office developed a penchant for making moves — including some of their biggest moves — in the very late stages of the offseason. This was best exemplified by the Taylor Rogers trade, which took place on the eve of Opening Day in 2022, but there were plenty of others. It's possible that Falvey's successor, Jeremy Zoll, will eventually differentiate himself from this tendency. But by virtue of stepping into the lead role so late in the offseason, for a team with an unfinished and imbalanced roster, he almost has no choice but to pick up the mantle with some February or March moves. Given the team's circumstances, I wouldn't rule out one or more transactions of some significance. Here are five signings, trades and extensions I could pretty easily envision taking place before Opening Day. Not all would make the team better, but they'd at least provide a further sense of direction and long-term vision. Trading Joe Ryan or Pablo Lopez Yeah, the Twins have said they don't plan to trade either of their frontline starters. But the time for rallying season-ticket sales has mostly passed, and by now reality has to be setting in that this team is not equipped to contend in the AL Central, especially after Detroit's bold move to add Framber Valdez alongside Tarik Skubal top their rotation. Tom Pohlad might not like the business optics, but the baseball wisdom of trading one of these two premier starters is undeniable. It means opening up more innings for the young arms Minnesota needs to audition, while bringing back a haul to bolster the team's post-2026 outlook. The Twins acquired Ryan while he was competing in the Olympics. Could they trade him away while he competes in the World Baseball Classic? Trading Ryan Jeffers After acquiring Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson this offseason, the Twins now have three catchers. None have minor-league options. Conventional wisdom says they'll go with the two best ones, Jeffers and Caratini, while seeking a low-scale trade for Jackson or trying to sneak him through waivers at the end of camp. That puts them at risk of losing Jackson for nothing, and while the team didn't invest a ton to acquire him (Payton Eeles), it was something. Clearly they like him to some extent. The bigger risk for the Twins in this scenario is that they lose Jeffers for nothing after this season, when he's due for free agency. An opportunistic gambit would be to trade him now and roll with a catching duo of Caratini and Jackson. That'd be a clubhouse leader and quality player out the door, but again, if the Twins aren't contending, it doesn't matter. Jackson is under control for two more seasons so he'd provide some continuity at least alongside Caratini, who signed a two-year deal. Trading Trevor Larnach It would almost be more surprising if this doesn't happen. The Twins have to move Larnach or someone else in the lefty-swinging 1B/DH/COF mix, because currently the pieces simply don't fit together. He continues to be the most likely candidate, though he hardly offers clear surplus value at $4.5 million. You'd like to think the Twins can flip him for at least a decent middle reliever, which they could sorely use. But if such a deal were available, wouldn't they have already made it? Maybe spring developments will create new opportunities but it seems the front office is struggling to find takers for its superfluous lefty corner bat — not exactly a first for them. Signing Michael Kopech Finally, an additive move! The Twins made a play for Framber Valdez, so clearly they've been given the green-light to pursue a somewhat sizable investment as Pohlad pushes for an energy boost. There aren't many places left to spend, as the free-agent market has been picked over, but there's one clear standout atop the relief market. Kopech is hardly a big splash, but he's the last remaining reliever from The Athletic's top-50 big board (he was #50) and really the last chance for Minnesota to make a remotely emphatic addition to its needy bullpen. He's been oft-injured and rarely good, but the 29-year-old righty offers undeniable upside with his bigtime fastball. This is the team's last chance to truly bolster the relief pitching outlook via free agency. Long-term contract for Luke Keaschall or Walker Jenkins This wouldn't really impact the 2026 season, but it would generate some much-needed positive headlines for a Twins team that needs them. Extending young players and even yet-to-debut players on long-term deals has become in-vogue for MLB teams, and tends to be a win/win for both sides. The player secures generational wealth, guaranteed. The club gets price breaks down the line if things to plan, with modest risk on their side. The Twins say they're serious about building from within and getting behind the talent they draft and develop. A move like this would be a statement to back that up. And while it might not make much difference this year, gaining cost control over Keaschall or Jenkins — whom I recently ranked as the two most valuable player assets in the organization — could make greatly improve the front office's ability to add around them in their primes. View full article

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images In major-league front offices, no moves are made in a vacuum. Many voices are in play and Twins fans are well aware that outside constraints (e.g. payroll limitations) can hold major influence. But ever since he was first hired after the 2016 season, up until his departure on Friday, Derek Falvey was atop the chain of baseball command. Every move made over the past nine years has had his stamp on it. During that time, we've seen some of the best trades and boldest signings in franchise history. We've also seen a lot of misfires and missed opportunities that played a huge role in the inability of talented teams to get over the hump. These are my picks for the five best, and five worst, moves made by the Twins during Falvey's time in charge. 5 Best Twins Moves Under Derek Falvey The first Carlos Correa signing It's reasonable to look back at Correa's Twins career with some bitterness, given the shortcomings and early exit. His second contract with Minnesota was at best a mixed bag. But that shouldn't cause us to overlook what a monumental, game-changing moment his first signing was. Announced out of nowhere in the middle of the night, Correa's bombshell contract – three years, $105 million with opt-outs – seemed to redefine what was possible for the Twins franchise. They had never waded into these kinds of free agency waters before. This was a statement signing that they (briefly) followed through on the next year, And although the 2022 season proved to be a disappointment overall, Correa produced one of the best seasons for a shortstop in team history, posting 4.6 fWAR and setting the stage for an unlikely return. The Joe Ryan trade Now this is how you "sell" at the deadline. When the Twins fell out of contention in 2021, they made hay with their best expiring asset, trading Nelson Cruz to the Rays for two pitching prospects. One of those prospects came to the majors almost immediately, and has been excelling in the Minnesota rotation ever since, to the point where he's now arguably their ace. This was a rare moment where the Twins managed to outfox a Rays front office that they so admired and aspired to emulate. Easily one of the best trades in franchise history. The Pablo López trade The López trade doesn't rate quite as highly as Ryan, since the Twins had to give up more substantial value for him, but it looked smart at the time and looks genius in retrospect. Luis Arraez has declined rapidly since the trade while López – whom the Twins quickly extended – instantly solidified his status as a frontline starter, which he has maintained since. He led the way in two playoff victories in 2023 and will likely start on Opening Day for a fourth consecutive season. The Byron Buxton contract extension For a long time, it looked like this wasn't going to happen. Unable to find common ground on an extension as free agency approached, the Twins were actively exploring trades for Buxton before finally managing to reach an agreement just ahead of the 2021 lockout. The seven-year, $100 million contract was very favorable to the team, built around incentives due to Buxton's availability concerns. It has already paid for itself based on his performance on the field, despite injuries and missed time. Drafting Ryan Jeffers There are a lot of other candidates I thought about throwing in here: the Escobar-for-Durán trade, the Willi Castro signing, the Royce Lewis selection. Bailey Ober deserves mention as well. But I think it's fair to say Jeffers was the biggest draft success story of the Falvey era – the one position player who has developed into an above-average, multi-year major-league regular. Perhaps that is damning with faint praise, given that Jeffers hasn't been a spectacular player or All-Star, but we've seen how hard it is to develop a good big-league catcher. 5 Worst Twins Moves Under Derek Falvey The 2024 trade deadline As you'll see, most of the low points from Falvey's tenure revolve around the trade deadline. Missed opportunities to supplement good or borderline rosters will haunt memories from this stretch of competitive seasons where the Twins too often fell short of their potential. The deadline in 2024 was a perfect example. When it arrived the Twins were very much in contention, 11 games above .500 at the end of July. At the deadline, the front office did nothing of consequence; in fact, trading only for Trevor Richards – a replacement-level reliever who'd be released weeks later – was almost worse than nothing. This set the stage for a full-on collapse to ensue, with no added quality depth to help weather the storm. The 2019 trade deadline Unlike the 2024 team, the 2019 team didn't need saving. It needed reinforcements. The Bomba Squad was perhaps the best regular-season Twins teams ever, but got swept out of the playoffs. There's no guaranteeing savvier pickups at the trade deadline would've changed that outcome, but Sam Dyson was a disaster and Sergio Romo didn't move the needle enough. If ever there was a time to think big. The Alex Colomé signing Rarely has a singular offseason acquisition tanked an entire season like this. Signed as a free agent to handle the closer position in 2021, Colomé repeatedly melted down in key spots while the Twins dug an inescapable early-season hole. It's one of several examples that makes me raise an eyebrow when people intimate that building a bullpen on the fly is easy. The Ryan Pressly trade Ope, another deadline trip-up. I view letting Pressly get away as perhaps the single most regrettable move of Falvey's time at the helm. He would've been under control in 2019, when the Twins were scrambling for the likes of Dyson and Romo at the deadline, but instead was flipped in 2018 for Jorge Alcala and Gilberto Celestino. Pressly went on to become Houston's bullpen ace for several years, helping the Astros win a World Series. A former Rule 5 pick, Pressly was one of the biggest reliever development success stories for Minnesota in decades, but the front office – intent on "selling high" with extended control remaining – let him get away before his impact could be fully felt. You hope the same doesn't happen with the players lost in this final set of moves... The 2025 firesale I know this wasn't all driven by Falvey or the front office. Maybe not even mostly. But still, you have to hold the baseball decision-makers accountable for some truly baffling baseball decisions. On their own, many of the trades at least year's deadline made sense, but in totality this scorched-earth sell-off completely obliterated any realistic hopes of contention in 2026, which now looks like a glaring misstep in light of Tom Pohlad's directive to field a competitive squad this year. Had the Twins not sold off four key controllable players, that would have actually been viable. What are your thoughts? Which highs and lows did I miss from Derek Falvey's nine-year tenure as Minnesota Twins baseball leader? Where are you hoping to see the team improve in his absence? Sound off in the comments. View full article

Image courtesy of © David Berding-Imagn Images "We will be competitive in 2026," said Tom Pohlad on Friday, reiterating an assertion he's made multiple times since taking over as controlling owner of the Minnesota Twins in December. It's a proclamation that defies reality, and certainly hasn't been backed by any significant action on the roster-building front. Coming off a 92-loss season, mired in question marks, and lacking much in the way of relief pitching, the Twins face a steep uphill climb to fulfill Pohlad's ambition. That point of friction seems to be what resulted in Derek Falvey stepping aside. While this split has been positioned by the team as "mutual," Falvey could surely see the writing on the wall and was ready to move on. Opinions will vary on the effectiveness of his tenure, but no one can deny Falvey has been stifled and railroaded repeatedly in trying to do his job over the past couple years. Minnesota's 2023 success was immediately followed by a momentum-shattering payroll slash, with sharper spending limits imposed since. The about-face in strategic direction this winter had to be the final straw from Falvey's point of view. The Twins' approach at the deadline clearly signaled intentions for a rebuild, or at the very least a temporary reset. Shipping out 10 players set the stage for a presumed follow-through in the offseason that would see the Twins trade Pablo Lopez and/or Joe Ryan (who was by all accounts very nearly dealt in July) for peak remaining value. This was a tough pill to swallow for Twins fans, but in the aftermath of what Minnesota did at the deadline, it was the only viable option. That is, until ownership threw a curveball and Tom took over from Joe as executive chair. With him, the new figurehead brought a contradictory mandate: compete now. No kicking the can down the road. As a fan, I can appreciate what Pohlad is trying to do. He sees that interest in the team is spiraling, he knows the difficult road ahead for Major League Baseball, and he wants to temper the crash in fan morale by demonstrating some level of care and investment. Thus, we have the "we're going to compete" campaign, and the green light for modest acquisitions like Josh Bell and Victor Caratini. (Not to mention calling up canceled season ticket-holders personally.) But here's the thing: it's too late. The die was cast for the 2026 season at the deadline when the front office traded three top relievers under team control, as well as Carlos Correa with no expectation of backfilling his salary. If the Twins were going to have a shot at rebounding from those losses, it was going to take higher-scale moves than Bell, Caratini and an army of waiver claims or scrap-heap signings. The Twins are projected in Vegas for 72-74 wins, which seems a very fair expectation objectively. Derek Falvey knew it, helping explain his decision to jump ship. He was in line to be a scapegoat this summer, following in the footsteps of Rocco Baldelli, and he got out ahead of it. As for the motivations of Tom Pohlad and the Twins? Those are harder to reason, both in this instance and at a broader level. Parting ways with Falvey at this peculiar moment feels more like a denial of reality than an inspired shakeup. "We're in the business of winning baseball games," Pohlad said back in December when he took over the reins. But therein lies the problem: business savvy doesn't win baseball games. It takes visionary baseball leadership and sound big-picture decision-making. The departure of Falvey leaves a huge experiential void in that department, while the Twins navigate aimlessly into a season that is bound to disappoint. View full article

If I thought this was true I'd probably be a lot less invested in this discussion but I currently think Adams is a major odds-on favorite to make the Opening Day bullpen, as would Ohl if he were still here. For an 8-man bullpen you've got the following 5 semi-locks due to experience: Sands, Rogers, Funderburk, Topa, Orze Then you've got a pool of starters who could eventually be transitioned to relief, but likely not before Opening Day: Festa, Matthews, Bradley, Abel And these are the remaining pitchers on the 40-man: Adams, Prielipp, Morris, Raya, Rojas, Klein. Adams is the only one from that group with any MLB experience, or really any relief pitching experience. Do we think it's likely that 3 others leapfrog him? In terms of overall expected impact in 2025, Adams is fairly low. In terms of immediacy of impact, he's fairly high. And that matters because the Twins have to find a way to avoid digging themselves into irrelevance before others have a chance to step in.

After they traded a majority of their bullpen at the trade deadline last year, the Twins had a bunch of bullpen innings to cover in the final two months. Many of those went to marginal veteran placeholders like Thomas Hatch, Michael Tonkin, Erasmo Ramirez and Genesis Cabrera. More intriguing to follow were internally-developed arms Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl, who ranked 6th and 7th in pitching appearances for the Twins after July 31st. While hardly top prospects or household names, Adams and Ohl seemed like credible contenders to carve out a role in Minnesota's reconstructed relief corps. As unremarkable minor-league starters whose stuff and results showed potential to jump in shorter stints, both looked similar enough to many of the pitchers who previously broke through in the Twins bullpen — including the remaining ringleader Cole Sands. Ohl was recently designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster, and on Wednesday he was traded alongside Edouard Julien to the Rockies. Adams remains on the 40-man, for now, and he's one of only six pitchers with any real experience as major-league relievers. That doesn't guarantee Adams will stick around through the spring, but the front office has continually shown an auspicious level of faith in the right-hander. I find myself wondering why. Let's compare Adams with the now-departed Ohl to try and figure out what's driving the team's confidence. Similar Track Records in the Twins System Adams and Ohl are both 26 years old. Both were drafted out of college in 2021 — Adams in the sixth round, Ohl in the 14th. In the minor leagues they posted similar numbers, although Ohl was a little better across the board in terms of performance. Here are their totals in five minor-league seasons: Adams: 407.1 IP, 4.44 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 1.27 WHIP Ohl: 394 IP, 3.61 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 1.3 BB/9, 1.13 WHIP Neither really ever emerged on the top prospect radar, although they'd occasionally pop up on longer lists and in sleeper conversations. Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic had Ohl ranked 25th on his 2024 preseason list, with Adams unranked, and then in 2025 had Adams ranked in the same spot with Ohl falling out of the top 40. This flip-flop points to an upward trend for Adams in the 2024 season (3.90 ERA in 127 IP at AA/AAA) and a downward one from Ohl (4.68 ERA in 102 IP at AA). It was enough to get Adams added to the 40-man roster afterward while Ohl went undrafted in the Rule 5. This also meant Adams was first in line for a major-league shot, debuting in early July of 2025 while Ohl had to wait until the end of the month. During their limited time in the majors last year, much like during the balance of their minor-league careers ... Ohl sure looked like the better pitcher. Ohl Outperforms Adams During MLB Bullpen Audition Let's be clear: neither of these guys was good in 2025. Ohl posted a 5.10 ERA in his 30 innings of work, although it came along with a 27-to-7 K/BB ratio and respectable 4.20 FIP. Meanwhile, Adams put up a brutal 7.49 ERA in 33 ⅔ innings, sprinkling in repeated blow-up spots. He averaged nearly a strikeout per inning but also walked 10.8% of opposing hitters, roughly double the rate of Ohl. What's really interesting is the way the usage of these two pitchers evolved in tandem. Early on they were used in extended, inning-eating roles, even making occasional spot starts. When the calendar flipped to September, and the Twins seemingly got a little more serious about trying to evaluate what they had, both were used almost exclusively in shorter, higher-effort, one-inning stints. Between July and August, Adams and Ohl threw 40-plus pitches in 13 of their 15 appearances. In September, they made 17 combined appearances and only one of those included more than 40 pitches thrown. It was Ohl's first outing of the month, in which he gave up four earned runs. From then on, his numbers: 8 IP, 0 ER, 9 K, 1 BB, 5 H. Among Twins relievers he ranked second only to Kody Funderburk in September WPA. On the surface, it was everything you'd want to see from a guy making his case to contend for a job in the 2026 bullpen. Adams didn't fare so well in the shorter September stints. His numbers: 10.1 IP, 9 ER, 10 K, 5 BB, 9 H. He couldn't be trusted to come in and pitch through an inning, much less do so cleanly. So Why Did the Twins Prefer Adams? I realize we are working with very small samples in the analysis above. I'm not trying to overblow the significance. But Adams has been outperformed by Ohl over the breadth of their careers so far, and especially in last September's mini-audition. Nonetheless, Ohl was first out the door. When you look at the repertoires it is a little easier to see why. Ohl's approach is built around excellent control and a standout changeup that he threw a ton (37%), but he doesn't have much in terms of a third or fourth pitch. His 91-MPH fastball is in the 15th percentile for velo and got blasted for a .370 batting average. It's tough to succeed in relief without at least a decent fastball as your base, especially without an assortment of secondaries you can credibly mix in. Adams' heater is nothing special but he throws it in the mid-90s and it held its own (.351 xwOBA vs. 432 for Ohl). He's got five different pitches he threw at least 10% of the time with the Twins, including a slider that shows real promise. You squint at him and you can see the raw profile that eventually turned into Sands, or even Griffin Jax. Regardless, Adams hasn't ever performed all that well in the minors and he got bashed in the majors. Despite an evident stuff advantage over Ohl, he was worse by almost any metric, including chase rate and strikeout rate. You might be saying, "Nick, I can't believe you've spent all this time weighing the merits of two borderline MLB arms like these," and you'd have a fair point. But it's been that kind of offseason, and as a result, there's a lot of pressure to get these decisions right. Even if the Twins add another veteran reliever or two, pitchers like Adams are going to get opportunities, and dark horses will need to emerge. For now, the Twins are committed to sticking with Adams in that mix, while Ohl moves on to see how his signature changeup plays in the Colorado altitude. While I'd like to believe they made the right choice, their history with keeping the right fringy relief pitchers is hardly infallible. View full article

Image courtesy of Jonah Hinebaugh/The News-Press/USA Today Network-Florida / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images There are 24 days remaining before Twins pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, FL, on February 12th to signify the official commencement of spring training. Here are 24 questions they'll need to answer as they steer toward the start of a 2026 season brimming with uncertainty. 1. Who's closing games? If the Twins were to carry a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning on Opening Day in Baltimore, who would get the ball to pitch the ninth? Is that pitcher currently on the roster, or still yet to be acquired? The former would be rather uninspiring, barring a big spring breakthrough from someone like Connor Prielipp. 2. Who's pitching the other high-leverage relief innings? Beyond the closer role, there are going to be a lot of important innings to be doled out to Twins relievers. They are presently short on compelling options for the setup and fireman roles. You hope newcomer Eric Orze can build on his solid rookie campaign and Cole Sands can rebound from a disappointing year. That would be a start. Much work to do. 3. How will the catching unit take shape? They're not going to carry three catchers on the 26-man roster ... are they? With Ryan Jeffers and now Victor Caratini topping the depth chart ahead of Alex Jackson — who's out of options and owed $1.35 million via arbitration — that's how things are currently laid out. Something seemingly has got to give. 4. How will Twins catchers handle the new ABS challenge system? This is a question faced by every team, with the implementation of Automated Ball-Strike challenges bringing a new twist for major-league batteries (and batters). For the Twins, who are currently getting familiar with a pair of new catchers in Caratini and Jackson, there's an added element of learning and discovery in play. 5. Was Royce Lewis's healthy finish a trend or mirage? The second half of the 2025 season saw Lewis look as healthy as he has in years, even though it didn't necessarily translate into outstanding production. Hopefully the positive physical signs carry over into this new season, helping him unlock his previous form. We'll likely know pretty quickly; Lewis got injured in spring training last year, and on Opening Day in 2024. 6. What will Josh Bell's split between 1B/DH look like? This matter because it will have an impact on the value Bell can provide — will a hitting-only role accentuate the benefits of his bat, or will too much time in the field prove detrimental? Of course, the answer to this question also has implications on who else can get playing time at these spots. There's no question the switch-hitting Bell will be playing every day if healthy. 7. Can Bailey Ober bounce back or is this his new norm? Ober has a history of showing up to camp with a few extra ticks on his fastball, igniting the imaginations of fans who wonder what a consistent mid-90s fastball could do for his repertoire. This year, following a major drop-off, a spring stuff boost for Ober feels like more of a requisite than a luxury. If he's throwing 89 MPH again in mid-March, what do they do? Anything? 8. Will Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez really still be here? The Twins have been insistent that they don't intend to trade either, and the rumor mill has gone quiet on both fronts. I still wonder. If a late push emerges among suitors, and the Twins take a realistic look at their contention chances over the next couple years, will they really turn down an aggressive make-sense offer for either or both? 9. Who will emerge among the second tier of starters? Assuming the top three veterans do all remain in place, there are only two rotation spots available. Simeon Woods Richardson has to be penciled in as fourth starter. That leaves one remaining spot for a group that includes Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Taj Bradley and Mick Abel. It sets up a competitive spring battle. Are the Twins really planning to send three of these clearly MLB-ready guys to Triple-A? Another "something's gotta give" situation, which is why I'm skeptical on question #8. 10. Which young starters will transition to relief, and how quickly? This is one of thing that might give. Moving, say, Matthews and Festa into relief roles would alleviate the starting logjam and help address the bullpen shortage. It would also be a fairly tough sell for two guys who still have rotation upside. Whatever the decision, the Twins likely need to make some firm calls early on so these pitchers can acclimate to their roles in spring training. 11. Will Trevor Larnach stick around? Maybe the biggest looming roster question at this point. There's little question the Twins would be very open to unloading his $4.5 million salary and removing some redundancy to their roster mix, if the right offer came along. But they don't want to lose a talented former first-round hitter for nothing — thus the reason they tendered him a contract in arbitration. 12. Other than Brooks Lee, who gets shortstop reps in spring training? The departure of Carlos Correa leaves the Twins without much in the way of proven major-league shortstops. Lee is the closest thing, having played the position regularly following the Correa trade last year. He's a question mark, and everything behind him even more so. Ryan Kreidler, Orlando Arcia and Vidal Brujan figure to try and make their cases in exhibition play. The divvying of opportunities among them will be interesting. 13. Is growth or regression ahead for Luke Keaschall? Keaschall was a spark of energy that catalyzed the Twins when he was on the field as a rookie. He's one of the biggest causes for excitement among fans this season. But all too often we've seen a promising young Twins hitter break through and follow up by taking a major step backward rather than forward. Can he avoid the pervasive regression bug? 14. How committed are the Twins to Kody Clemens? His trajectory toward making the team isn't in much doubt, based on comments from team officials. And that's fair enough, given some of the flashes he showed last year. But if he struggles for a prolonged period, reverting to his pre-Twins form (career 70 OPS+), are we really going to have to watch the team stand firm on its thinly-supported belief? Is there a level of play this spring that could push him out of the Opening Day plans, given the presence of Bell, Caratini and Wagaman? 15. Are the Twins really going to carry James Outman on the roster? He's out of options so they will be compelled to do so. But Outman looked really rough during his 60 games with the Twins after being acquired last year, both offensively and defensively. If he doesn't hit or show more in the outfield during spring training they've got to just let him go. Right? Outman turns 29 in May. Not impossible he passes through waivers. 16. Can any of the low-tier hitters they've added show anything with the bat? Needing to improve their offense, the Twins have brought in a lot of position players with very poor track records for hitting. Can guys like Kreidler, Jackson, Arcia, Brudal or even a theoretical bat-first player like Eric Wagaman shake off their woeful recent runs of production? It's going to be hard to score runs with bottom-of-the-barrel performers getting a bunch of collective plate appearances. 17. How open is the door for MLB-ready prospects? When the alternative is giving innings to fringe 30-year-old journeymen, or veteran hitters who have struggled over sizable samples, I'd just as soon give the reins to young prospects who could surprise, or at least benefit from taking their lumps. I'm curious to see if players like Connor Prielipp, Marco Raya and Gabriel Gonzalez might be given an opportunity to compete for roster spots. 18. Where will Alan Roden start the season? A particularly interesting case. The Twins acquired Roden in the Louis Varland trade because they viewed him as MLB-ready. He joined the team immediately, didn't hit, and then suffered a season-ending injury. The jury is out on his major-league viability, but Roden has a little to prove at Triple-A (.917 OPS) and he's 26. In a way it would feel strange for a semi-rebuilding team to send him to St. Paul, but I don't see how he fits on the roster alongside both Larnach and Matt Wallner — especially if Outman is there. 19. Where will Austin Martin start the season? He'll turn 27 in March, and like Roden there's not much left for him to accomplish in Triple-A, where Martin has 500+ plate appearances and an .816 OPS. He too is trending to be the victim of a roster crunch, however. His lack of a standout bat, or viability at SS/CF, work against his fit on a short four-man bench. 20. What will Derek Shelton do differently than Rocco Baldelli? With relatively little changing on the roster makeup front, the Twins are leaning hard on their coaching staff overhaul to shake up the dismal status quo from 2025. On the surface, Shelton doesn't seem to represent a significant change from Baldelli, who was dismissed following last season. But starting in spring training, we'll get a chance to see first-hand how he approaches and talks about the game ... and how the team responds. 21. Can voices of respected former players make a difference? In addition to Shelton and a handful of new coaches (including former players like LaTroy Hawkins and Grady Sizemore), the Twins are bringing a couple of recently retired, familiar faces: Michael A. Taylor to help the outfielders, and Ryan Pressly to help the relievers. It's an interesting tactic and I'll be curious to see how much these seasoned voices can resonate with some of the young big-leaguers finding their way. 22. What would it take for Eduardo Julien to avoid waivers? As things stand, he'll be coming to spring training to compete for a roster spot. And he'll need to win one, because Julien is out of options, so he'll hit waivers if the Twins want to send him to the minors. It's really hard to find a role that Julien could fill, even with a big spring, unless there are multiple injuries in the 1B/DH mix. 23. How serious are the Twins about leaning into stylistic changes? After the trade deadline sell-off in 2025, Baldelli and the Twins embraced a much more aggressive style of play, stealing and taking extra bases with abandon. There have been comments suggesting the team wants to keep leaning into this scrappy bygone identity, but you have to play to your roster strengths and this still isn't a team boasting much speed. 24. Will some of the team's best young players FINALLY stay healthy? The biggest reason to believe in the future of the Twins is the presence of near-ready potential stars in the likes of Keaschall, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez. But these guys have been constantly besieged and derailed by injuries. If that continues to happen, everything else almost feels moot. Minnesota needs its top young talents to stay healthy in camp and carry it over into the regular season. Did I miss anything? What are your biggest burning questions as you look ahead to spring training and then Twins season, which are suddenly not too far off in the distance? View full article

This also might be an incentive that helps pitchers get on board with transitioning from starter to reliever before they might feel the starting path has been exhausted. "You can stay in the minors and keep chasing the unlikely starter route, behind 8-9 other guys on the depth chart, or you can jump into the relief role and be in the majors right away."

Image courtesy of John Vittas-Fort Myers Mighty Mussels The Twins shipped out nearly a dozen veteran players at the trade deadline last year, and have done little to replace the lost talent and experience. Team leaders have asserted their intention to build from within, and to succeed on the strength of a system that is viewed by baseball executives (per a recent MLB Pipeline survey) as one of baseball's most underrated. If the Twins really want to follow through and put their (lack of) money where their mouth is, they'll give some of their prospects a chance to seize Opening Day jobs. There are at least five credible candidates, looking beyond Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez, who — while arguably deserving of a look after reaching Triple-A last year — are crowded out of a lefty-heavy outfield mix. That's one player type these current Twins don't presently need. Here are a couple they badly do need: relief pitchers, and right-handed bats. For that reason, I could envision any of these five players who've yet to debut in the majors catching on with the big-league team if they take spring training by storm. Connor Prielipp One of the factors that often prevents MLB teams from carrying a rookie straight out of spring training is service-clock manipulation. By waiting a few weeks, you can game the system for an extra year of control. That's not so much of a consideration for Prielipp, who turned 25 a few days ago. If all went perfectly and he stuck in the majors for good after making the team, he'd still be under Twins control through age 30. Among the arms they currently have, I'm pretty confident Prielipp is one of Minnesota's best relief options, injury and workload question marks aside. With his fearsome fastball/slider combo from the left side, he may very well be the best, or at least the highest-upside. Could Prielipp step into a setup or closer role out of the gate, with no major-league experience, just as Jhoan Duran did in 2022? I could definitely see it. Like with Duran, there's not really any reason to waste more bullets in the minors if he's healthy. Marco Raya Raya struggled mightily in Triple-A last year while working mostly as a starter. By now he and the Twins should be embracing the shift to a reliever role, and Derek Falvey has hinted as much. In short stints, able to maximize his effort and lean heavily on his standout slider, Raya could be a force. He seems to be an X-factor they are relying on for their rebuilt bullpen. That won't necessarily happen right away. Raya undoubtedly has the stuff but he's got to harness it consistently and manage his emotions. But if he is throwing heat and finding the strike zone in spring training, why not gamble on his potential in a relief corps that is currently lacking for it? John Klein Maybe my favorite dark horse heading into camp. Most Twins fans probably hadn't heard of Klein before he was added to the 40-man roster in November, but that decision came on the heels of a very strong season in the minors where the 6-foot-5 righty ramped up his arsenal and fanned 128 hitters over 106 innings in the high minors. He only threw 25 innings after reaching Triple-A, but Klein turns 24 in April and has the makings of a bullpen-uptick guy with a five-pitch mix that could be whittled down. His presence on the 40-man roster gives him an edge over other prospects or minor-league signings who would need to be added. Gabriel Gonzalez Shifting our focus from relief pitching to another need: right-handed hitting. The Twins are deep on lefty-swinging corner bats, including Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, Kody Clemens, Alan Roden and James Outman. Meanwhile they are very short on right-handed options to complement and balance this proliferation of portsiders. Yeah, you've got Austin Martin, but he hasn't proven to be much of an offensive force. Scrap-heap pickup Eric Wagaman is probably the de facto favorite to fill a platoon-type role, but he's not very exciting, and also he's got minor-league options so there's no obligation to go with him. Gonzalez distinguishing himself in spring camp and claiming an Opening Day roster spot is a fun thought. If the Twins want real right-handed punch, and a true weapon against lefties, he's maybe their best bet to offer it even at just 22 years old. Last year Gonzalez raked through three levels of the minors, slashing .368/.430/.592 against lefties and finishing with an .862 OPS in 150 PAs at Triple-A. The big snag here is consistent playing time. The Twins aren't going to have him on the roster starting twice a week, which is what a true platoon role would entail. For Gonzalez to have a chance, space will need to be cleared ahead of him. Kyler Fedko Fedko could be looked at as Gonzalez Lite. The underlying concept is similar. Promoting him straight to the majors would be a lot less audacious than Gonzalez, since Fedko is 26 and no longer really a development project. Because of that, the Twins would also probably be far more comfortable carrying him in a part-time role. Despite Fedko posting a strong .855 OPS at Triple-A last year, he didn't make believers of the Twins, who declined to promote him late in the year or add him to the 40-man roster after. Fedko went unpicked in the Rule 5, so apparently the rest of the league weren't big believers either. But he's still a guy on the prospect radar — ranked 18th on Twins Daily's list, and 33rd on Aaron Gleeman's latest — with a skill set that could suit the club's short-term needs. Anyone I'm missing? Who's your dark horse prospect to make his MLB debut on Opening Day? Share your thoughts in the comments. View full article