Today the Minnesota Twins announced they traded INF Edouard Julien and RHP Pierson Ohl for RHP Jace Kaminska and Cash Considerations.
Kaminska, 24, missed the entirety of the 2025 season due to Tommy John surgery, but had a great season for Low-A Fresno in 2024 recording a 2.78 ERA in 87 1/3 innings of work while striking out 10.7/9IP. Kaminska was drafted in the 10th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of the University of Nebraska where he had a 4.13 ERA over 15 starts for the Cornhuskers, something strange is that he only struck out 57 batters over the 72 innings he pitched good for only 7.1/9IP. Kaminska was also a 2-time Gatorade Player of The Year in Kansas in Highschool. Though Kaminska was sidelined with TJ this season he still has a high upside for the future twins in 1-2 years as an actual big-league arm.
Edouard Julien looked like he was the next big thing after his stellar rookie season in 2023 where he played in 109 games for the playoff-bound twins recording a 2.6 WAR and a 130 OPS+ and finishing 7th in the Rookie of The Year Voting. Julien in 2024 just was not the same player though still recording a positive WAR on offense his performance dipped on both offense and defense finishing with a -0.2 WAR in 94 games. 2025 was much of the same, if not worse recording a -0.8 WAR in only 64 games this time. The Twins Front Office seeing this performance decided it was time to move on from him.
Pierson Ohl was added to the 2025 26-man Roster after the Twins sold off roughly half of their players during the 2025 Trade Deadline. Ohl was drafted in 2021 in the 14th round out of Grand Canyon University. Ohl made his debut in late July at 25-years old. Ohl was not very good during the summer months but started to play a bit better down the stretch. Ohl had an ERA of 0.00 in his final 5 games only allowing 3 hits and recording 7 strikeouts and walking 0. Ohl struggled versus right handed hitters with them averaging a .352 average with an OPS over 1.000 in 54 at-bats.
The Twins 40-man roster now stands at 39.
Today the Minnesota Twins announced that they have designated utility man Mickey Gasper for assignment and claimed infielder Vidal Brujan from the Braves. Gasper was acquired in a trade with the Red Sox last year that sent LHP Jovoni Moran to the Red Sox in exchange for UTL Mickey Gasper. Most Twins fans didn't care much for the trade considering Moran didn't pitch with the big league club in 2024 and that Gasper was a rookie at 29 and didn't record a hit in his 18 at-bats in 2024. Gasper looked very solid in spring training in 2025 batting .308 with an OPS over .900. But that Gasper never showed up in the 2025 Regular season, in his 95 at-bats he batted just .158 with 2 HR, 11 RBI with an OPS under .500 and a -0.7 WAR. But now with the Twins trading for Catcher Alex Jackson Gasper was pretty much out of a job.
Vidal Brujan was once a top prospect for the Tampa Bay Rays, born in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. He made his debut at 23 in 2021 but never hit, or had the speed he was advertised to have. Brujan started to bounce around teams after he kept struggling, Miami, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlanta, and now the Twins. Brujan was never supposed to be a power hitter - more like a top of the order slap hitter with speed, but even then he failed that expectation. Now with Minnesota where will he play, if at all? He will likely be fighting for a spot on the roster over guys like Edouard Julien and Kody Clemens in Spring Training in 2026.
Today it was reported that the Colorado Rockies have signed UTL Willi Castro to a 2-year deal worth $12.8 Million dollars. Castro was traded to the Chicago Cubs during the Twins infamous 2025 Trade Deadline for two pitching prospects in Ryan Gallagher and Sam Armstrong. Castro struggled immensely in the 2nd half batting only .161 with a -0.5 WAR. It got so bad that he was even left out of the Cubs 2025 Playoff roster. Castro is looking to have a much needed bounce back season with the Rockies and Coors Field will likely help him in that matter, he wont be competing since the Rockies are stuck in MLB purgatory currently and have been for about half a decade now.
Currently Fangraphs projects Castro to have a 1.2 WAR, while playing in 133 games while still having an OPS under .700. This move by the Rockies will give them much needed position flexibility with Fangraphs projecting him to play third and bat seventh, but Castro played every position besides catcher and first base last year so I don't believe most of his games will be at third.
Today it was announced that Twins slugger Byron Buxton will join Team USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Buxton joins an already stacked Outfield with Corbin Carroll (AZ) Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC) Aaron Judge (NYY) and Kyle Schwarber (PHI). As of right now there is no confirmed starting roster but if I was Team USA Manager Mark DeRosa, I would put the Outfield together like this - LF Corbin Carroll CF Byron Buxton RF Aaron Judge DH Kyle Schwarber with Pete Crow-Armstrong on the bench. Buxton Joins other Twins such as 2B Edouard Julien (CAN) and RHP Joe Ryan (USA) in the World Baseball Classic. But I suspect these wont be the final Twins on World Baseball Classic rosters.
Today former Minnesota Twins player Max Kepler was suspended 80 games for the 2026 season and is ineligible for the 2026 Postseason after being caught positive with Epitrenbolone which according to the USADA is a metabolite of trenbolone, an anabolic steroid. Kepler, now 32-years-old just finished his 1-year deal for $10 million with the Philadelphia Phillies slashing .216/.300/.391 in his worst full season as a Major Leaguer only garnering a 0.1 WAR in 127 games. As mentioned in the title Kepler was a great former Twins and the Target Field home run leader with likely Byron Buxton breaking it next season as he is tied with Kepler at 84 each. This suspension for Kepler could put his career in jeopardy as he didn't perform to standards last season and now he is suspended for roughly half of the 2026 season.
On Friday the Twins went out and struck a deal with the Miami Marlins trading LHP Kade Bragg for 1B Eric Wagaman. Wagaman who just completed his rookie season at age 28 is a solid backup for the Twins for 2026, Wagaman doesn't hit for power, or average really. But having him on the bench is better than not having a backup. Kade Bragg, the return for Miami was drafted by the Twins in the 17th round of the 2023 Draft out of Angelo State University. Bragg had a very solid season out of the pen for Double-A Wichita, posting a 3.22 era in 22 1/3 innings with a WHIP around 1.00. He could be a potential reliver for the Marlins pen in the future being only 24.
The day after, the Twins went out and signed SS Orlando Arcia to a Minor League deal. Arcia who played with the Braves and Rockies in 2025 was a worse hitter than usual posting a 33 wRC+ compared to his career average of around 80. Arcia was an All-Star in 2023 having a 1.7 WAR that year. What does this mean for the Twins though? Well if the current starting SS Brooks Lee struggles we may see Arcia in more than a few games in 2026 for the Twins.
While the Twins had their worst season in almost a decade in 2025, they have a much brighter future than they did back then. With many talented prospects either acquired from trades or home-grown’s emerging as potential play-makers. These 3 prospects intrigue me the most though as a Twins fan.
1. Walker Jenkins
To start this out you have to mention Walker Jenkins, the 2023 High School draftee from South Brunswick HS, North Carolina, Jenkins is a very exciting prospect for the Minnesota Twins for 2026. Jenkins started the season with a delay due to an injury sustained in Spring Training. He played a few games in the lower levels (Rookie Ball Twins, and Low-A Fort Myers) But once he got back to Double-A Wichita he showed his true potential, slashing .303/.404/.494 in the first two summer months before getting the call to Triple-A St. Paul in late August where he started off slow but finished strong to end the year. Overall the 20 year-old is a player to be very excited about from his Joe Mauer-esque swing, to his Juan Soto-like eye, with the only thing stopping him from becoming a star is injuries.
2. Gabriel Gonzalez
The second prospect I am very excited about is Gabby Gonzalez, The hard hitting Outfielder is a prospect that I feel has flown under the radar as a potential superstar. Acquired in the Jorge Polanco trade that sent Gonzalez, Justin Topa, Anthony DeSlafani, and Darren Bowen to the Twins. Gonzalez wasn’t much of a headliner last year, he only slashed around .255/.326./.381 in mostly Cedar Rapids, good for an OPS just above .700. In 2025 it was a night and day difference compared to last season, Gonzalez slashed .329/.395/.513 for an OPS of over .900 over 3 levels. He climbed up to Triple-A St. Paul by the end of the year and played better than the other two lower levels in his short stint there. Depending on how his Spring and the offseason goes in 2026 we could see him on the Opening Day roster.
3. Connor Prielipp
Finally, the third prospect I have high hopes for is Connor Prielipp. His stats might not jump out at you like Jenkins and Gonzalez, but the potential is on the same par. He has a devastating Fastball-Changeup-Slider 3 pitch mix which makes his stuff so good. He played in Double-A Wichita and Triple-A St. Paul this season where he started almost all of his games. Though when he does start he usually doesn’t pitch long, maybe 3-5 innings so we will see how that translates to the big league level. Along with Gonzalez, Prielipp is on the 40-Man roster currently. I’m curious to see what role he has for the Twins either being a starter that goes a few and the bullpen takes over similar to what the Twins did with Travis Adams and Pierson Ohl this season. Maybe he will be a bullpen arm, or even a full fledged starter. Like Jenkins, and Gonzalez we will have to see what spring training has in store for us this year.
The new generation of players is only starting for the Minnesota Twins and an exciting time for Twins baseball is on the horizon, so stay strong Twins fans.
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