American League Central Preview: Minnesota Twins

This is a look at what to expect from the Minnesota Twins this season.

The Twins finished in fourth in the AL Central with a 70-92 record, after a trade deadline where they traded 10 major leaguers as part of a reset/rebuild/reboot (depends on who you ask). This marked a step back from 2024, when they went 82-80, and a hefty step back from 2023, when they won the division and their first playoff series in over 20 years.

Here is a look at some notable additions and subtractions for the Twins this offseason.

Twins Subtractions

• 2B Edouard Julien (trade with Rockies)
• C Christian Vazquez
• RP Pierson Ohl (trade with Rockies)

Twins Additions

• C/1B Victor Caratini, 2 years, $14 million
• 1B/DH Josh Bell 1 year, $7 million
• RP Taylor Rogers - 1 year, $2 million
• RP Liam Hendriks (minor league deal)
• RP Anthony Banda (trade with Dodgers)
• SS Orlando Arcia (minor league deal)
• 3B Gio Urshela (minor league deal)
• RP Andrew Chafin (minor league deal)

These additions and subtractions don’t tell the whole story, as the Twins traded 10 major leaguers at the 2025 deadline. Josh Bell and Victor Caratini add needed experience to a young lineup.

After the trade deadline sell-off, the bullpen is wide open for opportunities from veteran and young arms alike. Taylor Rogers signed a one-year deal to reunite with Minnesota and will likely pitch high-leverage innings. Other high-leverage innings will go to Liam Hendriks, if healthy, along with Anthony Banda, and possibly Andrew Chafin as well. Internal options for high-leverage innings include Cole Sands and Justin Topa.

The additions may seem to outweigh the subtractions, but they do not account for the ten players traded at the deadline, and the Twins are very much a team in transition as they look to retool to become competitive in the near future.

Every team deals with injuries, and the Twins are no different. Here is a look at a few key injuries that will affect the Twins in 2026.

Twins Injuries

• RHP Pablo Lopez, Tommy John Surgery
• RHP David Festa, right shoulder impingement (expected return in April)
• RHP Travis Adams, elbow inflammation (should return late Spring training, early in the season)
• OF Walker Jenkins, grade 1 left hamstring strain (expected return late March)

The loss of Pablo Lopez was quite a blow for a Twins rotation that was looking for him to be his all-star caliber self and lead the staff, along with Joe Ryan. Lopez is under contract through 2027 and is expected back for the final year.

David Festa, Travis Adams, and Walker Jenkins are all players who have dealt with injuries this Spring and will look to be ready for the beginning of the season or early in the season. Festa’s injury, in particular, was tough, which will test the pitching depth early in the year. The Twins hope these three players do not have long-term availability issues stemming from injuries sustained during Spring Training.

As a team in transition, here is a look at some of the key players for the Twins in 2026.

Key Twins Players

• CF Byron Buxton - 4.9 bWAR
• SP Joe Ryan - 4.5 bWAR
• SP Simeon Woods Richardson - 2.2 bWAR
• 2B/OF Luke Keaschall - 2.0 bWAR
• C Ryan Jeffers - 1.2 bWAR

Byron Buxton, who recently played for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, will look to be the key piece of the lineup. Luke Keaschall was the only rookie who had a significant impact in 2025, but hopefully is the first of many young players who will make an impact for the Twins in the near future.

Woods Richardson, whom the Twins acquired along with Austin Martin for Jose Berrios from the Toronto Blue Jays at the 2021 trade deadline, will look to continue growing into a solid starter for the rotation.

Ryan will be the ace of the staff and will look to build off of his first All-Star appearance in 2025. The rotation has become a bit of a conundrum with a few injuries, but it could still provide upside, and Ryan will be a big part of any success they have this coming season.

Speaking of top prospects, here is a look at the Twins' top prospects, which includes four players in MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects going into the 2026 season.

Twins Top Prospects

1. Walker Jenkins - OF
2. Kaelen Culpepper - SS
3. Eduardo Tait - C
4. Emmanuel Rodriguez - OF
5. Connor Prielipp - LHP

This list includes four prospects who could be seen in the majors as early as this year. All but Tait have a good shot at the opportunity to make an impact at the major league level in 2026. Jenkins was the fifth overall prospect in 2023, in a class where the Twins jumped in the inaugural draft lottery.

Culpepper has a shot at sticking at shortstop long-term, but has shown positional flexibility and could be an option at second base or third base as well.

Tait came over to the Twins, along with Mick Abel, in the trade that sent Jhoan Duran to the Philadelphia Phillies at last season’s trade deadline. He is 19 years old and has shown high upside, but is still a few years away from the majors.

Rodriguez and Prielipp have both dealt with various injuries, with Rodriguez never having played 100 games in a season and Prielipp throwing just 112.2 innings since being drafted in 2022. Both have shown high ceilings, but the key will be staying healthy so they can have as big an impact as they can going forward.

Twins Spring Storylines (and beyond)

The Pitching Staff

The rotation looked relatively deep prior to the Lopez and Festa injuries, but lots of the success out of the rotation will hinge on Bailey Ober getting back to form, along with younger pitchers Simeon Woods Richardson, Mick Abel, Zebby Matthews, and Taj Bradley taking a step forward.

The bullpen is another questionable area, as the Twins traded all their high-leverage relievers at the deadline. The front office seems to think they can rebuild the bullpen on the fly, and time will tell whether they succeed. A few young players, such as Marco Raya, will transition into being a full-time reliever this year, but a lot will hinge on how some of the off-season moves perform.

Young Twins Players And Their Impact 

Luke Keaschall was the only Twins rookie in 2025 who had a major impact, but that could be different this coming season. Lots of young players are expected to get a good amount of time in the majors, including top prospects Jenkins, Culpepper, and Prielipp. Along with those two, other prospects who have a shot at making their major league debuts include OF Gabriel Gonzalez, LHP Kendry Rojas, OF/1B Hendry Mendez, along with pitchers Andrew Morris and Marco Raya as well.

The youth movement appears to have started in Minnesota, and time will tell what impact those players will have on 2026 and beyond.

Here’s a look at the projected lineup, rotation, and projected record for the Twins this year:

Projected Twins Lineup

1. Byron Buxton - CF
2. Josh Bell - 1B
3. Luke Keaschall - 2B
4. Matt Wallner - RF
5. Victor Caratini - DH
6. Trevor Larnach/Alan Roden - LF
7. Royce Lewis - 3B
8. Ryan Jeffers - C
9. Brooks Lee - SS

Projected Twins Rotation

1. Joe Ryan - RHP
2. Bailey Ober - RHP
3. Taj Bradley - RHP
4. Simeon Woods Richardson - RHP
5. Zebby Matthews/Mick Abel - RHP

Projected Twins Record

• PECOTA: 3rd place, 79-83
• FanGraphs: 4th place, 79-83

You may be surprised to see the Twins are projected to improve on their 70-92 record from 2025 at first glance. This appears to be, in part, due to the belief that certain aspects of the roster will improve, and that other teams in the division may regress as well.

The Twins have operated on a limited budget all off-season, and with a new person in charge of the front office, they will look to build up to relevance in the AL Central. It could be a very fun and exciting year in Minnesota, but it could also not go well, and the Twins could be trading pieces at the deadline again if things don’t go as they hope.

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