The offseason is about to hit fast, and the Twins are in position to make noise once the market opens.
The World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers begins Friday night, and free agents can sign five days after the Fall Classic ends - as early as Nov. 1 and as late as Nov. 5. With a lockout looming, the market could heat up quickly, just like it did in the 2021-22 offseason, when teams raced to get deals done before the shutdown.
Minnesota also appears ready to spend. Control person Tom Pohlad said payroll will rise, which should put the Twins in the mix for free agents as they try to shape the roster for next season.
One sensible way to attack the market is to look around the division. Here is one realistic target from each AL Central rival.
Detroit’s Jack Flaherty fits the bill as a potential rotation add. The 10-year MLB veteran just finished a two-year, $35 million deal with the Tigers, and his season was a messy one.
Injuries played a big role, and he finished with a 4.48 ERA and 103 strikeouts in 88 1/3 innings. At 31, he could come at the right price, and Minnesota could use more starting-pitching depth.
If the Twins move on from Joe Ryan and/or Bailey Ober this winter, Flaherty suddenly looks even more useful.
Kansas City’s Carlos Estévez brings a different kind of appeal. The right-handed reliever would be a buy-low target for Minnesota after making only one big-league appearance this past season because of multiple injuries.
He also has a $13 million club option for 2027 that the Royals will most likely turn down. Estévez, 33, was in the 2025 All-Star Game for Kansas City after posting a 2.45 ERA over 66 innings with 54 strikeouts.
He also turned in a 2.45 ERA in 2024 and made the AL All-Star Team with the Los Angeles Angels in 2023.
Cleveland’s Foster Griffin is another arm the Twins should have on the radar. Like Flaherty, he would help with rotation depth, though he would come at a higher price.
Griffin signed a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Washington Nationals after three years in Japan and put up a 3.06 ERA over 129 1/3 innings before getting traded to Cleveland. His time with the Guardians was shakier, as he posted a 5.19 ERA over nine starts, but his 3.54 FIP suggests there was more underneath.
In the 2026 playoffs, he allowed four runs in 10 1/3 innings while striking out 15.
Chicago’s Randal Grichuk offers a more specific fit. The Twins already have a crowded outfield with Byron Buxton, Luke Keaschall, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez, but a right-handed platoon bat still makes sense. Jenkins and Rodriguez both hit left-handed, and Grichuk could be the kind of hitter who steps in against southpaws.
Grichuk started the season with the New York Yankees before they designated him for assignment in late April. He elected free agency and landed with the White Sox, where he became a useful platoon piece. Against left-handers in 2026, he hit .327/.371/.655 with 11 homers in 165 at-bats.
In Other News...
Tommy Nance Gave The Twins A Bullpen Decision To Make
Tommy Nance spent enough time in the majors last season to make himself a familiar name again, and by the end of the year he had also made the Twins think a little harder about what he can be in a bigger role. He opened 2026 on the Blue Jays Opening Day roster, logged a career-high 59 appearances and generally stayed on the mound, aside from some midseason forearm discomfort that did not knock him off track for long. Even so, the late-season version of Nance was not quite as sharp, with fatigue showing up in the way he located his pitches.
For Minnesota, that creates a pretty straightforward offseason question: how much trust does a reliever like Nance earn after a season that was durable but uneven? He has already said he wants more high-leverage chances with the Twins in 2027, and the next step is getting himself into a place where his stuff is ready sooner and his command holds up deeper into the year. The bullpen market is always about proving you can be useful when the game tightens, and Nance has at least given the Twins a reason to keep that conversation going. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Face One Big Offseason Question About Their Top Prospects
Minnesotas offseason planning has already turned toward the next question fans will be watching closely: how the club uses its prospect depth to reshape the major league roster. Owner Tom Pohlad has said the payroll may rise in 2027, but for now the Twins are still weighing how to get the most value out of a farm system that has given the organization real leverage as it looks for ways to respond to recent performance and fit the current roster better.
Thats where the discussion around the upper minors gets interesting. The Twins have enough talent in the pipeline to consider dealing from strength, and the most obvious names sit in areas where the system has backed itself into a decision. With catcher depth and a crowded outfield both part of the equation, Minnesota may be willing to move some of its better young pieces if it believes that is the cleanest path to helping the big league club sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Bullpen Outlook Suddenly Centers On One Intriguing 2027 Role
Minnesotas bullpen picture for 2027 already has a familiar shape to it, but Travis Adams has a way of changing the conversation. After spending 2026 as part of the relief mix, he emerged as one of the more interesting evaluation points in the group, showing enough swing-and-miss ability and enough feel for his breaking pitches to stand out in a unit still sorting through its long-term answers.
The larger question for the Twins is how much weight to give those encouraging underlying signs when the roster gets reshuffled again. Adams still has areas to smooth out, and the bullpen as a whole remains a place where role clarity can shift quickly, but his case is the one that could matter most if the front office starts mapping out who fits into the future and who is simply filling innings for now. [Read more 🡒]