The Twins are heading into the winter with more questions than obvious answers, and the biggest ones all point in the same direction: roster turnover is coming.
At catcher, the situation starts with Ryan Jeffers. Minnesota has not said whether it plans to extend a qualifying offer, though general manager Jeremy Zoll said the club would have the authority from ownership to do it if that’s judged to be the right baseball move.
Jeffers, meanwhile, wants to test the market as a free agent. The Twins could still bring him back, but the market should be competitive, which means they need alternatives.
Victor Caratini fits as a backup, not as a primary catcher, and Vahn Lackey is moving quickly but is not viewed as a 2027 solution. That leaves the Twins looking beyond the roster, and the free-agent class does not offer much help.
After Jeffers, the market is led by Tyler Stephenson and Carson Kelly, making a trade look like a real possibility.
The rotation is crowded in a different way. Right now, the Twins have at least eight, and maybe nine, names in the mix for next season: Taj Bradley, Joe Ryan, Pablo López, Dean Kremer, Bailey Ober, Connor Prielipp, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel and perhaps Kendry Rojas.
That kind of depth is a luxury, but it also creates pressure. Four of those pitchers - Ryan, López, Kremer and Ober - are eligible for free agency after 2027, and the club is unlikely to want to head into next winter staring at the possible loss of four-fifths of its rotation.
With other holes to fill and too many arms for too few spots, moving at least one veteran starter feels likely.
The outfield has its own logjam. Byron Buxton is returning from injury, and if he’s healthy, he’s the center fielder.
Beyond him, the Twins have Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez, both of whom made strong first impressions in the majors. Trevor Larnach had a strong season, Alan Roden proved he can hit, Austin Martin is still in the mix, and Gabriel Gonzalez is getting close.
Matt Wallner remains on the 40-man roster, though he’s almost certainly done playing for the Twins. Even with the designated hitter spot, there’s only so much room, and that should push the team toward dealing from strength.
Larnach stands out as a possible trade candidate because of his rising salary and the organization’s preference for more athletic players.
Royce Lewis is another fit question. He stayed healthy this season, but his bat was too uneven.
After getting recalled from Triple-A, he caught fire for a stretch, then finished at .227/.287/.380, which is not enough production for an everyday big league first baseman. That’s the problem: first base looks like the only open lane.
Kody Clemens has clearly taken over second base, and Brooks Lee has clearly taken third. If the Twins don’t believe Lewis has more to give offensively, they may decide to move him.
And then there’s payroll, the question that hangs over all of it. Chairman Tom Pohlad has said repeatedly that he intends to spend, most recently using the phrase “invest meaningfully” in the 2027 payroll.
What that actually means is still unclear. Neither he nor Zoll has put a number on it, and until the Twins know what range they’re working with, it’s hard to say how aggressive they can be this winter.
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Twins Face A Real Roster Squeeze With Alan Roden
Alan Roden has done enough since coming over from Toronto to make the Twins pay attention. He has hit well at Triple-A, shown something in his limited major league looks and given Minnesota the kind of defensive flexibility teams like to stash on a bench when injuries start piling up. On a roster that always seems to need depth, there is a clear case for keeping a player like Roden around because he can help in more than one spot and has already shown he can handle the jump in competition.
The problem is the Twins are not short on young position players who also deserve room to grow, which makes every roster decision feel like a small referendum on the organizations direction. Roden fits the profile of a useful big league piece, but Minnesota also has to weigh whether his immediate value is worth blocking some of the younger bats the club believes could bring more upside. For now, he sits right in the middle of that debate, and the squeeze only gets tighter from here. [Read more 🡒]