The Twins have spent years trying to find some real stability in the rotation, and Taj Bradley looks like the kind of arm worth acting on now rather than later. Minnesota acquired him as part of that search, and his season has given them plenty of reason to believe they found something. Through 19 starts, Bradley owns a 3.85 ERA across 107 2/3 innings and has struck out more than 27% of the hitters he’s faced.
That’s why the timing matters. Bradley is still more than three years from free agency, but he’s also about to become arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason.
That puts the Twins in a narrow window where a long-term deal could make sense for both sides. If they wait, his price only goes up.
Bradley’s season has already shown both the concern and the upside. Early on, he looked like one of the better young starters in the American League.
In his first 47 innings, he posted a 2.87 ERA, a 3.48 FIP, and 52 strikeouts against 17 walks. Then came the right pectoral inflammation that sidelined him in May, and the results dipped hard after Minnesota brought him back with just one rehab appearance.
Over his next five starts, Bradley logged a 6.57 ERA and 5.57 FIP, with 28 strikeouts and 13 walks in 24 2/3 innings. For a while, there were real questions about whether he had fully bounced back.
Those doubts have faded. In his next five outings, Bradley looked much more like the pitcher the Twins thought they were getting.
He put up a 2.32 ERA and 3.29 FIP, struck out 38 batters, walked only 10, and threw at least seven innings in three of those starts. He also had back-to-back double-digit strikeout games against Houston and Cleveland.
He stumbled in his first start after the break against the Cubs, but even that outing was better than the final line suggests.
That’s the sweet spot for extension talks. Bradley is just entering arbitration, which means his salary is about to climb, but he still hasn’t reached the kind of money that comes with free agency.
For him, an extension would mean security. For the Twins, it could mean keeping a frontline starter through multiple free-agent years while gaining some payroll certainty along the way.
There’s already a framework around the league for this kind of deal. The biggest recent example is Chase Burns, who signed a seven-year, $105 million extension with the Cincinnati Reds.
Burns reset the market for pre-arbitration pitchers, though he had less major league experience than Bradley and is also a better pitcher. More useful comparisons come from the next tier.
Boston signed Brayan Bello to a six-year, $55 million deal with a club option for 2030. Cleveland gave Tanner Bibee a five-year, $48 million contract.
Baltimore extended Shane Baz for five years and $68 million, and this weekend also signed Kyle Bradish to a five-year, $90 million deal. Bradish is older and a year closer to free agency than Bradley, so adjusting that contract down to a five-year, $75 million range with a pair of club options gets closer to the mark.
That gives the Twins a sensible starting point. Bradley’s age, upside, and flashes of top-of-the-rotation stuff make it easy to see why his camp would aim for a deal at or above that Bello-Bibee-Baz-Bradish level, especially if he finishes 2026 the way he’s pitched over the last month.
But there’s always the other side of the equation. Bradley may decide he wants to bet on himself, go year to year through arbitration, and chase a bigger payday later. Plenty of players choose that path when they believe their best seasons are still ahead.
The Twins can’t force the issue. What they can do is make the offer now, while the numbers still make sense.
Bradley fits the kind of young core Minnesota says it wants to build around, and every strong start only makes him more expensive. If the Twins believe he’s part of what comes next, this winter may be the best chance they get to buy out some of those free-agent years before the price climbs even higher.
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Twins May Be Creating A Keaschall Problem They Cant Hide
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The challenge is that the Twins are asking him to learn on the fly in a spot where mistakes are hard to hide. They have been shading him deeper in center to make the job easier as he develops, but that also changes the look of the defense and puts a spotlight on every read and route. Buxton can play shallower because of his elite range, and Keaschall is still trying to find the balance between protecting against balls over his head and being in position to attack the ones in front of him. [Read more 🡒]
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Ryan Jeffers and Trevor Larnach are the names to watch if the slide continues. Jeffers is in the final year of his deal and has drawn attention from clubs looking for catching help, while Larnach remains under team control through 2027 and could become expendable if the Twins decide their outfield depth gives them room to deal from strength. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Ryan Just Became The Twins Trust Test
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The harder question is what kind of message that would send to a fan base that has already watched attendance sag at Target Field and has little appetite for another summer selloff. The Twins can talk themselves into several paths with Ryan, including holding him, moving him later, or cashing in now, but any deadline decision will land with more weight than a typical roster shuffle. [Read more 🡒]