The Twins are staring at the finish line with 10 games left, and the math is ugly. They’re still hanging around the American League wild card picture, but they’d need to leap over a pile of teams just to get back into October. In other words, the clock has almost run out.
That makes the Ryan Jeffers situation impossible to ignore.
Minnesota’s trade deadline approach looks different now that the season is headed toward a likely miss. The front office did try to bolster the bullpen, and that part of the plan at least made sense. The bigger question is whether the Twins missed their chance to cash in on Jeffers when catchers were at a premium.
Backstops were hot commodities at the deadline. Teams around the league, including some in the Twins’ own division, were looking for help behind the plate, especially from the right side.
That should have put Minnesota in a strong position to deal Jeffers if the club was willing to think beyond the immediate push for a playoff spot. Instead, the Twins kept him, and if he leaves after the season, the return may be reduced to a compensatory draft pick from the team that signs him.
A reunion is still possible, but it does not feel like the most likely outcome. The Twins’ front office has not shown much appetite for spending meaningful money in free agency.
That could shift if baseball’s financial rules change this offseason, but there’s nothing concrete to suggest it will. Jeffers is making $6.7 million this year, his final season of arbitration, according to Spotrac.
And because there aren’t many impact free-agent catchers available, Jeffers could be in line for a strong market. That’s why the qualifying offer is part of the conversation.
For the 2026 season, it was $22.5 million. But given Tom Pohlad’s and his family’s financial status, it seems unlikely the Twins would want to take the risk of Jeffers accepting it.
There is at least some optimism on Minnesota’s side. Jeffers likes being in Minnesota, and that could leave the door open for a team-friendly return. The other advantage for the Pohlad family is time: the Twins have a long offseason ahead of them, including the stretch before the December 1st lockout begins, unless Jeffers reaches a deal before then.
In Other News...
Walker Jenkins Just Showed Why Twins Fans Should Still Believe
Walker Jenkins keeps giving Twins fans reasons to look past the standings and focus on what might be coming next. The clubs top prospect, called up Aug. 28 and ranked No. 14 overall in baseball, delivered one of the biggest swings of the night at Angel Stadium when he turned on a 100.9 mph fastball from Angels reliever Ben Joyce and drove a two-run, game-tying homer in the ninth inning. He added three hits on the night, a strong showing for a player still finding his footing in the majors.
The Twins still came up short in a 5-4 extra-inning loss, but Jenkins response mattered more than the final score in the long view. After a difficult start to his Major League career, he showed the kind of calm and competitiveness that teams want to see from a young hitter under pressure, and the performance only added to the sense that Minnesota may already have a cornerstone in the making. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Turn Wild Comeback Night Into Another Brutal Late Collapse
The Twins spent most of the night chasing the Angels after an early 3-0 hole in Anaheim, and for a while it looked like the kind of game that can get away from a team in a hurry. Instead, Minnesota clawed back, worked its way into a 4-4 tie in extra innings and got enough from a pair of starters who were both sharp deep into the game, with Taj Bradley and Walbert Urea each lasting seven innings and piling up strikeouts.
Minnesota still walked away with the wrong kind of familiar ending, though, as the Angels finished it with a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth. For a Twins club trying to turn a difficult night into something salvageable, the frustration is in how close it came to being a statement comeback, only to become another late collapse with another game still to come in the same series the next day. [Read more 🡒]
Rod Carew Just Gave These Twins Players Something Few Ever Get
Rod Carew made a familiar sight feel special again before the Twins opened their series against the Angels, showing up in uniform and spending time around batting practice and pregame meetings. For a clubhouse that has leaned on veteran voices all season, having a Hall of Famer like Carew in the room carried a different kind of weight, one rooted in the standards and history that still hang around the franchise.
Manager Derek Shelton and players such as Taylor Rogers and Ryan Jeffers welcomed the chance to be around him and pick up whatever they could from his experience. Carew means something on both sides of this matchup, with his number retired by the Twins and the Angels, and his presence offered a reminder that some baseball lessons go beyond the box score, even if the full impact of the visit is still more felt than measured. [Read more 🡒]