With the Twins’ postseason odds slipping further away, the most uncomfortable questions are starting to land where they always do: on the decisions that were made before the season ever began.
For Minnesota, the debate keeps circling back to two starters - Joe Ryan and Pablo López - and whether Derek Falvey missed the chance to turn that pair into a bigger organizational reset.
That conversation has plenty of hindsight baked into it, but it didn’t come out of nowhere. There was real buzz last offseason that the Twins might have to deal one or both veteran arms as they looked to reshape the roster and possibly trim payroll.
Neither pitcher moved. And now, with the season going sideways, that choice looks a lot harder to defend.
López is the trickier case, mostly because of what happened in February. He suffered a season-ending elbow injury just before the year started, something no one in the front office could have seen coming.
But the bigger point is what the Twins did - and didn’t - do before that. November, December and January were all there to work with while López was healthy.
He still had value as a proven starter and one of the better pieces in the rotation, even if his contract narrowed the field of possible suitors. Instead, Minnesota held him.
Now that value has taken a major hit.
The situation only gets messier from here. López is coming off elbow surgery, missed the entire 2026 season and is entering a contract year in 2027.
Even if he comes back healthy and performs well, there’s no guarantee he gets back to where he was before the injury. If the Twins think they can contend next year, that makes keeping him understandable.
A healthy López would matter. But if that run doesn’t happen, the club will be left with a decision that looks awfully expensive in hindsight.
Ryan, though, is the one that really sharpens the argument.
There was a strong case for moving him before the season, and that case only got stronger when the trade deadline came and went. Unlike López, Ryan was healthy, pitching at a high level and under team control for multiple seasons.
That combination makes him exactly the kind of arm contenders hunt for: not just a rental, but a starter who can help now and stay in place for years. That should have made him a prime trade chip, one capable of bringing back a significant return.
Instead, Falvey kept him.
Maybe the Twins still believed a postseason push was possible. Maybe they felt Ryan was too important to the future to move.
Maybe the offers never rose to the level they wanted. But the results since then make the choice easier to question.
The Twins didn’t make the playoffs with Ryan, so the win-now angle never paid off. And if the plan was really about the future, it’s fair to wonder whether holding onto him actually served that goal.
That’s what makes the whole thing so frustrating: Ryan was the most valuable piece on the roster, and Minnesota had chances to act. They didn’t.
There’s still a version of this story that ends cleanly for the Twins. If they believe next season can turn into a real run in the American League, having both Ryan and López in the rotation is obviously a plus. Starting pitching like that doesn’t grow on trees.
But that also means the pressure just keeps shifting forward. Both pitchers are heading into contract years, and both now carry less trade value than they did when Minnesota had the better chance to move them.
If the Twins get back to the playoffs next season and those two help lead the way, nobody will care about the missed deals. If they fall short again, the scrutiny is going to be relentless.
At that point, the issue won’t just be Ryan or López. It’ll be whether Falvey made the most of the window he had. And right now, that window looks like one the Twins may not get back.
In Other News...
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Lewis remains the most obvious name to watch because his presence in the middle of the order was supposed to help steady the group, but the recent production from those four hitters has gone the other way. When the bats go cold in September, the margin for error shrinks fast, and Minnesotas struggles to string together offense have become a direct part of why its postseason position has been so hard to maintain. [Read more 🡒]
Byron Buxton Just Put The Twins 2027 Outfield In Question
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One possibility being considered is a move out of center field and into a corner spot, a change that could ease the physical toll and potentially lengthen his career. It also adds another layer to the Twins outfield planning, because Buxtons durability has long shaped roster decisions and now leaves Minnesota facing more questions about what its future alignment should look like. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Just Showed Their Next Wave And One Prospect Fans Lost
The Twins latest roster move came with a familiar sort of minor league cost. Jhomnardo Reyes, who turned in a strong rookie ball season with Minnesotas Florida Complex club, was dealt to the Orioles for pitcher Dean Kremer, a reminder that even promising young outfielders can become trade currency when a front office sees a chance to address the big-league side.
Still, Reyes was hardly the only name worth watching in the system this year, and that is what makes this trade feel like part of a larger picture rather than a one-off transaction. Caden Kendle, Adrian Bohorquez, Riley Quick, Ty Langenberg and Paulshawn Pasqualotto all showed meaningful progression, giving the Twins a next wave that looks increasingly real even as one prospect fans had started to notice is now headed elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]