The Twins’ 2026 offense finished with a number that looks good on the surface and gets a lot murkier once you zoom out.
Minnesota was second in the American League in runs scored. That’s not a typo.
But it also came in a season where the club finished 8 GB of the AL Central crown and was out of the race for the third AL Wild Card spot well before the final stretch. The bigger issue is that the AL as a whole was a strange environment in 2026: Cleveland won the Central with 85 wins, Houston claimed the West at 81-81, and Texas hung around the East race and the Wild Card picture until the final weekend with an 80-win season.
That context matters. The Twins’ place near the top of the AL run-scoring leaderboard says something, but maybe not as much as it would in a stronger league year. In the broader MLB picture, Minnesota ranked ninth in runs scored, which is the more useful snapshot when thinking about what the offense actually was.
So while the lineup was not a glaring weakness, there’s still a real case for Jeremy Zoll to get the green light to tweak some important pieces this winter.
Five spots already feel set in one way or another, and catcher is first on the list. Everything there hinges on whether the team extends a qualifying offer to Ryan Jeffers.
The hope is that it does. If Jeffers accepts, Minnesota buys another year for Vahn Lackey to keep developing.
If Jeffers isn’t offered the deal or turns it down, the club would likely be looking at a Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson pairing, with another low-cost signing added for depth and competition.
Second base and right field look like a two-for-one puzzle. Kody Clemens and Luke Keaschall can rotate between those jobs, but the idea here is that Minnesota should add another player and not simply pencil Klobberin’ Kody and Young Master Luke into both starting roles. One of those positions should go to a new acquisition.
First base may be the most intriguing spot of all. Moving on from Royce Lewis would be a huge franchise decision after everything he’s been through, but the last two seasons have made him hard to project as the answer there.
Meanwhile, Josh Bell is almost certainly on his way out. The fit that would clean that up best is obvious: a real first baseman with some thump, and one who can actually handle the position.
In Other News...
Former Twins Catcher Suddenly Caught Up In MLB's Manager Shakeup
The Angels managerial reset has turned into one of the offseasons more surprising storylines, and it has pulled a familiar former Twin into the middle of it. Los Angeles declined the 2027 contract option on Kurt Suzuki after his first season running the club, a year that ended at 62-100 and brought the franchise its first 100-loss season. Now the Angels will begin looking for a new manager and coaching staff, putting an abrupt stop to Suzukis first crack at the job.
For Minnesota fans, Suzukis name still lands with some relevance because of what he was before he was a manager. He made his lone All-Star appearance with the Twins in 2014 at Target Field, and his latest career turn comes just as the Twins have settled their own dugout situation. Twins executive chair Tom Pohlad confirmed that Derek Shelton will remain Minnesotas manager for at least one more season, giving the club some stability while another familiar name heads back into the market. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Pitching Staff Could Be Headed For A Dramatic New Direction
The Twins are turning a key part of their staff over to Brian Reith, bringing in a pitching coach with deep roots in the Rays organization after Pete Makis departure. Reith spent the past five seasons with Durham, Tampa Bays Triple-A affiliate, where he built a reputation for helping develop pitchers, and now he inherits a Minnesota staff that will be watching closely to see how his approach translates at the major league level.
For the Twins, the intrigue goes beyond a simple coaching change because Reith arrives with familiarity of pitchers who could matter in Minnesotas immediate future. His background in the Rays system connects him to Joe Ryan and Taj Bradley, two arms whose development has already given evaluators plenty to study, and his philosophy could shape how the Twins handle their pitchers going forward. The question now is how much of that influence shows up once the season starts. [Read more 🡒]
Jeff Hoffman Gives Twins A Real Bullpen Question For 2027
Jeff Hoffman gave the Twins plenty to think about after arriving at the trade deadline and settling in as one of the more interesting arms in the bullpen. Over 18 innings, he looked the part of a high-leverage reliever, missing bats at a strong clip and showing enough on the mound to suggest Minnesota may have more than just a short-term solution on its hands.
The bigger question is whether the version of Hoffman the Twins saw late in the year can be trusted in the role that matters most. His pitch mix and underlying numbers point to a reliever who can compete for the primary closer job in 2027, but the command drift that showed up in Minnesota leaves the door open for the club to keep shopping for established bullpen help this offseason. [Read more 🡒]