The Twins don’t have to make starting pitching their top priority this offseason, but they’d be smart not to ignore it either. With Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Dean Kremer, Connor Prielipp, Mick Abel, and Bailey Ober all under team control for next season, Minnesota’s rotation picture already has plenty of names attached to it.
The bigger issue this year was health, not a total lack of talent. López and Abel were hit by major injuries, and Ryan later joined them on the shelf.
If that group is mostly intact next season, the staff should be in decent shape.
Still, depth matters, and the Twins have a clean fit staring them in the face after Boston’s latest move. Sonny Gray’s mutual option was declined by the Red Sox, opening the door for a possible reunion with the right-hander Minnesota knows well.
Gray turns 37 in November, but his 2026 season showed he’s still pitching like a front-line arm. He went 18-5 with a 2.72 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 169 innings over 29 starts.
The market is the real question. Spotrac projects a three-year deal worth about $58 million, while MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported that some in the industry expect Gray to land a three-year contract worth $75 million-plus.
That gap matters. Three years for a pitcher approaching 40 is no small commitment, but Gray’s production makes a strong case.
If the lower projection is closer to the mark, Minnesota has a real shot. If the higher number is what it takes, that reunion gets a lot harder to picture.
The Twins should still be in the conversation. Gray would deepen the rotation and give them another legitimate ace at the top. If he came back and López, Ryan and Bradley stayed healthy for most of the year, Minnesota could be looking at one of the best rotations in baseball.
This would also be a homecoming of sorts. The Twins acquired Gray from the Cincinnati Reds before the 2022 season, and he delivered right away despite missing time with multiple hamstring strains. In his first year with Minnesota, he posted a 3.08 ERA over 119 2/3 innings in 24 starts.
Then came an even better second act. In 2023, Gray put up a 2.79 ERA with 183 strikeouts across 184 innings in 32 starts, finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting, and led MLB in FIP at 2.83 and home runs per nine innings at 0.4.
He also played a major role in one of the biggest moments of the Twins’ recent run. Gray threw five scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 of the 2023 American League Wild Card Series, helping Minnesota win 2-0 and advance to the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros.
After that season, the Twins let him leave in free agency and trimmed payroll by roughly $30 million heading into 2024. Last year, Ryan told The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Phill Miller that he believed letting Gray walk was a huge mistake, and Gray wanted to return to Minnesota. With the Twins now appearing ready to increase payroll, the fit may finally be there again.
In Other News...
Miguel Sans Latest Season Says A Lot About His Post-Twins Future
Miguel Sans 2026 season in Japan offered a familiar mix of power and inconsistency, the kind of profile that still keeps him on the radar even far from the Twins old clubhouse. With the Chunichi Dragons, he got into 95 games and supplied the long ball that has always been his calling card, while also dealing with the kind of interruptions that have followed him in recent years.
San missed time because of injury and even spent a seven-game stretch on rehab with Chunichis minor-league affiliate, a reminder that durability remains part of the conversation around his career. The Dragons fell short of the NPB playoffs, but his season was strong enough to suggest his next move could come in Japan again, where the fit appears more realistic than a return to MLB. [Read more 🡒]
Twins May Be Betting Too Much On Three Unproven Rookies
The Twins spent the back half of 2026 getting a closer look at three of their most important young hitters, and the early read suggests the next wave could arrive faster than expected. Kaelen Culpepper, Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez all got late-season looks after being called up toward the end of the year, giving Minnesota a chance to see how each prospect might fit as the roster turns over again.
Culpepper handled everyday shortstop duties well enough to put himself in position for a regular role, while Jenkins showed real improvement late but still carries some uncertainty. Rodriguez is the trickiest case after dealing with both health and performance issues, and the Twins may not have much choice but to keep him around because of roster rules. If Minnesota leans on that group heavily in 2027, it will be asking a lot from players who are still learning on the job. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Have A Shortstop Problem Fans Should Actually Want
The Twins have put themselves in a rare spot at shortstop, and it is the kind of problem a front office can live with. Kaelen Culpepper already reached the majors in 2026 and gave the organization reason to believe he can handle the position on both sides of the ball, while Marek Houston kept moving through the system with the kind of defensive reputation that makes evaluators pay attention.
Houstons rise gives Minnesota another layer of intrigue because the club may not be able to keep both players in the same lane forever. He is projected to be close to the majors around 2028, which could eventually force a conversation about where Culpepper fits best in the infield, but for now the Twins can simply enjoy having two legitimate answers at a premium spot and sort out the rest later. [Read more 🡒]