The Minnesota Twins have spent much of the offseason making it clear they weren’t looking to move either Joe Ryan or Pablo López - two pitchers who’ve become the backbone of their rotation. But a new twist this week has fans and insiders alike doing a double take.
When the New York Mets pulled off a blockbuster trade to land Freddy Peralta from the Milwaukee Brewers, it wasn’t a total shock. Peralta had been a name on the market all winter, and the Mets were always a logical landing spot.
What was surprising? The Twins were reportedly in the mix for Peralta, too.
According to a report from Ken Rosenthal, Minnesota had some level of involvement in the Peralta sweepstakes. We don’t know how far those talks went or how serious the Twins were, but just being in the conversation raises some fascinating questions about the front office’s mindset.
Let’s break this down: on the surface, adding Peralta to a rotation that already features Ryan and López doesn’t quite add up - unless the Twins were planning to move one of their top two arms as part of a bigger puzzle. That scenario feels like the most logical explanation. You don’t go after a high-end, team-controlled starter like Peralta without having a corresponding move in mind, especially when the cost is steep.
And make no mistake - the cost for Peralta was significant. The Brewers walked away with Jett Williams, a Top 30 prospect in all of baseball, along with another highly regarded arm in Brandon Sproat.
That’s the kind of return that turns heads in front offices across the league. If Minnesota was seriously considering Peralta, it likely meant they were also weighing the idea of flipping Ryan or López for a similar haul of premium young talent.
There’s a lot to unpack in that approach. On one hand, it’s a bold strategy - trying to upgrade or reconfigure the rotation while also stockpiling future assets. On the other, it’s a gamble that could disrupt a team that’s still very much in the playoff conversation heading into 2026.
For Twins fans, the idea of trading either Ryan or López probably doesn’t sit well. Both pitchers have been key to Minnesota’s recent success and are expected to anchor the staff again this season.
But when you see the kind of return Milwaukee got for Peralta, it’s easy to understand why the Twins might at least be listening. If a team comes calling with a package that includes multiple Top 100 prospects, it’s hard not to pick up the phone.
Still, there’s a fine line between being open to offers and actively shopping your stars. The Twins have maintained that they’re not looking to move Ryan or López, and maybe that’s still the case. But their reported interest in Peralta suggests the door isn’t completely shut - not if the right opportunity presents itself.
So what does all this mean as Spring Training approaches? For now, it means the Twins are keeping their options open.
They didn’t land Peralta, and they didn’t trade away any of their top arms - but the fact that they were even in the conversation tells us they’re not standing pat. They’re exploring ways to get better, whether that’s now or in the near future.
A rotation featuring Ryan, López, and Peralta would’ve been a dream trio - one of the best in the American League on paper. But it’s also likely that such a move would’ve come at the cost of one of the current aces. That deal didn’t happen, but the ripple effects are still being felt.
Bottom line: the Twins may not be actively shopping their top pitchers, but they’re clearly not deaf to what the market is saying. And after seeing what Peralta fetched, they’d be wise to at least stay tuned in.