Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey implied last week after reuniting with lefty Taylor Rogers that subsequent bullpen additions could be on the horizon. Executive chair Tom Pohlad was more direct over the weekend, telling fans at the team’s annual TwinsFest event (link via Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune):
“Yeah, we’re going to continue. The clock doesn’t stop until Opening Day, right? For better or worse, [Falvey] and [GM Jeremy Zoll] have a history of adding pieces late. I’m sure you are going to continue to see that. We know that we have to continue to improve the bullpen.”
Minnesota’s current payroll of about $108MM sits nearly $30MM shy of last year’s mark. The team has made no secret of its plans to scale back payroll after sitting between $130-160MM each season from 2022-25, but there’s room for another reliever or two while still keeping the 2026 tally well below the levels we’ve seen in the four preceding seasons. Even with some additions seemingly on the horizon, Falvey indicated last week that the Twins would be counting on some younger, less-experienced pitchers to step up and solidify themselves as viable bullpen options this coming season.
Entering the season, the Twins have Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober locked into rotation spots. Simeon Woods Richardson is out of minor league options and pitched well in 2025 after a brief demotion to the minors; he finished the year with a 4.04 ERA in 111 1/3 frames but was particularly sharp upon returning from Triple-A. In his final 14 starts of the season, Woods Richardson logged 69 innings with a 3.00 ERA (4.16 FIP, 4.37 SIERA), a 24.4% strikeout rate and a 10.4% walk rate. That finish and his lack of minor league options make him a clear favorite for the fourth spot on the staff.
The fifth spot will presumably be a battle of several promising young arms. Right-handers Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, David Festa and Zebby Matthews are all in the mix for that opening. All four ranked among the game’s top 100 prospects prior to their respective MLB debuts. All four have shown some flashes of success but also lacked consistency. Bradley has one minor league option remaining. The other three all have a pair of options left. Any of that quartet could emerge as a bullpen option, too, as could prospects like Connor Prielipp and Marco Raya.
At the moment, Rogers is the most experienced arm and the de facto favorite for saves, but subsequent additions could push him further down the pecking order. The 35-year-old southpaw was an All-Star closer for Minnesota back in 2021 but has been pitching more in middle relief across the past two seasons amid declines in his fastball and slider velocity.
A reunion with the Twins was something that Rogers himself pushed for, it seems. The left-hander told the Twins beat that he instructed his reps at Frontline Athlete Management to make clear to Minnesota’s front office at the Winter Meetings that he’d be open to a reunion (link via Matthew Leach of MLB.com). That didn’t result in an immediate deal, but the Twins touched base with Rogers’ camp again in January and a deal came together in a matter of days. Pitching for new manager Derek Shelton, who was predecessor Rocco Baldelli‘s bench coach for a couple of years during Rogers’ initial Twins stint, was a big factor.
“I told Shelty on the phone, if he was managing a team in Fargo, North Dakota, I would want to want to go there,” said Rogers. “Same with an opportunity to work with [new bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins].”
On the position player side of the roster, the Twins could move standout second baseman Luke Keaschall around the diamond a bit more this season. The former second-round pick and top prospect had Tommy John surgery in 2024, and Minnesota kept him at second base and DH this past season. Dan Hayes of The Athletic writes that with Keaschall now more than 16 months removed from surgery on his throwing arm, he’s more confident in his throwing and his strength has improved. Keaschall has played some center field in the minors and left field in college and summer ball before being drafted.
The 23-year-old Keaschall was a bright spot in a bleak Twins season. He made his big league debut in mid-April and slashed .302/.385/.445 with four home runs, 14 doubles, 14 stolen bases (in 17 attempts), a 9.2% walk rate and just a 14% strikeout rate in 207 trips to the plate. Had he not suffered a broken forearm in late May and been on the shelf through early August, it’s not unreasonable to think that Keaschall might’ve been in the Rookie of the Year running in the American League.
Minnesota’s outfield currently has Byron Buxton locked into center. He’ll be flanked by a combination of Matt Wallner, Alan Roden, Trevor Larnach and Austin Martin. Roden, Wallner and particularly Larnach would benefit from right-handed platoon partners. Martin is one option to fill that role, and if Keaschall looks comfortable on the grass during spring training, he could factor into that group as well. Top prospects Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez and Gabriel Gonzalez could all debut at some point this season as well; the former two are lefty swingers, while the latter hits from the right side. Wherever Keaschall lines up defensively, his bat will be in the lineup regularly based on last year’s strong rookie showing and his minor league track record (.294/.411/.458 in parts of three seasons).
I can’t stand when teams take a guy that is a good hitter at 2nd base and move him all around the field, I never understood why teams do this, when you have a guy that can produce offensively at one of the weakest offensive positions you keep him there, it reminds me of when the Royals would Whit Merrifield in right to get a weak hitting 2nd baseman in the lineup. That logic makes no sense to me
He’s always played a bunch of positions, even back in college. Last season he stayed at 2b only because he was recovering from TJ surgery and they were protecting his arm.
I understand your larger point, but Keaschall is a bad example of it.
Twins are easily my sleeper team for this upcoming season. Lot of volatility on the roster yes, but also significant upside IMHO.
Hope and agree.
Joe Ryan is likely to be traded and their SP group has potential to be a bomb squad.
After Ryan is traded, they are looking at:
Lopez
Bradley
Ober
Matthews
Woods Richardson
Festa
Abel
Could be a long season with that group. Bullpen also looks to be bad. Taylor Rogers penciled in as the closer.
Josh Bell was bad last season. Brooks Lee hasnt hit at all. Fangraphs has Victor Caratini in at DH.
They have a bunch of great OF prospects, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Gonzalez, but they have Wallner and Larnach who are both first round picks that havent produced. They have to play them both all season with the hope that they take a step forward.
They also likely want to trade Buxton and the complete rebuild makes it likely that he will waive his no-trade clause.
I imagine Caratini is on the bench at the start of the season and that a pair of the prospects get the call sooner than later, with Larnach or Wallner getting the majority of ABs at DH.
Id say the Twins are likely to finish last in the AL Central and may be the worst team in MLB this season.
Sure glad trade rumors has finally added fans the chance to reciprocate to the rumors …
Don’t ever believe a word coming from this organization …
The Twins are one of the most dishonest orgs in sports. The owners borrowed against the team to get loans for its other failing businesses and then takes away money from baseball operations while whining and blaming the Dodgers. Go away Pohlad.
Absolutely correct. Pohlads need to go. Glad they finally got rid of for the most part. Dave St Peter, their errand boy.
Ober was terrible last season. I don’t know if two solid starting pitchers is enough even in a relatively weak division.
Eh, Ober was very good through the end of May, terrible in June (30 runs, 14 HR in 30 innings) before going on the IL with a hip injury that sidelined him for more than a month, and then serviceable for the most part down the stretch.
I don’t consider him more than a third/fourth starter, but he’s been consistently solid outside that atrocious month last year.
To your broader point — the pitching is still a collection of hopefuls rather than something in which they should feel especially confident.
While the stats say Ober is a 4/5, every game I attended where he started last year was a disaster. I don’t have any confidence. Maybe he should get traded.
I think his hip issue caused the downturn in performance later in the season. before that, he had been very good and especially consistent. maybe a little wishful thinking here, but it’s also totally unfair to say he was simply terrible
Like they have a surefire second baseman, and already a crowded outfield (if you also mention James Outman). Again, no fulltime guy at second this season. You signed a first abseman. Lewis and Lee will showcase if they can stay, and the outfield is crowded.
It’s nice to have options to get players ABs but if keaschall isn’t at 2B it means all these waiver claim guys are playing too much. They’re going to play Clemens at 1B when Arraez is available and clearly not getting any big offers. Clemens is neither a good defender or hitter. At least Arraez can hit
Arreaz has been gone a while. Or did they re-sign him while I was in a meeting?
No they didn’t sign him, yet anyway. I said he’s available, better than the current options and likely not expensive
We can’t buy Championships like you and the other Big City $$$. Oh yeah, we did win a couple, but your right Pohlad did own the team, but Griffith started the ground floor. You three teams couldn’t win crap without $$$. Pohlads did promise to spend money if a stadium was build, instead the y had to bring in minority owners to bail them out from schemes. Someone please buy the Twins and change things like salary caps, etc give other teams a chance.
Keaschall should be given one position in order to focus on his already impressive development. Have we learned nothing from the Cardinals approach to player development?
It’s Josh Outman technically in the mix for OF reps as well? Culpepper seems at least a year away. What problem do they think they’re solving for? Too many experienced OF with plenty of prospects on the way. Brooks Lee and E Julian have been below expectations, maybe take the win with a guy that appears capable of handling major league pitching and address actual weaknesses. Just the perspective from my recliner
Not wrong.
Other than Culpepper who is slated for SS they don’t have any middle infielders that could fill 2B, which makes all the discussion about moving Keaschall so dumb.
Julien has been a fail for a couple years now, so this spring will likely be his last real shot at the majors.
The huge pile of OF is mostly because they only have one excellent CF and the upcoming OF prospects are at least half a season away, so they’re trying a mass audition for someone to step up until the kids can start fighting for time. They don’t want to block anyone, and they don’t have a lot of money to waste so they’re going cheap, or moving around other parts, or hoping something bad happens to their division rivals to keep things close.
Keaschall should stay at 2nd to not stall his development. The OF has a lot of promising prospects on the cusp but their major league options are putrid outside of Bux. The starting pitching staff is very thin, Lopez and Ryan are solid but the rest are very shaky. Looks like it could be a long year for Twins fans unless a number of guys break out.
There shouldn’t be a comma before “too.”