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Poll: Who Will Win The AL Central?

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Opening Day has finally arrived, and teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We’ll be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. That series has already covered the National League, with the Dodgers, Cubs, and Phillies each coming out on top in their respective divisions. In the American League, meanwhile, the Rangers were voted as the most likely AL West winner. Next up is a look at the AL Central. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Cleveland Guardians (92-69)

The Guardians surprised the baseball world by not only storming back to the top of the AL Central in Stephen Vogt’s first year replacing Terry Francona as manager in Cleveland, but by pushing past the Astros to secure a playoff bye alongside the Yankees. Though the club ultimately fell to New York in the ALCS, their strong showing inspired plenty of optimism about the club’s future. The offseason saw some major changes come to the organization as Andres Gimenez departed the club in a series of moves that ultimately brought back righty Luis Ortiz. The addition of Ortiz should help bolster a rotation that was the club’s clear weakness last year, as should getting more out of Shane Bieber after he returned to the club in free agency over the offseason.

Aside from that stronger rotation mix and the aforementioned loss of Gimenez, the 2025 Guardians don’t look much different than the 2024 club. Josh Naylor departed via trade but was swiftly replaced with Carlos Santana in his third stint with the club, and the club swapped Tyler Freeman for Nolan Jones just before Opening Day. Meanwhile, Jakob Junis and Paul Sewald add depth to a bullpen that was already baseball’s best last season. A stronger rotation mix should help the Guardians stay at the top of the AL Central this year, though they’ll need strong performances from players like Jones, Brayan Rocchio, and Kyle Manzardo in order to match last year’s output in the lineup without Naylor’s bat and Gimenez’s glove in the fold.

Kansas City Royals (86-76)

After making it back to the playoffs for the first time since their World Series championship in 2015, the Royals stayed busy in the offseason. They retained their strong front three of Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, and Michael Wacha in the rotation while trading fourth starter Brady Singer to the Reds to land Jonathan India, who has split time between left field and third base for the club so far this year. Meanwhile, the Royals made a splash at the back of their bullpen by signing closer Carlos Estevez to handle the ninth inning, bolstering a relief group that was a big source of frustration last year. Overall, the pitching staff seems to be in an even better place than 2024 with Singer set to be replaced in the rotation by some combination of Kris Bubic, who excelled in a short stint with the bullpen last year, the eventual return of Kyle Wright from the injured list.

Less certain is how the club will stack up on offense. India was the club’s only major addition to the lineup, though swinging a trade for Mark Canha just before Opening Day should raise the floor offensively and bringing in Cavan Biggio could also improve the club’s depth. India and Canha should help to balance out a lineup that was far too reliant on Bobby Witt Jr. last year. Even so, the club will either need Witt to repeat his otherworldly production or significant steps forward from players like MJ Melendez and Maikel Franco if they’re going to be even an average offense in 2025, given that last year’s club managed a wRC+ of just 96. Will the club’s modest improvements be enough to take control of the Central?

Detroit Tigers (86-76)

As is a theme throughout the AL Central, the Tigers were relatively quiet this winter. The lineup is largely unchanged from last year, with second baseman Gleyber Torres and outfielder Manuel Margot standing as the club’s only additions of significance. The duo’s right-handed bats should help to balance out a Tigers lineup that leans heavily to the left, but the more significant additions to the Tigers this year are in the rotation. The return of Jack Flaherty after the club traded him to the Dodgers over the summer should give the club an impressive prospective playoff rotation, with Flaherty joining reigning AL Cy Young award winner Tarik Skubal, 2024 breakout righty Reese Olson, and perhaps top prospect Jackson Jobe to make what could rival the Royals for the division’s best rotation. Alex Cobb, meanwhile, should add some veteran depth to the rotation and has been extremely effective when healthy in recent years.

Impressive as the rotation mix might be, the Tigers’ lackluster offensive additions mean a lot will need to go right for the club in the lineup if they’re going to make it back to October. Strong, healthy seasons from Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter will be a must, and steps forward from youngsters like Colt Keith and the ever-streaky Spencer Torkelson would go a long way to getting the club back to the postseason. As for the club’s bullpen, little changed outside of the addition of right-hander Tommy Kahnle, so the club will once again need strong performances from pieces like Tyler Holton and Will Vest in 2025. Will all of that be enough to overcome the Royals and Guardians in 2025?

Minnesota Twins (82-80)

After a disappointing season where the club appeared poised to make the postseason before collapsing in dramatic fashion down the stretch, the Twins are more or less running back the same club they put forward in 2024. Carlos Santana, Max Kepler, and Caleb Thielbar all departed the club with reasonable facsimiles of their expected production entering the door in their place when the club signed Ty France, Harrison Bader, and Danny Coulombe. Aside from that trio of modest additions to replace outgoing free agents, the Twins did very little to augment the club this winter. That’s not to say another weak season should be expected, however. On paper, the Twins have long been the most talented club in the AL Central and that figures to once again be the case in 2025.

Carlos Correa, Royce Lewis, and Byron Buxton all have star potential when healthy, though Lewis has already opened the season on the injured list. Brooks Lee (also on the IL) and Matt Wallner provide plenty of upside to the club’s lineup, and steady contributors like Willi Castro, Ryan Jeffers, and Jose Miranda should help make for a strong offensive nucleus. The rotation, meanwhile, has a solid front three in the form of Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, and Bailey Ober to go along with a handful of interesting back-end options like Simeon Woods Richardson and David Festa. Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax make for a frightening combo at the back of the bullpen, leaving the club without any clear holes. With that being said, health and consistency have always been difficult to come by in Minnesota despite a deep and talented group of players. Will they be able to put it all together in 2025?

Chicago White Sox (41-121)

After the worst season in MLB history, the White Sox did little to inspire optimism about the 2025 season. Arguably, the club is weaker on paper than it was last year after losing Erick Fedde at the trade deadline and Garrett Crochet over the offseason. Kyle Teel and Colson Montgomery should arrive sometime this year to pick up the slack, and a fully healthy and productive season from Luis Robert Jr. would go a long way to getting the White Sox away from that 120-loss threshold. Even with those potential upsides, however, it would be perhaps the most shocking turnaround in baseball history if this club managed to bring a division title back to the south side of Chicago in 2025.

__________________________________________

The offseason didn’t see any status-quo-altering changes in the AL Central. While the three postseason clubs from last year all made at least some modest additions, the story of the division is not all that dissimilar from 2025. After a 92-win season in 2025, the Guardians’ pitching additions seem likely to be enough to make them a potential favorite as long as Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan continue to play up to lofty expectations, though the additions Detroit and Kansas City made can’t be ignored. The Twins lurk in the background, meanwhile, even after a quiet offseason thanks to their strong in-house group of talent. With four of the division’s five clubs likely to be in the mix for the AL Central crown once again, who do you think is most likely to come out on top? Have your say in the poll below:

Twins Select Darren McCaughan

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The Twins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Darren McCaughan from Triple-A St. Paul and designated fellow right-hander Randy Dobnak for assignment to clear space on the 40-man and active rosters. Dobnak’s DFA was first reported last night.

McCaughan, 29, will give the Twins some length in the bullpen after Dobnak was pressed into 5 1/3 innings yesterday when Bailey Ober lasted just 2 2/3 innings as he pitched through an illness. McCaughan, a former Mariners draftee and longtime farmhand in Seattle, has pitched in parts of three big league seasons previously. He’s logged only 56 MLB frames and carries a 6.43 ERA in that time.

Similar to Dobnak, he’s a soft-tossing righty with good command but below-average strikeout and swinging-strike rates. He’s been a durable starter at the Triple-A level but carries a 5.14 ERA in 546 frames there. McCaughan is also out of minor league options, so it could be a brief stay on the 40-man roster if the Twins opt for another fresh arm at some point in the near future.

The DFA for Dobnak is a bitter pill for the righty to swallow but not exactly unexpected. The right-hander signed a five-year, $9.25MM extension back in March 2021, which hasn’t panned out as the team has hoped. That’s due in part to injury, but Dobnak’s standing on the team has slipped as the Twins have churned out various young arms who’ve surpassed him on the rotation depth chart (e.g. Ober, Joe Ryan, Simeon Woods Richardson, David Festa, Zebby Matthews).

Since Dobnak has under five years of service, he can’t reject an outright assignment and still retain the entirety of his guarantee. He’s earning $3MM in 2025 and is owed a $1MM buyout on a club option for the 2026 campaign. Because of that guaranteed sum, he’s overwhelmingly likely to both pass through waivers and to subsequently accept an outright assignment to St. Paul. While Dobnak could always pitch his way into a more stable long relief role with more outings like yesterday’s — 5 1/3 innings, two hits, one run, two walks, one strikeout — he could ride this DFA/outright cycle several times this season since all involved parties know the outcome is something of a foregone conclusion that provides the Twins with some roster flexibility.

Twins To Designate Randy Dobnak For Assignment

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The Twins will designate right-hander Randy Dobnak for assignment prior to tomorrow’s game, as first reported by Ted Schwerzler of Minnesota Sports Fan.  The corresponding move isn’t yet known.  The DFA comes on the heels of an impressive long relief outing for Dobnak, as he allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings of work in Minnesota’s 9-2 loss to the Cardinals today.

Removing Dobnak from the roster allows the Twins to get a fresh arm into the bullpen, and it speaks to Dobnak’s unusual contractual situation.  The righty is in the last guaranteed season of his five-year, $9.25MM contract, though since signing that extension in March 2021, Dobnak has appeared in only 20 MLB games, and he didn’t pitch in the majors at all in 2022-23 due to injuries and time spent in the minor leagues.

Since Dobnak has been outrighted off the Twins’ 40-man roster in the past, he has the right to reject another outright assignment and become a free agent if he clears waivers.  However, he doesn’t have enough big league service time to reject an outright assignment and still keep the remaining $4MM ($3MM in 2025 salary and the $1MM buyout on a $6MM club option for 2026) owed on his contract.  As such, Dobnak is sure to again accept an assignment to Triple-A in order to retain his salary, and that same price tag makes it unlikely that another team would claim him on waivers.

This all gives Minnesota a bit of flexibility when it comes to moving Dobnak relatively freely through the waiver wire, as it seems likely that he could face the “contract selection/DFA/waivers/outright” cycle more times whenever the Twins need a spot start, a piggyback starter, or a bulk pitcher behind an opener.  Having Dobnak available came in handy for the Twins today, as Bailey Ober came into his start recovering from a virus, and was rocked for eight runs over 2 2/3 frames before Dobnak came in to handle the rest of the game.

Even with the sting of the 9-2 loss, Dobnak can take solace in his best performance in the majors in quite some time.  He posted a 7.31 ERA over 19 appearances and 60 1/3 innings with the Twins from 2021-24, and he struggled in Triple-A in 2022-23 before having a bit of an uptick in St. Paul last year.  Dobnak posted a 4.25 ERA, 15.6% strikeout rate, 11.1% walk rate, and 57% grounder rate over 133 1/3 Triple-A frames in 2024, starting 24 of 28 games.

Jay Jackson To Retire

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After a professional career that spanned 17 years, veteran right-hander Jay Jackson is hanging up his glove. Robert Murray of FanSided reported this afternoon that Jackson is retiring from his playing career, adding that the 37-year-old hopes to have a second act in baseball, whether that comes by working for a team or in broadcasting.

Jackson was selected by the Cubs in the ninth-round of the 2008 MLB draft and made his pro debut later the summer at 20 years old. A fringe top-100 prospect entering the 2010 season after he pitched to a 2.98 ERA in 24 starts across three levels of the Chicago farm system, Jackson spent the next three seasons struggling at the Triple-A level without breaking into the majors. He was eventually released by the Cubs in early 2013 and bounced between the Marlins, Pirates, and Brewers before eventually landing with the Padres prior to the 2015 season. In San Diego, the right-hander moved to a full-time bullpen role and dominated the Double- and Triple-A levels, earning the opportunity to pitch in the majors for the first time in his career.

Jackson’s first big league cup of coffee did not go especially well, as he surrendered three runs in 4 1/3 innings across six appearances. Even so, the opportunity was enough to get the righty noticed by the Hiroshima Carp of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He pitched for the Carp for three seasons, from 2016 to 2018, and put together an impressive resume with a sterling 2.11 ERA and a 26.9% strikeout rate in 175 NPB innings. That work earned him his second big league opportunity, as he returned to the Brewers organization and pitched to a 4.45 ERA across 30 1/3 innings of work in 2019, but it was only after a second sojourn to Japan (this time as a member of the Chiba Lotte Marines) in 2020 that Jackson was able to stick in the majors.

After signing with the Giants in 2021 for his age-33 season, Jackson enjoyed a late-career stretch of success in the majors. Though he pitched just 52 2/3 innings at the big league level for San Francisco, Atlanta, and Toronto from 2021 to 2023, Jackson posted an excellent 2.73 ERA across those 50 appearances and struck out 26.5% of his opponents. That was enough to earn Jackson a look from the Twins last year in his age-36 season, though he struggled badly with a 7.52 ERA across 20 appearances before being released by Minnesota last year. Jackson initially signed with the Mexican League’s Bravos de Leon earlier this month in an effort to continue his playing career, but evidently has now decided to wrap up his days as a player instead.

Overall, Jackson pitched to a lifetime 4.43 ERA (97 ERA+) with a 4.47 FIP across 113 2/3 major league innings, with a 7-4 record and 136 strikeouts in 104 career games. That’s in addition to his excellent years in Japan, where he posted a 2.16 ERA and struck out 204 batters in 183 NPB innings. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Jackson on his nearly two decades of work in baseball and wish him all the best in whatever comes next.

MLBTR Podcast: What We Learned From The Offseason

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams and Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • At the start of the offseason, we expected players to do better than in 2023-24 and it seems like they did. What can we learn from that? (1:50)
  • Apart from Juan Soto and Willy Adames, a lot of top position players have been struggling in free agency. Is this signal or noise? (7:10)
  • There seems to be growing frustration from fans of small-market clubs, with new CBA talks just over the horizon. How will baseball respond? (20:00)
  • The Mets outbid the Yankees on Soto. Is this a paradigm shift in New York? (36:40)
  • Does the Soto deal help the top of next year’s market, guys like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kyle Tucker? (45:50)
  • Many Central division teams had almost no money to spend due to TV revenue concerns. Are there solutions coming in the future? (54:40)
  • With the Rays stadium situation, the Twins being for sale, the White Sox and Royals trying to get new stadium money, is expansion possible in the near term? (59:30)
  • Things we’re excited about going into the 2025 season (1:05:55)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Mickey Gasper, DaShawn Keirsey Make Twins’ Roster; Twins Exploring Bullpen Market

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March 25: Castellano has cleared waivers and been returned to the Phillies, per Nightengale.

March 24: The Twins optioned infielder/outfielder Austin Martin to Triple-A St. Paul this morning, per a team announcement. They’ve also informed catcher/infielder Mickey Gasper and outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. that they’ll break camp on the Opening Day roster, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. That sequence likely locks infielder Edouard Julien into the final spot on the position-player side of the roster.

Gasper, 29, came to the Twins in a December trade sending lefty reliever Jovani Moran back to the Red Sox. He has just 18 MLB plate appearances to his credit, but Gasper is a .317/.422/.498 hitter in 70 Triple-A games and a .276/.401/.455 batter in 176 Double-A games. He’s had a big camp, batting .308/.417/.487 with more walks than strikeouts. Gasper’s status was briefly up in the air after an infield collision yesterday resulted in a laceration on his ankle that required six stitches. He’s patched up and been cleared to start the season on a big league roster for the first time in an eight-year professional career.

Like Gasper, the 27-year-old Keirsey is a 2018 draftee who’s making his first Opening Day roster. He hit .275/.375/.375 this spring and is coming off a .300/.368/.476 performance in Triple-A last year. Keirsey is a plus runner and outfield defender who can handle all three slots. He made a brief big league debut last year, getting into six games and going 2-for-13 with a homer in that debut effort.

The pitching side is largely set, but Minnesota does appear to have one bullpen vacancy, at least in the short term. Righty Brock Stewart was already on the mend from arthroscopic shoulder surgery and also suffered a hamstring strain in camp. He’ll start the 2025 season on the injured list alongside Michael Tonkin, who’s dealing with a shoulder strain.

On top of Stewart’s injury, the Twins have already informed Rule 5 pick Eiberson Castellano that he won’t make the club. He’ll presumably be placed on waivers soon if he hasn’t been already. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star Tribune adds that they’ve also told non-roster relievers Scott Blewett and Anthony Misiewicz that they won’t make the club. Both will head to Triple-A.

Both Nightengale and Dan Hayes of The Athletic suggest Minnesota could look to bring in a reliever who’s not currently a part of the organization. There’s space to place a waiver claim or scoop up a veteran who’d been a non-roster invitee with another club but has since opted out. Jalen Beeks, Adam Ottavino, Drew Pomeranz, Ross Stripling and Jake Woodford are among the names who were recently granted their release after triggering opt-out clauses. Righty Tyler Phillips was DFA by the Phillies over the weekend, too.

Randy Dobnak Will Make Twins Roster

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Over the weekend, the Twins told reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) that Rule 5 draft pick Eiberson Castellano would not make the Opening Day roster. That decision meant Minnesota would soon have an open spot on the 40-man – the Twins can’t keep Castellano if he isn’t on the active roster or the IL. It also meant the team had one more spot to fill in the Opening Day bullpen. Today, Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune reported that both of those spots will go to Randy Dobnak. The right-hander will take on a long relief role to begin the year (per Nightengale).

Dobnak, 30, has spent his entire career in the Twins organization. He signed with the club as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and made his big league debut just two years later. The righty earned a regular role in the rotation the following season, making 10 starts with a 4.05 ERA and 4.56 SIERA during the shortened 2020 campaign. Although he failed to miss many bats (13.5% strikeout rate), Dobnak led all pitchers (min. 40 IP) with a 62.1% groundball rate. He faced 200 batters and allowed just three home runs.

That performance earned Dobnak a nice little extension ahead of 2021, a five-year, $9.25MM guarantee with escalators and club options that could increase the total value of the contract to $29.75MM over eight years. Yet, the Twins put him back in the bullpen to start the season, and while he ultimately made it back to the rotation for a handful of starts, he struggled in both roles. Across 14 games (six starts) and 50 2/3 innings, he pitched to a 7.64 ERA, though his 4.53 SIERA was almost identical to his SIERA from the year before.

Things continued trending downhill for Dobnak in 2022, and he ended up sitting out most of the season with a right middle finger strain, an injury that had also given him trouble in 2021. While he was healthy again in 2023, he did not make his way back to the big league roster, spending the season with the Triple-A St. Paul Saints. Dobnak finally returned to the majors in 2024, albeit briefly, tossing 9 2/3 innings in relief. He gave up six runs on 11 hits and five walks, while striking out seven. All told, he has a career 4.99 ERA and 4.43 SIERA over 135 1/3 innings, including 21 starts and 17 games out of the ’pen.

The Twins initially reassigned Dobnak to minor league camp two weeks ago, but evidently, he pitched well enough over there to change the team’s mind. Now in the final guaranteed year of his contract, Dobnak is a useful depth piece for Minnesota. He has experience as both a starter and a reliever, and he has thrown at least 125 innings in each of the past two seasons. What’s more, the Twins can add him to the 40-man and subsequently outright him as much as they would like with little risk of losing him. He does not have the necessary MLB service time to reject an outright assignment without forfeiting his remaining salary.

Pohlad Family Reportedly Seeking At Least $1.7 Billion In Twins Sale

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The Pohlad family’s efforts to sell the Twins hit a major stumbling block when presumed front-runner Justin Ishbia dropped out of the process to increase his minority share of the White Sox. The Pohlads continue to evaluate the market, but there’s no longer a clear timetable for when a sale could be reached — nor is it a guarantee that they’ll sell at all.

According to a report from Dan Hayes, Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli at The Athletic, the Pohlads are “believed” to have an asking price of at least $1.7 billion. The Athletic writes that the Pohlads viewed a $1.5 billion purchase price that was floated by one potential buyer to be “a non-starter” in discussions.

Last year, Forbes estimated the club’s value around $1.46 billion. Sportico’s 2024 valuation was more in line with the apparent asking price, as that publication valued it at approximately $1.7 billion. The Orioles, the most recent franchise sold, went for a $1.725 billion purchase price in January 2024.

Interestingly, The Athletic writes that Twins executive vice president Joe Pohlad prefers to keep control of the organization. The 42-year-old Pohlad only took over daily operations in November 2022. His grandfather Carl Pohlad purchased the team for $44MM back in 1984. After Carl Pohlad died in 2009, his son Jim (Joe’s uncle) took control. Jim Pohlad turned over operations to his nephew 13 years later. It seems there’s varying levels of interest within the family about selling the team.

It’d hardly be unprecedented if the Pohlads eventually reversed course and took the team off the market. Angels owner Arte Moreno announced in August 2022 that he was exploring a sale; he pulled the team back five months later. The Lerner family had considered selling the Nationals between 2022-23 before abandoning that process in February of last year. Twins fans are encouraged to read The Athletic column in full, as they explore the challenges (e.g. the collapse of the Twins’ previous TV deal, declining attendance figures, and the team’s higher than average debt that reportedly exceeds $425MM) in greater detail.

Brooks Lee To Open Season On Injured List

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The Twins informed reporters (including Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press) that infielder Brooks Lee and reliever Brock Stewart will both begin the season on the injured list. What’s more, Helfand notes that Rule 5 selection Eiberson Castellano has been informed that he will not make the team.

Lee, 24, has been sidelined in recent days by lower back tightness. The eighth overall pick in the 2022 draft, Lee is a former consensus top-50 prospect in the sport but hit just .221/.265/.320 in 50 games during his rookie season with the Twins last year. Even so, he entered camp as the clear favorite to handle second base duties for Minnesota on a regular basis this year and looked solid enough in Spring Training this year. Unfortunately for the youngster, he’ll now spend at least the first week of the season on the injured list, though a specific timeline for his return to action has not yet been made clear.

Losing Lee from the roster would be far more manageable for the Twins if they weren’t already set to go without Royce Lewis to open the season after he was sidelined by a moderate hamstring strain last week. Lewis was poised to serve as the club’s everyday third baseman, and with both him and Lee out of commission the Twins will now have to fill two spots on the infield with only shortstop Carlos Correa and first baseman Ty France locked into their current positions. Fortunately for Minnesota, they do have fairly solid depth options to help handle the injuries. Jose Miranda turned in a solid season for the Twins in 2024 while splitting time between first and third base, and should be able to step in for Lewis at the hot corner rather seamlessly. Meanwhile, Edouard Julien had an excellent rookie season as the club’s starting second baseman in 2023, and despite a sophomore slump last year should be a viable fill-in option for the club.

If the Twins aren’t comfortable with either Miranda or Julien starting on a regular basis, they also have super utility man Willi Castro available. Castro isn’t penciled in for a regular position on the diamond, but already figured to be play nearly everyday while bouncing around the infield and outfield offering breathers to the club’s regulars. A roughly average .251/.334/.395 hitter in 282 games since arriving in Minnesota prior to 2023, Castro has ample experience all around the diamond and could be called upon to handle either second or third base regularly as needed. Meanwhile, Austin Martin and Mickey Gasper appear to be the most likely candidates to fill Lee and Lewis’s roster spots, taking on the bench roles previously set to be occupied by Julien and Miranda.

As for Stewart, the right-hander suffered a “mild” hamstring strain last weekend. The issue doesn’t appear likely to keep him off the club’s roster long-term, but for the time being he’ll opening the season on the 15-day injured list. While Stewart struggled to a 5.17 ERA in 16 games with the Twins last year, he struck out 30% of opponents and posted a solid 3.80 FIP that left clear room for a big step forward in 2025. That opportunity will be put on hold for the time being, however, as the Twins will instead turn to pieces like Justin Topa, Jorge Alcala, and Cole Sands to handle the middle innings from the right-hand side.

Meanwhile, Castellano’s future is in question after he was informed he would not be making the club’s roster. The 23-year-old signed with the Phillies out of Venezuela and made his pro debut back in 2021. He made it up to the Double-A level with the Phillies last year, pitching to a 3.79 ERA in 40 1/3 innings at the level. That intrigued the Twins enough for them to take a shot on him in the Rule 5 draft, though his 7.59 ERA in 10 2/3 innings during camp suggested he may be overmatched at the big league level. With Castellano set to not make the club’s roster, the Twins can either put the righty on waivers and offer him back to the Phillies if he clears, or else they could attempt to work out a trade with Philadelphia in order to acquire the full rights to Castellano and simply option him to the minor leagues.

Offseason In Review: Minnesota Twins

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The Twins' front office was constricted by payroll limitations for a second straight offseason -- this time in the wake of announcement that the Pohlad family was looking to sell the team. After a quiet winter, they'll hope for better health and improvement from within.

Major League Signings

2025 spending: $10.25MM
Total spending: $10.25MM

Option Decisions

Trades and Waiver Claims

Extensions

  • None

Minor League Signings

Losses

On Oct. 10, executive chair Joe Pohlad announced that his family would explore a sale of the team after 40 years of ownership. The 42-year-old had been elevated to oversee day-to-day ownership duties for the family just two years prior and quickly signed off on a club-record deal to re-sign Carlos Correa and an extension for Pablo Lopez just weeks after acquiring him via trade. The Twins entered 2023 with a club-record $154MM payroll, but as their television revenues were upended by the bankruptcy proceedings for Diamond Sports Group/Bally Sports, ownership mandated a payroll reduction of some $30MM in 2024 and placed strict financial limitations on the front office again this offseason.

The composition of that front office, it should be noted, changed dramatically this winter.

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