Twins Notes: Ryan, Raya, Merryweather
A few days after being scratched from his start on Saturday, Joe Ryan is already throwing. Twins manager Derek Shelton told reporters that the pitcher played catch from 90 feet this morning (link via Matthew Leach of MLB.com). Ryan was sent for imaging over the weekend after experiencing lower back discomfort, but he’s dealing only with inflammation.
There should still be ample time for Ryan to be ready for the start of the season. If healthy, he’d be a lock to take the ball on Opening Day after Minnesota lost Pablo López to Tommy John surgery. That’s already a massive hit to the Twins’ uphill path to competing for a playoff spot, making it all the more imperative that Ryan stay healthy. It’s a bigger question whether the All-Star righty will be back in time to represent the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic in a couple weeks.
Assuming Ryan is ready for the start of the season, he’ll be followed in the rotation by Bailey Ober and Simeon Woods Richardson. There should be a camp battle for the final two spots among Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, Mick Abel and potentially David Festa.
One pitcher no longer in the rotation conversation: Marco Raya. The 23-year-old prospect moved to the bullpen while pitching at Triple-A St. Paul in the middle of August. That’s a permanent move, as Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star-Tribune writes that the Twins informed Raya he’ll be a full-time reliever this year. The righty pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout against a handful of Tigers minor leaguers in his spring debut on Monday.
Raya’s move to the bullpen doesn’t come as a huge surprise. The former fourth-round pick has good stuff but hasn’t thrown enough strikes in his minor league career. He walked almost 13% of opponents over 98 2/3 Triple-A frames a year ago, turning in a 6.02 earned run average in the process. Raya used six pitches in the minors but could pare down the repertoire now that he’s working in short relief. The bigger hope is that Raya’s below-average control won’t be as big an issue in brief stints.
There’s ample opportunity in the Minnesota bullpen. Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, Justin Topa, Kody Funderburk and Cole Sands are probably penciled into the Opening Day relief corps. That still leaves three jobs up for grabs. Most of Minnesota’s depth arms on the 40-man roster have little to no MLB experience. They compensated by bringing in a number of veteran arms on minor league contracts with Spring Training invites.
Julian Merryweather is among the non-roster invitees trying to pitch his way onto the roster. Merryweather’s team debut got out to a less than ideal start. The right-hander departed his first Grapefruit League appearance after suffering a left hamstring strain, Nightengale relays. Merryweather walked Justyn-Henry Malloy and struck out Ben Williamson before departing.
MRI Reveals Lower Back Inflammation For Joe Ryan
Right-hander Joe Ryan was scratched from his scheduled Spring Training start yesterday due to lower back tightness and underwent an MRI yesterday to determine the severity of the issue. Those results came back today, and The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports that the MRI revealed only inflammation in Ryan’s lower back.
That’s a “best case scenario” for Ryan, in the words of Hayes. It should allow the right-hander to avoid a lengthy layoff and, while the Twins’ exact plans for Ryan as he nurses that inflammation aren’t yet clear, it seems reasonable to expect the right-hander’s ability to be available for Opening Day to be unaffected by this injury. That’s great news for the Twins, who have already lost right-hander Pablo Lopez to the injured list for the year as he prepares to undergo Tommy John surgery. Losing Lopez from the front of the team’s rotation was already a tough blow, but the loss of Ryan as well would’ve been devastating for Minnesota. Ryan figures to be joined in the rotation by Bailey Ober, with the final three spots left to some combination of youngsters Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, and David Festa.
Ryan figures to be especially important to the Twins this year given that he’s coming off the best season of his career. An All-Star for the first time in 2025, the right-hander posted a 3.42 ERA in 171 innings of work. He made 30 starts (31 total appearances) and struck out an impressive 28.2% of his opponents while walking just 5.7%. Ryan was held back from true ace-level production by his lackluster 11.5% barrel rate; only five qualified pitchers allowed more home runs than the righty’s 26 last year. Even with that flaw, however, Ryan was a quality front-of-the-rotation starter who garnered plenty of interest at last summer’s trade deadline. While the Twins conducted a fire sale that saw them part ways with Carlos Correa, Harrison Bader, and nearly their entire bullpen, Ryan was one of the most notable pieces to remain in place.
The Twins once again entertained offers on him (plus other stars like Pablo Lopez and Byron Buxton) early in the offseason but eventually took those players off the market in December following Tom Pohlad’s ascension to the role of control person for the franchise. Pohlad, who mutually parted ways with team president Derek Falvey last month, is pushing for the club to contend in 2026 despite a roster that doesn’t look substantially different than the one that was among the worst teams in baseball after the trade deadline. There’s enough talent youngsters on the roster (including Luke Keaschall, Royce Lewis, and Brooks Lee) that it’s not impossible to imagine the team taking a step forward this year, but if the team fails to do so Ryan could once again find himself in trade conversations this summer should he remain healthy.
In the shorter term, it remains to be seen what Ryan’s inflammation will mean for his anticipated participation in the World Baseball Classic. Ryan was announced as part of the Team USA roster for the WBC, but it’s possible he’ll be forced to sit out the tournament due to the injury even in spite of its mild nature. Players around the league have been denied insurance ahead of the WBC, causing issues for all sorts of teams as they prepare for the event. That’s led to additional caution around rostering players who would otherwise seem like safe bets to roster for the tournament, and it’s unclear what impact (if any) that could have on Ryan’s participation at this point. The good news for Team USA is that their group of rotation options remains stacked even if Ryan is unable to participate; Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal headline a group of starters that also includes Logan Webb, top Mets prospect Nolan McLean, and veteran southpaw Matthew Boyd.
Joe Ryan Scratched From Start, Undergoing MRI
Twins ace Joe Ryan was a late scratch from his planned start in today’s Grapefruit League game with the Red Sox. As per a pair of announcements from the Twins, Ryan is dealing with lower back tightness on his right side, and is undergoing an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
More will be known once the tests are complete, and it is entirely possible this just a case of early-camp soreness as Ryan starts to ramp up his throwing progression. Still, Ryan’s back issue merits some obvious concern given that Pablo Lopez‘s 2026 season is already a wash due to a Tommy John surgery. Losing Lopez was a huge blow to a Minnesota team that looked like a fringe contender at best, and if Ryan is now sidelined with any sort of notable injury, the Twins’ season might be ruined before it even gets underway.
Beyond the impact on the Twins, Ryan is slated to be part of the United States’ roster during the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Even if the back problem ends up being relatively minor, the Twins might well pull Ryan out of the WBC as a pure precaution, and if he needs to make up for any lost innings in Spring Training.
Ryan is coming off the first All-Star season of his career, as the right-hander posted a 3.42 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate, and 5.7% walk rate across 171 innings. While Ryan has a penchant for allowing hard contact and is a little homer-prone, his numbers over the last four seasons (3.78 ERA, 5.7% walk rate, 27.5K% over 614 2/3 IP) have established him as a front-of-the-rotation arm. Ryan has been relatively durable over that four-year span with the Twins, apart from a teres major strain that ended his 2024 season in August.
There has been plenty of trade speculation surrounding Ryan over the last year, but the Twins held onto Ryan amidst their large-scale selloff at last summer’s trade deadline. Ryan isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2027 season, so these two years of inexpensive arbitration control make him a particular bargain for the budget-conscious Twins. If Minnesota is out of contention again at this year’s deadline, expect the trade rumors to again swirl around Ryan, assuming he’s healthy and still in good form.
Twins, Joe Ryan Avoid Arbitration
The Twins and right-hander Joe Ryan have reached agreement on a new contract, therefore avoiding arbitration, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post. He’ll be guaranteed $6.2MM on the deal, in the form of a $6.1MM salary and then a $100K buyout on a $13MM mutual option for 2027.
Ryan was one of 18 players to not have an agreement in place when the filing deadline passed earlier this month. He is going into his second of three arbitration seasons, having made $3MM last year. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected him for a raise to $5.8MM this year. The Twins filed just above that at $5.85MM, with Ryan himself at $6.35MM, a gap of $500K.
Most teams these days adopt a “file and trial” approach, which means they cut off negotiations of one-year deals after the filing deadline. This is to give them leverage in pre-deadline talks and also to prevent players from filing absurdly high numbers in an attempt to set out an aggressive bargaining stance. An arbiter can only pick the player’s or the team’s number, not a midpoint.
Even if a team does have a “file and trial” policy, exceptions are made for deals that are longer than one year, even if that extra year is an option. That gives the club a path to avoid a potentially contentious hearing while vaguely sticking to their policy. A deal with an option can’t be used as a comparison point in future arb hearings as well, which is a factor.
Arbitration hearings are generally viewed as a normal part of the business but occasional situations have occurred where the relationship between a player and a team have been damaged. Corbin Burnes said as much after his hearing with the Brewers three years ago. Ryan and the Twins have steered clear of that possibility by settling on a number in between their respective filing figures.
The mutual option is mostly just an accounting measure to move part of the payment to the end of the season via that buyout. Mutual options are almost never picked up by both parties. Even if the option is turned down, Ryan would still be under club control for 2027.
Ryan was in a number of trade rumors last summer as the Twins were undergoing a fire sale of sorts. They sold off most of their bullpen and Carlos Correa but held some other players, including Ryan. It was initially expected that they would look to move him this winter but have since pivoted to an attempt to return to contention in 2026.
Given his relatively modest salary and extra year of club control, he would still have a lot of trade value at the deadline if he is healthy and the Twins fall back in the standings, though the club is hoping to avoid that scenario and would prefer Ryan to be pitching meaningful games for the team in September and October.
Minnesota’s arbitration class is now settled. As for the rest of the league, there will now be no more than 15 hearings this year. As mentioned, 18 players didn’t have a deal as of the deadline. Since then, Cade Cavalli, Bryce Miller and now Ryan have reached new deals to avoid hearings.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images
Twins Planning To Keep Joe Ryan, Byron Buxton, Pablo López
The Twins just underwent a big sell-off at the summer trade deadline. That led to plenty of speculation about further selling this winter but that appears not to be in the cards. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the club plans to hold onto trade candidates like Joe Ryan, Byron Buxton and Pablo López as they try to return to contention in 2026. Rosenthal doesn’t mention Ryan Jeffers but this presumably applies to him as well.
Minnesota was in contention for a decent amount of the 2025 season. They fell down the standings in the summer and pivoted into seller position ahead of the July deadline. Many expected them to do modest selling of impending free agents but they went far deeper than that. They flipped controllable relievers Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Brock Stewart. They also sent infielder Carlos Correa back to Houston, an effective salary dump. It was clearly financially motivated from the get-go and then the player they acquired in return, pitcher Matt Mikulski, was released in October.
After such an aggressive teardown, the expectation has been that they would continue selling this winter. Ryan, López and Buxton were all the subject of trade rumors. Buxton and López are the two highest-paid players on the team but would still be attractive to other clubs. Buxton is signed through 2028 and López 2027. Ryan isn’t expensive, as he’s still in his arbitration seasons. But with just two years of club control, he wouldn’t fit on a rebuilding club. With his modest projected salary, he likely would have had the highest trade value of the trio. Jeffers is an impending free agent and would have found lots of interest, especially considering the weak catching market.
There were at least some signs that the Twins didn’t plan for their deadline sell-off to lead to multi-year rebuilding project. Their returns in their summer trades were largely major league-ready players and upper level prospects. Across various trades, they acquired Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, Alan Roden, James Outman and Kendry Rojas, among others. The first four of those guys already had some major league experience. Rojas still hasn’t appeared in the big leagues but reached the Triple-A level prior to being acquired. If the club were planning a yearslong rebuilding effort, those would have been odd choices.
In the background of all this was the Pohlad family looking to sell the club, something they announced in October of 2024. But in August of 2025, just a few weeks after the deadline, it was announced that the family was taking the club off the market. They would instead be taking on some minority partners, whose investments would help the club deal with hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
As the winter began, many still expected the club to be selling this winter. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey pushed back on that a bit in November, saying that he had not yet been given any directions about further lowering the payroll and that his plans would be to add to the 2026 roster until told otherwise.
None of their moves this offseason have clearly pushed them in one direction or another. They have made a few very small trades, having picked up relief pitcher Eric Orze and catcher Alex Jackson. But now it seems the club has picked a lane and will be trying to put their best foot forward in 2026.
Perhaps the heavy lifting on the financial front was accomplished at the deadline, primarily by the Correa deal. The situation with the new investors is still a bit foggy but it’s possible the debt is gone or least a much smaller concern. RosterResource projects the Twins for a payroll of $96MM next year, about $40MM below where they finished in 2025. They may not get all the way back to those 2025 levels but it doesn’t seem there’s any need to further subtract. Rosenthal’s source says the club has “mild flexibility” to make additions. The Twins already have one of the top farm systems in the league, so perhaps adding more prospects to the stockpile isn’t a high priority.
Though the Twins believe they can contend in 2026, they will have work to do. The rotation looks to be in decent shape. In addition to Ryan and López, they have Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Abel, Bradley, Rojas and others. But the lineup was subpar last year. In addition to Correa, they also traded impending free agents Harrison Bader, Ty France and Willi Castro. They traded almost their entire bullpen and will have a big to-do list there.
Before even considering the flexibility to make external additions, they will need internal improvements. In the lineup, guys like Royce Lewis, Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee and other young players will need to either break out or return to form. It will be a similar situation for rotation options like Ober, Matthews, Festa, Abel and Bradley.
This is also a big development for other teams. Many of the other 29 clubs surely would have been calling about Ryan, López, Buxton and others if the Twins were going to continue to sell. If those players aren’t available, that could have domino effects elsewhere. Demand for the remaining free agents should increase somewhat. The same should apply for players that are available in trades, such as MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals or various players on the Cardinals.
It’s an interesting shake-up to the offseason. For the Twins, they will keep their top guys and see how things go in 2026. If they fall short in their attempt to compete, they could pivot to trading these players at the deadline. As mentioned, they have a strong farm system already, so perhaps returning to contention in 2027 would be possible even if 2026 comes up a bit short. For now, it dries up the trade market for other clubs, as the Twins will look for ways to utilize the bit of payroll flexibility they have.
Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images
Mets Interested In Joe Ryan
The Mets have been perusing the trade market in hopes of bolstering their rotation and have their eye on Twins right-hander Joe Ryan as one of several targets, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. He adds that the Twins like young Mets righty Jonah Tong — hardly a surprise, given that Tong is widely regarded as one of the sport’s top pitching prospects.
As recently as the All-Star break, the idea of the Twins trading Ryan seemed far-fetched. Minnesota spent the entirety of the first half hovering around .500 and keeping themselves in the AL Central/Wild Card races. The Twins cratered coming out of the Midsummer Classic enough to push ownership and the front office into sell mode. What was originally thought to be a soft sale of primarily rental players instead turned into a staggering dismantle of the roster. The Twins traded 11 players in the final week of July.
Notably absent from that swath of trades was the 29-year-old Ryan. He drew plenty of interest, with the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Dodgers among those reported to be in pursuit. But given his affordable salary and multiple years of remaining club control, the asking price was understandably steep. No deal materialized.
Ryan is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn an eminently affordable $5.8MM in 2026 — his penultimate season of club control. He’d be owed one more raise next winter before reaching free agency post-2027. It’s an unequivocal bargain for a pitcher who’s logged a 3.50 ERA with a 27.8% strikeout rate and just a 5.1% walk rate across the past two seasons (3.79, 27.6% and 5.7% in his career, respectively).
What’s not yet clear, however, is how aggressively the Twins will explore trades for Ryan — if they do at all. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey suggested earlier in the offseason that he’d yet to be given a firm budget by ownership. That seems hard to believe, but the Twins have ostensibly been in the process of finalizing the addition of two significant minority investors for months now. To this point, there’s been no firm indication that the addition of those partial stakeholders — and any influx of cash they might bring to the table — has been finalized.
Falvey plainly stated that unless or until he hears otherwise, his offseason focus will be on adding pieces to help the 2026 Twins — not further subtracting from the roster. It’s been quiet for the Twins all offseason with the exception of some small-scale moves leading up to the non-tender deadline and Rule 5 protection deadline. Minnesota acquired Alex Jackson from the Orioles, giving them a backup to starting catcher Ryan Jeffers, and they also nabbed reliever Eric Orze in another small trade with the Rays.
That’s the extent of the Twins’ activity thus far, making it tough to get a read on whether Falvey & Co. might genuinely be given the green light to add to the club or whether a further teardown will take place. If Ryan and/or Pablo Lopez (owed $43.5MM through 2027) are traded this winter, then it’s only logical that Jeffers (entering his final year of club control) would be on the table as well. And though star center fielder Byron Buxton said on record in August (even after the deadline sell-off) that he wanted to stay in Minnesota and had no desire to waive his no-trade clause, offseason reporting has suggested that if the Twins further subtract from the roster, he may change his tune.
Ultimately, Ryan’s availability (or lack thereof) will come down to the Pohlad family’s willingness to invest some of those deadline cost-savings back into the roster. The Twins’ current payroll projection ($95MM, per RosterResource) is nearly $50MM south of last season’s Opening Day figure. In theory, there’s room for Falvey to turn around and spend a fair bit of money, even if payroll won’t climb back into the $140-145MM range, but he doesn’t have final say over the budget.
If the Twins do make Ryan available, Tong is a sensible target as a potential headliner in the trade. The 22-year-old righty was hit hard in his first 18 2/3 MLB frames late in the season, but Tong’s blazing ascension up the Mets’ minor league ranks in 2024-25 catapulted him into the game’s top 50 overall prospects at Baseball America, MLB.com and FanGraphs.
Tong, a 2022 seventh-rounder, has laid waste to minor league lineups in each of the past two seasons, climbing from Low-A in early ’24 to the Mets’ big league rotation this past September. In 2024, the wiry right-hander pitched 131 innings with a 3.03 ERA, 34.2% strikeout rate and 10% walk rate as he climbed to Double-A. Tong returned to Double-A to begin the ’25 campaign and was bumped to Triple-A late in the season. He pitched a combined 113 2/3 minor league frames and recorded an immaculate 1.43 ERA with an eye-popping 40.5% strikeout rate against a 10.6% walk rate.
One way or another, next week’s Winter Meetings figure to bring some clarity on the Twins’ direction. No one is expecting them to dive headlong into the deep end of free agency, but if ownership is comfortable with even a diminished $120-125MM payroll, that might be enough to spur the front office into some midlevel additions in hopes that with some steps forward from a deluge of young big leaguers, a return to Wild Card contention is possible. If payroll is mandated to be kept under $100MM or pared back even further, however, then the prospect of trades involving Ryan, Lopez, Jeffers and even Buxton become far more realistic — if not likely.
Blue Jays Still Exploring Rotation Additions After Dylan Cease Deal
The Blue Jays made a big move to upgrade their rotation by signing Dylan Cease to a seven-year deal, but they may not be done. Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that the Jays have remained engaged on the starting pitching market even after agreeing to terms with Cease. The report mentions that the Jays had interest in Joe Ryan of the Twins and MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals prior to the trade deadline, while also suggesting the Jays have some interest in free agents Michael King and Cody Ponce.
The Toronto rotation currently projects to include Cease, Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage and José Berríos, with guys like Eric Lauer, Ricky Tiedemann and Bowden Francis in the mix as well.
That’s a pretty strong group but there are some question marks. Bieber’s decision to trigger his $16MM player option has led to speculation he may not be 100% healthy. He could have taken a $4MM buyout and returned to free agency, only needing to get $12MM to come out ahead, but a new deal would have required him to pass a physical. To be clear, that’s entirely speculative. There has been no public indication anything is wrong with Bieber, but it’s one possible explanation for why he didn’t pursue a larger deal. Another explanation could be that he simply wanted to stay with the Jays for another year before heading to free agency after a fully healthy season.
Beyond that, Gausman turns 35 in January. Yesavage had a tremendous debut late in the year but is still light on big league experience. Berríos had a mediocre 2025 and finished the season on the injured list due to elbow inflammation, though he is supposedly going to have a normal offseason. Lauer worked both as a starter and a reliever in 2025 and seems likely to do so again next year. Tiedemann has been on prospect lists for years but already had workload concerns before Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2025 season. Francis had a good showing in 2024 but was held back by shoulder problems this year.
There’s also the long-term picture to consider. Gausman, Bieber and Lauer are all slated for free agency after 2026. Berríos can also opt-out of his deal at that time. There’s reportedly been some consideration of trading Berríos but that will be a challenge considering his health status, results and opt-out. The general point is that there’s not a lot of long-term certainty. Signing Cease upgraded the rotation for the upcoming campaign and beyond. Yet another acquisition could do the same.
Gore is a pretty straightforward trade candidate. The Nationals are rebuilding and aren’t likely to be contending for a while. Gore is controlled for two more years and is represented by the Boras Corporation. It’s not true that Boras clients never sign extensions but it’s a decent bet that Gore and Boras are looking forward to free agency.
It’s notable that the Jays were interested in him ahead of the deadline but his situation has changed a bit since then. He was dominant through the All-Star break in 2025, as he had an 3.02 earned run average, 30.5% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate at that time. But he struggled down the stretch and went on the IL twice, first due to shoulder inflammation and then an ankle impingement. His results suffered and he finished the year with a 4.17 ERA.
The Nats are getting interest in Gore this offseason but could perhaps wait until the upcoming trade deadline if they don’t get offers to their liking. He is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $4.7MM next year, with another arbitration control beyond that. The Nats have very little on their books and don’t need to move him for financial reasons. If the Jays want to circle back to Gore, they might have to put a notable prospect package on the table.
The situation with Ryan is somewhat analogous. He is also two years away from the open market, with a projected $5.8MM salary next year. He has been a pretty consistently above average pitcher in his career. In his 641 1/3 innings, he has a 3.79 ERA, 27.6% strikeout rate and 5.7% walk rate.
The Twins seemed to kick off a rebuild or retool or reset or whatever at the deadline. They traded a number of relievers, including Louis Varland to the Jays, and sent Carlos Correa back to Houston. Coming into this offseason, many expected Ryan and other Twins to be on the trade block but Minnesota’s president of baseball operations Derek Falvey has downplayed the idea that he needs to continue subtracting from the roster.
If the Jays can’t find solutions on the trade market, they could sign another free agent. Nicholson-Smith reports that King “could be” of interest. Though the Jays wouldn’t sacrifice prospects directly, they would still be hurting their farm system. King rejected a qualifying offer from the Padres and is therefore tied to the associated penalties. Since the Jays paid the competitive balance tax in 2025, they would have to forfeit two draft picks and $1MM in international bonus pool space. Cease also rejected a QO from the Padres, so the Jays have already paid that price. If they were to end up with Cease and King, that would mean giving up a total of four draft picks and $2MM from their bonus pool.
It’s unclear if the Jays would be willing to go down that road. It presumably depends on what kind of financial price they would have to pay to sign King. He seemed on track for a nine-figure deal before injuries hampered him in 2025. MLBTR predicted him for a four-year, $80MM deal but it’s possible King looks for a shorter deal with opt-outs, so that he can return to free agency with a healthier platform season.
He had a really strong run from the second half of 2023 through the beginning of 2025. With the Yankees in 2023, he was blocked and stuck in a relief role. As the Yanks were playing out a lost season two years ago, they let King take a rotation job. He performed well and was flipped to the Padres prior to 2024, which eventually became his best season. From August 24th of 2023 through May 18th of 2025, he tossed 267 2/3 innings with a 2.72 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. FanGraphs had him seventh among pitchers in the majors in wins above replacement for that span, behind only Tarik Skubal, Chris Sale, Zack Wheeler, Logan Webb, Cole Ragans and Cease.
The latter months of 2025 were marred by injury, however. A nerve injury in his shoulder put him on the shelf for several months. He came off the IL in August but left knee inflammation sent him right back there. He returned in September and wasn’t amazing, allowing ten earned runs in his final 15 2/3 innings. The Padres gave the Game Three start in the Wild Card round to Yu Darvish, who was 39 years old and battling elbow problems which would require surgery a month later, instead of King.
It all makes King one of the more interesting free agents of the offseason. He was a borderline ace for a while there but also has only one big league season with more than 15 starts. Teams likely have varying opinions on what they expect from him going forward.
As for Ponce, he’s also a wild card, but for different reasons. His MLB track record is small but he’s been pitching well overseas. He just wrapped up a season in which he tossed 180 2/3 innings for the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization with a 1.89 ERA. His 252 strikeouts were a single-season KBO record. He was named the league MVP for his dominant season but remains unproven in North American ball. Regardless, it has been reported that he could earn $30MM to $40MM on a three-year deal.
Time will tell how aggressively the Jays go after another rotation upgrade. They still have needs elsewhere, including the back of the bullpen. Bringing in an impact bat, such as Kyle Tucker or reuniting with Bo Bichette, seems to be on the to-do list as well. RosterResource projects the Jays for a $263MM payroll and $272MM competitive balance tax figure next year. Those numbers were $258MM and $283MM at the end of 2025. It’s unclear how much farther they can push things but perhaps their deep playoff run in 2025 has created some extra spending capacity in 2026.
Photo courtesy of Matt Krohn, Imagn Images
Latest On Twins’ Offseason Direction
Following the Twins’ deadline fire sale, the widespread expectation has been that they’d continue moving veteran players this offseason. That’s not necessarily the case. President of baseball operations Derek Falvey tells Dan Hayes of The Athletic that his focus is on adding to the team, not subtracting, unless he “is told otherwise” by ownership. To this point, he has not given serious consideration to trading right-handers Pablo Lopez and/or Joe Ryan. The Pohlad family has reportedly not yet given the team’s front office a directive in terms of the budget for next season. If that eventual directive is to further lean into a rebuild, there might be another consequence: the potential acquiescence toward a trade from star center fielder Byron Buxton.
To this point, Buxton has made his desire to remain a Twin for his entire career clear. Even after this summer’s teardown of the roster, he emphasized that he had no plans to waive his no-trade clause and hoped to finish his career in Minnesota. The Twins’ offseason direction could put that loyalty to the test, as Hayes reports that Buxton might reconsider his stance if the team continues subtracting prominent players.
That’s hardly an announcement that Buxton wants out of Minnesota now, of course. It’s not impossible to see the bones of a competitive club in what the Twins still have on the roster. Lopez and Ryan are an excellent one-two combo atop the rotation. Bailey Ober had a rough 2025 season but was a quality mid-rotation arm for several years prior.
Beyond those three, Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel, Taj Bradley, and David Festa are all young starters with mid-rotation upside who were considered top-100 prospects before debuting in the majors. The viability of that group will mostly be decided by the futures of veterans like Lopez, Ryan and Ober, though.
While 2025 was disappointing for infielders Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, no one should be surprised if the pair of former top prospects take a step forward next year and become the sort of high-end regulars Minnesota was hoping they could be when selecting each with a top-10 overall pick. Additional young talent is on the way as well, ranging from top outfield prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez to young infielder Luke Keaschall, who impressed in 207 plate appearances this year. Ryan Jeffers is already a quality regular behind the plate. Outfielders like Matt Wallner and Alan Roden have posted huge numbers in the minors, with the former enjoying some big league success at times (but also lacking consistency). Adding a reliable bat at first base could give the Twins the makings of a decent lineup.
Last summer’s flurry of trades slashed spending enough that the Twins project for a payroll of just $95MM next year, per RosterResource, down more than $40MM from last year’s Opening Day mark. It’s fair to wonder whether those savings will be reinvested or whether further cuts will be made. If it’s the latter, or if the front office is only given minimal space to add, then Lopez (owed $21.75MM in each of the next two seasons), Ryan (arbitration-eligible through 2027) and Jeffers (arb-eligible through 2026) are natural candidates to be moved.
It would be quite an intriguing turnaround if the Twins decided to make a run at contending in 2026, though they would have to rebuild essentially the entire bullpen. Prior to the deadline, they traded away Jhoan Duran, Louis Varland, Griffin Jax, Danny Coulombe and Brock Stewart.
Should the Twins go the other way and end up dealing from that group of quality veterans, perhaps Buxton would reconsider his previously stated desire to be a Twin for life. The soon to be 32-year-old veteran will make $45MM total over the final three seasons of the extension he signed in Minnesota. He can tack on an additional $10MM of earnings each season based on plate appearances and MVP voting.
That’s a bargain for the production he provides, with a .270/.330/.540 batting line (138 wRC+), 53 home runs, 31 steals and 8.7 fWAR in 228 games the past two years. If he was available, virtually any team in baseball would have interest in bringing Buxton into the fold. Big-spending contenders like the Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees, and Mets all figure to be on the hunt for outfield help this winter, and if Buxton did decide to waive his no-trade clause he’d likely be able to have his pick of the litter in terms of destinations thanks to his favorable contract situation and excellent production.
Those big spending clubs wouldn’t be the only teams with interest if Buxton were to make himself available, and perhaps a team like the Astros or even Rays with payroll limitations but a strong commitment to winning nonetheless could get involved as well. Buxton’s commitment to the Twins over the years has shown he’s not afraid to try to win in a smaller market than New York or Los Angeles, though if he was to depart Minnesota it would surely be done with getting to the World Series firmly in mind after winning just one playoff series during his time with Minnesota.
Twins Rumors: Payroll, Ryan, Coaching Staff
The Twins are expected to listen to trade offers on several of their remaining veterans after gutting the roster — particularly the bullpen — ahead of this year’s trade deadline. Right-handers Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez ranked prominently on MLBTR’s list of the offseason’s top 40 trade candidates, as did catcher Ryan Jeffers. The extent to which the Twins further subtract from the roster will at least in part stem from ownership’s budget for next year’s payroll. To this point, the Pohlad family has not given the baseball operations department “a clear direction” on next year’s payroll, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports.
RosterResource currently projects a $95MM payroll for the Twins, which is down more than $40MM from their Opening Day mark in 2025. That doesn’t include potential subtractions from the arbitration class. Trevor Larnach, projected for a $4.7MM salary (via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), stands as a non-tender or trade candidate. Obviously, trades of Ryan, Lopez and/or Jeffers would further scale back spending. Lopez is earning $21.75MM in each of the next two seasons. Ryan is projected for a $5.8MM salary. Jeffers is projected to earn $6.6MM. (Center fielder Byron Buxton is guaranteed $15MM but has a full no-trade clause and has said even after the team’s summer fire sale that he won’t consider approving a trade.)
The idea of Minnesota taking that newfound payroll flexibility and reinvesting it in a series of win-now moves to complement a roster still featuring Ryan, Lopez, Buxton, Jeffers and several promising young position players (Luke Keaschall perhaps chief among them) makes at least some sense on paper, but there’s little in the Pohlads’ history of owning the club to support the notion that they’d go that route. Further subtraction still seems likely, though until the Twins tip their hand with whatever the first moves of the offseason are, perhaps fans can hold out some faint hope for a quicker-than-expected turnaround.
Assuming they indeed operate more on the sell side of things, Ryan in particular will be one of the most sought-after names on the trade market. The Twins discussed the 29-year-old righty, who has two years of affordable arbitration control remaining, with several clubs ahead of the summer trade deadline. No deal came to pass, but the Red Sox are known to have had substantial discussions regarding the right-hander, while the Yankees and Mets were among the others to at least check in.
Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register adds the Angels to the list of clubs that showed interest in Joe Ryan prior to the trade deadline. With the Halos set to seek pitching upgrades again this winter, it stands to reason that they could circle back and talk with the Twins this winter. The Angels’ farm system is not well regarded, though they have a fair number of young big leaguers or nearly MLB-ready arms who could pique the Twins’ interest (e.g. George Klassen, Ryan Johnson, Nelson Rada, 2025 first-rounder Tyler Bremner).
The Angels would surely face competition in any bid for Ryan. The 2025 All-Star tossed 171 innings of 3.42 ERA ball this past season, fanning 28.2% of opponents against a tidy 5.7% walk rate. He sports a career 3.79 earned run average that’s skewed a bit by an outlier 4.51 mark in 2023. Ryan has virtually no platoon split in his career, with the main blemish against him being some susceptibility to home runs (particularly in that rocky ’23 campaign). Angel Stadium, notably, has been more conducive to home runs than Minneapolis’ Target Field — both over the past three seasons and in 2025, in particular.
Much of the focus in the early stages of the offseason will be in determining exactly which direction the Twins will go and — if they indeed sell more veterans — the depth of that potential teardown. Minnesota already had a relatively well-regarded farm system prior to the deadline, and the Twins now boast one of the best minor league systems in the sport. They’re not a system that’s devoid of minor league talent, so the extent to which ownership is willing to invest in the club will be especially instructive when it comes to their 2026 outlook.
Looking beyond the roster, however, there are still some short-term decisions that need to be made in the dugout. Longtime manager Rocco Baldelli was fired at season’s end and replaced by his former bench coach from 2019, Derek Shelton. Bobby Nightengale of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune writes that the Twins initially began their search for a manager with a speculative list running around 80 names deep. They whittled that to 15, conducted Zoom interviews with seven and held in-person interviews with Shelton, Yankees hitting coach James Rowson (another former Twins staffer) and former Mariners skipper Scott Servais.
The decision, per Nightengale, ultimately came down to Shelton or Rowson. While Shelton won the job in the end, the Twins are hopeful of hiring Rowson back to the organization as Shelton’s new bench coach, Nightengale reports. The rest of the staff is largely up in the air. Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that the Twins will retain pitching coach Pete Maki, pairing him with newly hired bullpen coach LaTroy Hawkins to oversee the staff in Minnesota.
Third base coach Tommy Watkins has already departed for Atlanta, and Hayes writes that assistant bench coach/catching coach Hank Conger and quality control coach Nate Dammann have both been dismissed. Decisions have yet to be made on hitting coaches Matt Borgschulte, Trevor Amicone and Rayden Sierra.
Red Sox Notes: Ryan, Alcantara, Prospects, Mayer, Slaten
It was a relatively quiet trade deadline for the Red Sox, as Dustin May and Steven Matz were the only additions brought onto the roster for the pennant race. However, the Sox had their eyes on plenty of bigger targets, including the team’s previously-reported pushes for the Twins’ Joe Ryan and the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara. WEEI’s Rob Bradford provides some details on those pursuits, saying that the Red Sox were willing to dig deep into the prospect depth to try and secure a deal.
“Anybody and everybody from the Sox’s minor league system” was available to some extent, Bradford writes. Boston offered multiple packages that included two of Jhostynxon Garcia, Payton Tolle, and Franklin Arias as the headliners, with other names also involved from the top ten names on the club’s prospect rankings. Since the Marlins and Twins didn’t seem to be prioritizing the addition of big league players, Red Sox officials saw Alcantara and Ryan as particularly good fits since Boston didn’t want to trade from its Major League roster.
A match didn’t happen, of course, and Bradford characterizes the talks with the Twins as somewhat one-sided on Boston’s part. “Ultimately, Minnesota never acted, not informing the Red Sox chief decision-makers what level of offer would be needed to pull off….a move for a controllable ace starting pitcher,” Bradford writes. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the Twins actually did want some MLB-level talent, as Minnesota wanted either Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu in a Ryan trade package.
As much as the Twins’ deadline fire sale was about shedding payroll, Duran or Abreu are arbitration-controlled through the 2028 season. Obtaining a controllable starting outfielder would’ve been a sign that the Twins still want to return to competitive baseball as soon as 2026, and Thursday’s stunning set of moves wasn’t the first step of a rebuild process. The club’s other deadline moves saw multiple players with MLB experience obtained, including such names as Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, and James Outman.
Turning to the injury front, Nightengale writes that Marcelo Mayer could be facing a season-ending wrist surgery, as the rookie infielder’s “sprained wrist is more serious than the Red Sox initially envisioned.” Mayer was placed on the 10-day IL a little over a week ago and he recently received an injection in his wrist to help with the healing process.
Speaking with MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam and other reporters, Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn’t rule out the possibility of surgery. For now, the hope is that the injection “gives him the best chance to be back on the field this season. It’s a credit to him to try to do anything he can to get back.”
Mayer has hit .228/.272/.402 over his first 136 plate appearances in the Show. While not a standout performance, it isn’t unexpected for a player to need time to adjust to the majors, plus it helps that a healthy Mayer would be a luxury at this point for a crowded Red Sox infield. Now that Alex Bregman is back from the IL and Ceddanne Rafaela has moved into regular second-base duty, the team’s everyday lineup is pretty set, so Mayer might only be in line for a bench role if he is able to get back to action.
One player whose return seems a little more likely is Justin Slaten, though Breslow warned that “it’s hard to put a timetable on it given the topsy-turvy nature of the recovery to date.” Slaten hasn’t pitched since May 28 due to right shoulder inflammation, though as the reliever told Bradford and company, he was also dealing with a nerve issue related to his transverse bone.
That problem has now been corrected, and Slaten’s restarted throwing progression hit another checkpoint with a bullpen session on Saturday. The Sox will continue with a more gradual build-up and a minor league rehab assignment will surely be necessary given how much time Slaten has missed. If all goes well, Slaten feels he’ll be back by September, and ready to continue building on what is becoming an impressive resume. Slaten has a 3.09 ERA over 78 2/3 relief innings since making his MLB debut last season.