The mass sell-off at the 2025 MLB trade deadline has had time to marinate a bit, and we’ve started to have a close look at the prospects the Twins brought back by offloading almost half the big-league roster. It was a tough pill to swallow, but it has improved the quality and depth of starting pitching in the organization.
The most luxurious expense in the free-agent market is starting pitching. To acquire big-league-caliber starting pitching on the open market, teams will always have to overspend and take on what will eventually be “bad money”.
The additions of Mick Abel and Taj Bradley give the Twins a level of depth in that prime position, at a price that most teams would envy. This gives Pablo López and Joe Ryan the ability to anchor the 2026 rotation, followed by a bevy of options to fill out the last three spots.
If Bailey Ober is still on the roster, he will almost certainly be in the rotation out of spring training. However, with how his 2025 has gone and the options the Twins now possess, I wouldn’t be surprised if he carries a short leash into 2026 (unless, of course, either López or Ryan is traded over the winter).
With Ober the incumbent for the third rotation spot, there are some options for the last two spots. More trades are certainly on the table, but this regime has proven less than eager to address the rotation via free agency, unless it’s a one year ‘prove it’ kind of deal.
That leaves us with Bradley, Abel, Zebby Matthews, David Festa and Simeon Woods Richardson. All of them are pre-arbitration, which gives the Twins the enviable position of having quality starting pitching for less than $25 million a year. Between those six, if one or two of them take a step forward with their development, this team starts to become a threat. The bullpen is a question mark, but the free agent market is much more effective to get Band-Aids for your bullpen, rather than your starting rotation.
This team is far from “complete,” but there is a foundation here of controllable arms that should give the fan base some optimism heading into 2026. Before any arbitration hearings, the Twins’ 2026 payroll is $67 million—likely a chunk higher, since Joe Ryan should do well in arbitration. Even in the reign of the penurious Pohlads, there’s a lot of meat on the bone to acquire talent where it fits.
With payroll flexibility and a slew of exciting bats coming through the system, 2026 should be an exciting team. Now, I wouldn’t go running to your favorite betting app to put money on them to win the AL Central, but weirder things have happened with a young and hungry roster.