The end of a season, even a very bad one, offers a chance to dream. The offseason is a stage to strengthen the roster, along with individual skills; beyond it lies spring training and a fresh slate. The trouble for Twins fans is that there isn’t much to dream on heading into 2026. 

Almost without exception, every hitter that is currently written into the team’s plans next year is experiencing a downward trendline in terms of performance or skills. An inventory of where each player stands coming out of September shows just how lacking the 40-man roster is with offensive players on the rise. 

I’ll start with the three players who bucked this trend by coming out of the season with some semblance of momentum, adding a note of caveat for each:

Luke Keaschall: Awesome MLB debut between the injuries, which have plagued him. Tough to nitpick a great rookie year but he did post a .685 OPS in September while flashing iffy defense. At the very least, enthusiasm has been tempered around his future as a cornerstone. 

Byron Buxton: Fantastic career year that is reaffirming for his ability to produce at the plate, but he turns 32 in December and his skills are declining in center. Buxton’s probably the only hitter on the Twins with any substantial trade value, sans Keaschall, but has a no-trade clause.

Austin Martin: Made hay after the trade deadline, batting .282 with a .374 OBP. But even in this productive run, Martin’s limitations were evident as he slugged .365 and played left field almost exclusively. He showcased the tools to be a solid role player, which is a step forward, but far from a game-changer.

Okay. Now let’s turn our attention to the rest of the Twins’ 40-man roster, in alphabetical order:

Kody Clemens: Cooled off immensely after a stunning midseason surge as (essentially) a waiver claim. Slashed .201/.262/.354 in his last 55 games, rarely showing much outside of an isolated 3-HR outburst in September. 

Ryan Fitzgerald: Quad-A player who finished the season 1-for-19 and batted .196 overall, though he did pop a few homers while showing a decent plate approach. Could be a usable bench guy.

Mickey Gasper: It would’ve been a cool story if Gasper could have taken advantage of the wide-open opportunity to solidify his standing as a big-leaguer in the second half. He did not, slashing .136/.212/.237 in 67 plate appearances after the deadline.

Edouard Julien: Similarly, it would’ve been great to see Julien step up and reassert himself post-deadline. In 104 plate appearances, he posted a .660 OPS with one home run, with his untrusted glove relegating him to 1B/DH duty.

Ryan Jeffers: Went from 21 homers in 2024 to nine in 2025 (including just two after the All-Star break), sacrificing a bunch of power for unspectacular gains in average and OBP. His defensive value is in rapid decline as he approaches 30, so the drop-off in power is alarming. Battled concussion issues late in the season.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr.: Zero hits or walks as a major-leaguer after July 28th. (Albeit only two MLB starts.) Clearly not a factor.

Ryan Kreidler: Hey, a newcomer! Perhaps a chance to deviate from the pattern of plummeting performance! Oh, what’s that? He spent almost all of last year in Triple-A? He slashed .182/.333/.288 in his last 20 games there? He was waived by the 91-loss Pirates? I see.

Trevor Larnach: He looked to be carving out a spot as a lineup fixture with a 116 OPS+ in 2024, but regressed significantly to 99 in 2025 and hit just one homer after August 11th. Fielding value value fell through the floor, to the point he was almost exclusively used as DH in the second half. Non-tender candidate.

Brooks Lee: Not so much trending downward as continuing to stagnate with replacement-level MLB production. Lacking speed, power or discipline, Lee has shown no real standout skills in a Twins uniform. He batted .195 with a .531 OPS in September. Perfect example of a player the team is essentially tethered to because he’s too young/cheap to give up on but has no trade value.

Royce Lewis: Similar deal here, although they surely could trade Lewis and get something for him, if motivated to do so. The market will hardly be hopping after a dismal campaign that ended without much positive motion — Lewis posted a .678 OPS and 25-to-1 K/BB ratio in September, albeit while looking more spry in field and on the bases.

Carson McCusker: Did nothing in the majors, and even his minor-league success came to look like a mirage after he cooled off big-time in Triple-A.

José Miranda: The ultimate stock drop. Miranda was on the Opening Day roster this year (remember that??) but by season’s end found himself hopelessly mired in Triple-A, where he was overwhelmed. In August and September he batted .175 with two home runs for the Saints. 

James Outman: Two hits in his last 32 at-bats of the season, but at least they were both homers! That pretty much sums up Outman — an all-or-nothing hitter who lives up to his name with a .147 average and .558 OPS in his time with the Twins.

Jhonny Pereda: Probably not a big-league player, and unlikely to stick around. Did hit a little bit in 30 at-bats though.

Alan Roden: The most immediate return from the front office’s deadline sell-off could have hardly made a worse first impression, hitting .158 with a .463 OPS in his first 12 games as a Twin before suffering a season-ending thumb injury. Turning 26 in December, he has yet to demonstrate he can hit in the majors at all. 

Emmanuel Rodriguez: Mentioned because he’s on the 40-man roster, although he has yet to debut in the majors. One of the team’s top prospects, although 2025 wasn’t a real upward season for Rodriguez either — he battled injuries again and saw his power tamped down at Triple-A.

Matt Wallner: Wallner’s season was one of the most discouraging developments for the Twins offense all-around in 2025. His OPS+ fell by almost 40 points from the previous season as pitchers leaned into his weaknesses and often left him without answers. He batted .157 with a .600 OPS in his final 20 games, ending the year with another oblique injury.

You take stock of all these Twins hitters and it’s really hard to feel any kind of grounded positivity regarding the team’s outlook. I mean, it’s fairly common for talented players to turn around negative trends and bounce back from poor seasons. I’d bet on at least a couple of the above guys doing so. But in order to substantially improve on offense, Minnesota needs a TON of these wayward bats to round into form, and quickly. It feels like a stretch of the imagination at the moment, especially with their manager and hitting instruction group in total limbo.

At the same time, there’s really not much choice but to stay committed to these players who’ve earned little on merit, because as a byproduct of their uninspiring performances, the Twins’ current offensive assortment is almost bereft of trade value that would lend logic to a shakeup. 

When it comes to improving the offense, much like a majority of their hitters, the Twins are stuck in place.