Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
Friday was a busy day for the Minnesota Twins. After loading up the 40-man roster prior to the Rule 5 Draft deadline, Derek Falvey swung more moves to wrap up the week.
Minnesota sorted out Justin Topa’s contract situation, and they landed a new backup catcher in Alex Jackson. Seven arbitration eligible players were due for raises, and the Twins came to terms with all of them.
No non-tenders for Minnesota Twins
The acquisition of Jackson brought a seventh player up for an arbitration raise with a Friday deadline. Of the candidates, only Trevor Larnach’s case was in question. Ultimately, the entire group was handed a deal for 2026.
Aside from Trevor Larnach, the #MNTwins offered a contract to everyone else — Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan, Cole Sands, Alex Jackson, Ryan Jeffers and Royce Lewis –after DFA’ing DaShawn Keirsey Jr. earlier in the day.
— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) November 21, 2025
MLB Trade Rumors projects Trevor Larnach’s 2026 salary at $4.7 million. He made $2.5 million in 2025. It’s not that the salary increase is substantial, or that the amount is significant on the bottom line either. For a team that looks destined to have a bottom-of-the-barrel payroll though, he represents an opportunity to trim money.
There’s also a significant level of redundancy for Larnach. He’s a left-handed outfielder on a team with a boatload of them. Larnach is also an uninspiring talent at this point in his career. Across 442 big league games he has a .241/.323/.403 batting line with a 101 OPS+. Being league average in a corner spot with bad defense is hardly an ideal profile.
Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober are both pencilled in as members of the starting rotation. Sands is the top member of a gutted bullpen, and both Jeffers and Lewis will be every day starters.
Larnach not in the clear for MN Twins
The most surprising candidate to be tendered a contract by Minnesota on Friday was Trevor Larnach. His roster spot seemed in jeopardy for all the reasons above. However, just because the sides came to an agreement doesn’t mean he’ll be with the Twins on Opening Day.
Larnach’s 116 OPS+ in 2024 was a career-best. Unfortunately the development didn’t continue, and he’s hardly been the exit velocity power hitter that the front office dreamed on when grabbing him out of Oregon State in the first round.
Back-to-back days with a home run for Trevor! pic.twitter.com/qdqbiIApmv
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 5, 2025
As something of a tweener, Larnach represents the ideal combination of payroll shedding for the Minnesota Twins, and a cheap pickup on the waiver wire. Derek Falvey has been shopping Larnach long before Friday, and those conversations can now continue this winter.
It’s unlikely that Larnach generates anything substantial in return for the Twins. Moving him though would take one of the six current left-handed outfielders off the 40-man roster.
Mentioned in this article: Alex Jackson Bailey Ober Cole Sands Joe Ryan Royce Lewis Ryan Jeffers Trevor Larnach
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