Image courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Last week, I gradually rolled out my ranking of the top 20 player assets in the Twins organization heading into the new year. The purpose of this annual exercise is to try and blend the big-picture view with the the short term. Accounting for the team’s present and future, viewing players as pieces of a strategic vision, which players matter most?
If interested, you can read the blurbs and explanations for each ranking in Part 1 (16-20), Part 2 (11-15), Part 3 (6-10) and Part 4 (1-5). But here’s a recap of the list, along with each player’s original method of acquisition:
Walker Jenkins, OF (Draft – 1st Rd)
Luke Keaschall, 2B (Draft – 2nd Rd)
Joe Ryan, RHP (Trade)
Pablo Lopez, RHP (Trade)
Kaelen Culpepper, SS (Draft – 1st Rd)
Simeon Woods Richardson, RHP (Trade)
Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF (Int’l Signing)
Byron Buxton, OF (Draft – 1st Rd)
Mick Abel, RHP (Trade)
Taj Bradley, RHP (Trade)
Zebby Matthews, RHP (Draft – 8th Rd)
Matt Wallner, OF (Draft – 1st Rd)
Royce Lewis, 3B (Draft – 1st Rd)
Eduardo Tait, C (Trade)
David Festa, RHP (Draft – 13th Rd)
Connor Prielipp, LHP (Draft – 2nd Rd)
Bailey Ober, RHP (Draft – 12th Rd)
Brooks Lee, SS (Draft – 1st Rd)
Ryan Jeffers, C (Draft – 2nd Rd)
Marek Houston, SS (Draft – 1st Rd)
Today I’m going to riff on this list a little bit, using it as an opportunity to dig deeper into the system’s strengths and weaknesses, the next layer of talent, and the tightrope of a timeline that the Minnesota Twins are trying to walk.
Future Meets Present
Reading through the top five is admittedly a bit jarring: two veteran frontline starters sandwiched by a couple of prospects who’ve yet to debut, and Keaschall with his whole 50 games of MLB experience. That’s the challenge that I enjoy about compiling these rankings — zooming out for a multi-year view, and trying to construct the sweet-spot vision for a winning window.
The Twins are very much attempting to thread the needle of present and future. They’re holding their veteran stars and passing up the opportunity to go all-in on a rebuild. To an extent I admire that, and agree with it. Ryan, Lopez and Buxton are three of the biggest success stories in modern franchise history, fully realized. You cannot take for granted that you’re going to have a proven foundation this strong again anytime soon.
But there’s a ton of work to do around those three. It’s telling that they are the only proven veteran performers in the top 10, aside from Woods Richardson who’s sort of crossing over that threshold.
Everyone else ranked 10 or higher is unproven youth. But it’s MLB-ready youth: they’ve all debuted in the majors or on the verge of it. Can this wave collectively make an impact fast enough to accomplish something while Lopez and Ryan are still here? That’s the story of the Twins for the next two years.
Top Talent Isn’t Bought (But Can Be Traded For)
Looking at the origins of the 20 players on this list, not one came aboard as a free agent. The Twins have amassed most of their top talent through the draft, and usually in the first couple rounds. Only one player on the list (Rodriguez) was an international signing, which reflects a glaring weakness in Minnesota’s development engine.
Five of the organization’s top 10 assets were acquired via trade. If the Twins were to bring in any other player this offseason who’d have a chance at cracking this top 20 and significantly shaking up the high-end talent pool, I have no doubt it would be via trade. Of course, that also requires giving to get.
There is one abundant player type on my list and it’s right-handed pitchers, who occupy eight of the 20 spots. Trading from this pool would make a lot of sense if the Twins are aiming to acquire, say, an impact bat. Woods Richardson and Ober are names that stand out as possibilities, if indeed the front office is shutting down requests for Ryan and Lopez. You could also seemingly live with trading one guy from the closely-bunched Matthews/Bradley/Abel group, for the right return.
Rethinking the 2025 Trade Deadline
When the Twins front office did what they did at the deadline, I was furious. I certainly understood the decision to sell, but taking it to such an extreme — dumping Carlos Correa‘s salary for nothing, trading the entire bullpen away — left me feeling extremely sour.
As I factor the new additions into the rankings and consider these moves as asset exchanges, I start to feel … a little better. Last year I had Griffin Jax ranked 10th, and this year I have Taj Bradley ranked 10th. An even swap in that regard, made palatable by the starter-reliever value gap (for now) and the two extra years of team control.
The Jhoan Duran trade was one of the few moves from the deadline that I actually really liked, and this year’s ranking illustrates why: Duran was ranked 11th on my list in 2025, and the Twins flipped him for a distinguished, high-upside catcher (ranking 14th on my list) and an MLB-ready pitching prospect with tons of team control (ranking 9th). You can easily see the logic in that trade.
The Louie Varland trade, maybe not so much. Varland wasn’t in my top 20 last year but he definitely would’ve been this year following a bullpen breakthrough. The Twins traded him for Alan Roden and Kendry Rojas, both of whom are on the fringe of these rankings but couldn’t make the cut following rough debuts in the system. I really hope the front office is right about at least one of those guys because that decision continues to bother me.
The Natural Target for Championship Contention: 2027
Do the Twins have realistic hopes to contend for a World Series this year? I would say no. The best-case scenario, and what I surmise they are aspiring for, is a .500-ish season — one good enough to rejuvenate some fan interest, and justify (in their minds) a more significant investment the following year.
Because that’s when it’s got to happen, if it’s going to. By that time, most of the top prospects featured in these rankings will have arrived. Ryan and Lopez will be in their final years under contract. Buxton will be in his second-to-last, and another year into his 30s. Hopefully a bullpen will have taken shape through the experimentation that takes place in 2026.
Now, there are two hitches in this plan. First of all, there might not be a 2027 MLB season, or at least not a normal one, with the CBA expiring at the end of 2026 and many anticipating a lockout. But even taking that out of the equation, the Twins have to reach 2027 in a state where they are still intact, and willing to further invest.
‘“I don’t think that as the landscape, what I see right now, that we should put a significant investment into the team of (an additional) $50 (million) or $60 million,” Tom Pohlad said in a recent presser when he took over the ownership mantle. “But I don’t think we’re far off from that.”
Well, he and the Twins need to be convinced of it within one year. And honestly that feels like a stretch. Minnesota was the worst team in baseball in the second half of 2025 and the roster has barely changed. It’s reasonable to hope that they can right the ship gradually, but in the first half of 2026, the going will be tough. It just will. They have no bullpen, and a grim defensive outlook. The prospects aren’t quite here yet. They’re facing some serious challenges on offense.
If the front office gets to the upcoming trade deadline and they’re 10 games under .500, plagued by many of the same issues of the past two years, are they really going to say, “Let’s stay the course and hope everything comes together next year”? Or are they going to do what’s probably prudent: trade Ryan and Lopez, and Buxton too if he wants out. Load up on more controllable young assets. Commit fully to the rebuild.
I find no joy in reaching this conclusion but I think it’s the undeniable reality the Twins face. The decision to hold onto Ryan, Lopez and Buxton seems more motivated by preserving a semblance of fan favor as opposed to a baseball decision. Pohlad has in fact been fairly open about that. But at some point, baseball decision-making needs to take control, and the Twins are walking a very fine line in trying to guide this current multi-generational core to championship contention within a tight one-year window. It’s a notion that could fizzle out quickly with another stumble out of the gates.