Five Things the Twins Need To Do To Become Contenders Again

In eight of the last nine seasons, the American League Central has been a fight between the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians for divisional supremacy. After claiming the top spot in 2023 with an 87-win season, the Twins gave it back up last year. 

It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. Minnesota was within 3.5 games of Cleveland heading into the final month of the season before fading late.

A 9-18 record in the month of September not only ruined any chances of a repeat atop the division but caused them to miss the postseason altogether. They were officially eliminated by the Orioles on the third to last day of the season. 

Offense wasn’t the problem as the Twins had top-10 production in terms of runs per game. Pitching, on the other hand, wasn’t as much of a strong suit. They ranked in the bottom 10 in the league in staff ERA. They also faltered when it mattered most, going 39-59 against teams over .500, the fifth-worst such record in the AL. 

Luckily, the Twins might not be that far away from at least returning to postseason contention, and potentially challenging for the division crown again. Most of their core is returning, and they play in a division where most teams always have a chance. A few moves in particular could better ensure that happens. 

1. Keep Pablo López 

As a team that usually operates in the lower half of the league in total payroll, it would make sense for the Twins to want to shed a pricey contract or two before the 2025 season. Starting pitcher Pablo López could be one player for the team to consider trading. 

After acquiring the right-hander from the Marlins before the 2023 season, Minnesota locked him up for four years with a contract extension. That extension paid $8.25 million in 2024 but increases to $21.75 million for each of the next three years. Among Twins players, only shortstop Carlos Correa will have a higher salary. 

But even though trading López might be tempting, and even with that high a price tag, retaining his services is in the Twins’ best interests. 

López has been his usual consistent self in his two seasons with the Twins, pitching to the tune of a 3.87 ERA. That’s just a shade under his career mark of 3.91, not too shabby of a line for a pitcher entering his age-29 season. 

In 2024, Twins starters finished 22^nd in MLB with a 4.36 ERA. That’s part of the reason Minnesota took a step back last year, so trading away an ace isn’t exactly the best way to improve things. 

2. Trade Chris Paddack and Christian Vázquez 

While the Twins shouldn’t look to trade López, they do have some other contracts that would be worth moving before the 2025 season begins. Those would be the contracts of catcher Christian Vázquez and pitcher Chris Paddack. 

Vázquez is set to make $10 million in the final year of the three-year contract he signed with Minnesota in 2023. The veteran backstop has hit just .222 with a .587 OPS in 195 games as a Twin. 

Paddack is also in the final year of his contract with the Twins and is owed $7.5 million in 2025. He has pitched in just 24 games with Minnesota in three years due to injuries and had a 4.99 ERA last season as he made 17 starts with the team. 

Based on recent performances, the pair will be tough to move. Still, Paddack could have some upside being in his twenties, while Vázquez is a strong defensive catcher. If the Twins can move those contracts, that’s a lot of savings to go toward patching other spots on the roster. 

3. Figure Out How to Backfill Carlos Santana 

Since moving on from Miguel Sanó, the Twins have had a handful of different players serve as primary first basemen for the team. The most recent of those players was 2023-24 free agent signee Carlos Santana.

The 38-year-old and 15-year MLB veteran had a solid year at the plate for Minnesota, batting .238 with a .749 OPS in 150 games and bashing 23 homers while driving in 71. He also provided his regular strong defense, which finally resulted in his first career Gold Glove Award. 

Santana is now a free agent once again, and the question is whether the Twins have his replacement on the roster or not.

Jose Miranda, who played the most games at first for the team in 2022, was decent enough himself last year, batting .284 with a .763 OPS in 121 games. He wasn’t much of a run producer, though, hitting nine homers and driving in 49. 

Unless the Twins are to free up some payroll with the aforementioned potential trades, there isn’t a ton of quality for them to pursue on the free agent first baseman market. Thus, staying internal with Miranda or even a minor league option, such as Yunior Severino, might need to be the answer.

Will that be enough to keep the offense producing like it did last year, though? 

4. Shore Up the Middle Relief 

Last year, the Twins had a quartet of bullpen arms that could rival most teams. Closer Jhoan Duran and fellow relievers Griffin Jax, Cole Sands, and Jorge Alcala combined for a nice clean 3.00 ERA in 246 games. 

The rest of the bullpen had more mixed results, to say the least. Of the other ten Twins pitchers to appear in at least ten games in relief, six of them had ERAs north of 4.00. 

Minnesota did attempt to bring in a handful of relievers last offseason to help out the bullpen. Among them were Justin Topa and Steven Okert, who came over via trade from the Mariners and Marlins, respectively, as well as Jay Jackson, who signed as a free agent. 

Unfortunately, Topa only pitched in three games due to injury, Okert pitched in 44 games but had a 5.09 ERA, and Jackson was even worse at 20 games and a 7.52 ERA. Only Topa remains with the team, giving the Twins another chance to take a crack at reinforcing the bullpen this offseason. 

5. Get Matt Wallner in the Lineup Full Time 

In 2019, the Twins used the 39^th overall pick to draft outfielder Matt Wallner. Though he spent his college days playing at the University of Southern Mississippi, it was a homecoming for the youngster who grew up just outside of the Twin Cities in Forest Lake, Minnesota. 

Wallner would make his MLB debut in 2022, playing 18 games, before earning more playing time the following two seasons. Though they wouldn’t be full seasons in the bigs due to either periodic struggles or other players ahead of him on the depth chart, his offensive numbers over the last two years have been very good. 

In 151 total games between 2023 and 2024, the 26-year-old batted .254 with an .886 OPS as well as 28 doubles, 27 homers, and 78 RBIs. He strikes out quite a lot, he had a 36.4% strikeout rate in 2024, but the damage he can cause makes up for it. His 17.5% barrel rate, 53.2% hard-hit rate, and 77.3 mph average bat speed would have landed him in the very upper percentiles in 2024 had he qualified. 

Wallner should now have ample opportunity for playing time with corner infielders Manuel Margot and Max Kepler both becoming free agents. If Wallner can provide close to the same rate of production over a full season, the Twins could have another big weapon in a potent offense.