Enough of the Funny Business: Let's Fix These Twins to Contend in 2025
They're not adding payroll, but they can still add players
It will not affect this offseason's budget regardless of if/when the Minnesota Twins are sold to the Ishbia brothers.
The Twins aren’t adding to their payroll.
The sooner that you accept that this toothpaste isn’t going back in the tube, the sooner you’re on the path to shiny bright pearly whites.
But that’s not the same as simply doing…nothing.
And that’s what the Twins have done so far this offseason. I get lots of messages about how it’s unacceptable that they haven’t done anything yet — and I get that — but it’s not really this front office’s way of conducting business.
Even without their self-imposed budget restrictions, the Twins have never been all that eager to start the offseason with a bang under this leadership group.
But with that said, the Twins are now one of the final nine teams who haven’t handed out a big-league deal this offseason. If the Rule 5 drafting of Eiberson Castellano was on your bingo sheet, you’re still at least three spaces shy of winning, even if you count the free space.
So let’s get down to business.
Here’s what I think the Twins should do this offseason while remaining on their shoestring budget:
Move 1: Trade for either LaMonte Wade Jr. or Taylor Ward
This cuts two ways, depending on how you want to fill out this roster.
Wade should not ever play against lefties — which is already kind of a redundancy on this offense, but when you gotta make something out of nothing financially, you get creative — but he’d be the perfect fit atop the order against righties as a table-setter for Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton, Royce Lewis and friends.
Wade has hit .258/.376/.401 over the last two seasons, taking 138 walks against 185 strikeouts while playing outfield and first base — two positions the Twins desperately need depth.
Wade has played a lot more first than the outfield in recent seasons — but that’s also where the Twins would seem to have the biggest need for some extra help.
Carlos Santana isn’t and was never coming back. This is one way to start re-creating him in the aggregate (but eight years younger and at less than half the price).
The Twins should also consider trading for Taylor Ward from the Angels.
Ward bats and throws right-handed, and has been very good against lefties — a nice fit for the Twins as a corner type who played left field exclusively last year, but has some more utility flexibility in the not-so-distant past.
Ward’s best season was 2022, when he hit .281/.360/.473, but his last two years have also been fine (.249/.327/.424, 109 OPS+). He hasn’t played anywhere but first or left since that 2022 season, though it’s unclear if he simply wasn’t asked to or if he’s just no longer considered viable out there.
Given the way the Angels have been run lately, it’s hard to say.
But rumors have been that Los Angeles has been willing to move him this offseason, and he’s due a salary just shy of $9 million (with one more year of club control in 2026).
So how are the Poor-lad-owned Twins going to swing that?
I’m glad you asked…
Move 1b: Trade Christian Vazquez and Chris Paddack to make financial room for acquisitions
It’s not that I necessarily want to move either of these guys, but the budget mandate has made it all but necessary. Paddack is due $7.5 million next season, and teams are signing pitchers around his caliber for more than that — and in some cases, for more than one year.
The Twins should be able to swing a deal to get something interesting for Paddack. It won’t be just a salary dump. It might not be a player or prospect the average fan has heard of, but it won’t be for a bucket of balls.
In fact, I’d be willing to trade Paddack+ for Ward. I would think a prospect in the 10-15 range on the Twins’ list would be adequate.
The Angels are perpetually looking for pitching, though I would certainly say a prayer for Paddack’s surgically repaired elbow as they have not been good at protecting pitchers’ arms in recent memory.
That’s not a salary-neutral move, but it’s close enough to work with.
As for Vazquez, I really have a hard time knowing what he could command in a trade, if anything. The Twins might be better suited trading Willi Castro and his $6-ish million expected salary and hanging onto Vazquez than they are trading CV, eating money and being forced to sign an inferior backup which would likely eat up more than a little of the implied savings.
I believe the league would look upon CV favorably as a defender and clubhouse guy, and now that the catcher market — which was already thin — has shaken out a bit, maybe there’s a fit to be had. The Red Sox could use a catcher to pair with Connor Wong, especially now that they’ve traded Kyle Teel, so maybe a reunion makes sense.
Move 2: Trade for a Meaningful Starting Pitcher
This is where it’s time to really get something done. I would be willing to trade some excellent prospects — maybe bite the bullet and trade one of the untouchables, even — for a difference-making starter.
I think the rotation is actually pretty good as-is, but there’s no reason not to keep improving. That’s especially true if trading Paddack, which I kind of feel is a foregone conclusion. And there’s an interesting dichotomy there — if the market bears a good price for Paddack, do you want to in turn pay the going rate for a pitcher better than him?
I think the answer is still yes, especially since I’m expecting David Festa to more or less give you what Paddack could in 2025 at about 10 percent of the cost.
These are the starting pitchers I would target, now that Jesus Luzardo has been traded to the Phillies:
Cincinnati’s Erick Fedde — reasonable salary, short-term commitment, prospect cost high, but not likely to be outlandish
Colorado’s Ryan Feltner — Matthew Trueblood at North Side Baseball says it better than I could here, but I think he could be great if you get him out of Denver
Arizona’s Zac Gallen — I’ve liked him for a long time, and he’s coming into his final year of club control; he’s probably too expensive for the Twins in multiple ways, but a guy can dream
Pittsburgh’s Jared Jones — for some reason has been discussed as potentially available, though I have no idea why; would be willing to go big for him in a trade
Tampa Bay’s Zack Littell — seems to have found something in Tampa, and he’s about to get around $5 million in arbitration; might be worth looking into
Arizona’s Jordan Montgomery — if Arizona eats half of his $22.5 million, it’s worth a shot
Chicago’s Jameson Taillon — I have no idea what the Cubs are doing and he’s owed $36 million over the next two years — which is probably a non-starter for the Twins even if they move some money
Los Angeles’ Tyler Anderson — a swap for Vazquez could make some sense here salary-wise
Los Angeles’ Reid Detmers — lefty who hits 95 and strikes people out but has given up too many homers; Pete Maki be like “I can fix him”
Miami’s Sandy Alcantara — why not shoot for the moon, right?
Move 3: Sign Yasmani Grandal to be the backup catcher
Grandal’s bats showed signs of life for the first time in a couple of years as he slashed .228/.304/.400 in 72 games with the Pirates (95 wRC+). He can’t throw anymore but he’s a good framer and a switch hitter — a decent option to pair with Ryan Jeffers — and he probably wouldn’t asked to catch all that much.
Basically, for me it’s a pivotal year for the Twins to see what they have in Jeffers — and to that end, I’d have him start 100-plus games. I don’t think Jair Camargo or anyone else in the organization is ready to be a full-time backup, but if Grandal flames out there’s always a Sandy Leon-type hanging out in someone’s organization who can fill the role of veteran mentor cheaply (hello Martin Maldonado).
Move 4: Nab one/two of the relievers on either minor-league or cheap one-year deals
There are plenty of interesting relievers who are still available who won’t require much of a financial commitment.
Some that I like include:
A.J. Minter
Buck Farmer
Paul Sewald
Scott Barlow
Jalen Beeks
Joe Kelly
Will Smith
Andrew Kittredge
Shelby Miller
Shintaro Fujinami
Tim Hill
Keynan Middleton
Kendall Graveman
Matt Moore
Tyler Matzek
Jake Diekman