The Minnesota Twins ended 2025 with a 70–92 record and a major sell-off — including sending Carlos Correa back to the Astros. Their payroll is unclear, spending pauses loom, and the roster feels stuck between rebuilding and contending. At the Winter Meetings, front-office leaders must decide: are they building around top arms like Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez — or preparing to reset?
1. Decide if Ryan and Lopez are building blocks or trade chips
Joe Ryan was an All-Star in 2025, showing frontline promise. Pablo Lopez, when healthy, still carries top rotation upside. If the Twins say those two are off-limits, they must commit payroll and add real support around them. If not, moving one now might return the kind of offensive core they badly need.
2. Build a bullpen that stops surrendering leads
The Twins’ bullpen finished with a 4.60 ERA and 25 blown saves, ranking near the bottom of MLB and turning winnable nights into long postgames. Duran and Griffin Jax are gone, and the only external move so far is adding Eric Orze from the Rays. They need at least two proven late-inning arms — a righty with strikeout punch and a dependable lefty. Free agents like Seranthony Dominguez, Scott Barlow, or left-handers Caleb Ferguson and Brent Suter fit the “stuff plus experience” profile this group badly lacks.
3. Add one impactful bat to stop relying on hope
Byron Buxton launched 35 home runs last year — when healthy — but he can’t carry the offense alone. The Twins are not linked to the big names like Pete Alonso, so they are looking for a bargain 20–25 homer bat that protects the lineup and gives pitchers reasons to pitch to more than the top of the order.
The decisions this week aren’t optional. If the front office leaves Orlando hoping youth and upside carry them again, 2026 will likely end the same way — with more questions, not answers. But if they stabilize the rotation, fix the bullpen, and add real power, they could walk out with the skeleton of a contender instead of another rebuild.
