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Minnesota Twins Preparing for a Trade?
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- Minnesota Twins Preparing for a Trade?
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Say hello to your 2026 Minnesota Twins , as currently constructed. If you peak at the right side of the infield, you'll see the newly signed Josh Bell and talented young second baseman/outfielder, Luke Keaschall .
And to the left, you'll find the (hopefully) mentally and physically rehabilitated Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis , who the Twins are relying on for bounceback seasons.
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In the outfield, Team USA center fielder Byron Buxton returns off his healthiest season of his career; one that should have earned him top 10 MVP honors, even if he was ultimately voted No. 11.
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As currently constructed, the MN Twins will be surround Buxton by left-handed hitting underachievers (some things never change), including Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner .
Minnesota Twins bullpen still in shambles
The Twins decided at the MLB Winter Meetings that the firesale they lit at the 2025 trade deadline is over. With that, they stopped seeking trade offers for starting pitchers Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez .
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That's significant since, along with Buxton, those are the only players talented enough to keep Minnesota's 2026 playoff dreams on life support. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for their bullpen, which was decimated back in July .
Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
If the MN Twins want to sell themselves as contenders in the AL Central, Falvey has no choice but to invest whatever is left of the offseason budget on fixing the bullpen, something The Athletic Twins insider Aaron Gleeman stressed heavily in his most recent article, released Monday.
Thankfully, the 2026 MLB regular season doesn't start tomorrow. But if it did, the Twins' top relievers would be Justin Topa , Cole Sands and Kody Funderburk . Could Falvey & Co. have a plan up their sleeve, though?
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2026 MN Twins roster doesn't make sense
Because not only are the Twins starved for bullpen help, but they seem to be building depth at positions where they didn't necessarily need it. Look no further than over the weekend, when they signed a third big league catcher, in Victor Caratini .
The veteran 32-year-old has received at least 200 plate appearances in seven of his past eight MLB seasons, slashing a respectable .244/.324/.371 (.692 OPS).
If you were ranking catchers around the league, he'd com in much closer to Twins starter Ryan Jeffers , than he would the backup catcher they traded for earlier this offseason, Alex Jackson .
Keeping three catchers on a roster that already lacks fielding flexibility is unlikely, and Jackson is out of options, so he can't be stashed in the minors without clearing waivers first. And given the bare bones payroll, paying a Triple-A player $1.35 million probably isn't realistic anyway.
Each of the last three seasons, Caratini has carried an OPS of .711 or better. He also poked 12 home runs in 2025, to go with 14 doubles and 46 RBI, all career highs. From the outside looking in, he looks like a fine signing for a Twins team shopping in the clearance aisle of MLB free agency.
The Victor Caratini run was exciting to watch.
Best of luck in Minnesota. pic.twitter.com/lCTPuIrBh6— Full Seam Ahead (@FullSeamAhead) January 16, 2026
But if you jump out of that vacuum, you'll quickly realize that Minnesota seems to be adding talent at positions where they don't necessarily need it. Many times, in the world of professional sports, that happens.
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For a money-conscious team like the Twins, however, it makes little sense to allocate extra resources at catcher — even if it's at the reasonable price of $7 million per season — when you have so many other needs left to fill.
Could Caratini signing foretell Jeffers trade?
Unless, of course, you are making premeditated moves, in anticipation of something else coming down the pipe. A deeper look into the Twins' current 40-man roster reveals a starting catching, in Ryan Jeffers, who is due to hit free agency in 2027 .
Could Caratini be coming in, not to supplement Jeffers, but to replace him? Gleeman is wondering exactly that. Jeffers carries a $6.5 million cap hit this season, via pre-arbitration negotiations, money Falvey could really use to help bulk up the bullpen.
It's also possible the Twins brought in Caratini not to pair with Jeffers, but to replace him. And not just in 2027, but this season. There's little chance of Jeffers signing a contract extension, so the Twins can trade him now, trade him at the July deadline or let him walk for nothing as a free agent.
Trading him now would have the added benefit of shedding $6.7 million, a key factor if the front office's ability to improve the bullpen is compromised by ownership cutting payroll again.
But catcher isn't the only position where the Minnesota Twins appear to have accrued MLB-caliber players that don't fit together in a lineup. Just take a look at the rest of the projected 26-man roster, come March.
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Minnesota Twins' growing stockpiling left batters
The Twins are currently set up to bring SIX lefty batters (Larnach, bell, Wallner, Roden, Clemens, Julien) into 2026, with more on the way (Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez ). How is that going to work?
It won't. And that's why Gleeman believes Derek Falvey is onto something. Of course, don't expect some massive swing. This is the Pohlad-owned Minnesota Twins we are talking about. Nonetheless, it appears something is afoot at Target Field.
All of which is why signing Caratini, on the heels of retaining Larnach and signing Bell as defensively limited bats, makes me think there's a position player shakeup coming, whether it's intended mainly to create a smoother-fitting hitter group or provide the means to bring in relief reinforcements.
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