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MN Twins Tab Two Veterans for Key 2026 Starting Roles
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- MN Twins Tab Two Veterans for Key 2026 Starting Roles
Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Last summer the Minnesota Twins went scorched earth at the trade deadline. Ownership ordered a selloff of massive proportions, and it left Rocco Baldelli with a skeleton of a roster. The team is headed towards a payroll shy of $100 million , and a laughable franchise has found ways to get even worse.
As a caveat to that, the expectation for roster spots is little more than a warm body. Ryan Jeffers clears that by quite a bit, but Kody Clemens doesn't. Both appear ticketed for serious playing time under Derek Shelton in 2026 .
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Jeffers and Clemens to be ready for regular role
At the end of the season Christian Vazquez saw his three-year, $30 million deal come to an end. The Minnesota Twins just traded for Alex Jackson in order to fulfill the backup catcher role. There isn't an obvious answer at first base after trading Gold Glove winning first baseman Ty France either.
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Dan Hayes and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic see both Ryan Jeffers and Kody Clemens handling the bulk of catching and first base duties respectively.
Jeffers started 80, 81 and 73 games behind the plate the past three seasons, splitting time evenly with Vázquez. Presumably, the 2026 plan is for Jeffers to start 100-plus games, with Jackson — projected to make $1.8 million via arbitration — taking the remaining 50 or so. Jeffers could also be a trade candidate ahead of his walk year.
During the recent general managers' meetings, Twins president Derek Falvey made it clear Jeffers would handle the bulk of the catching duties: "We'll intend for him to take down a lot of the games," a message the veteran said is music to his ears. Falvey also acknowledged Jeffers' impending free agency after this season, which makes me think he's potentially a trade candidate. But for now, I'd think we'd see a split with Jeffers catching 100-110 games and Jackson slated for 50-60.
Asking Ryan Jefferson to play 100-plus games behind the dish is a big jump. He has played in 119 and 122 games the past two seasons respectively, but only 80 and 81 of those games came as the starting catcher.
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Minnesota remained relatively steadfast that splitting time, despite Vazquez owning just a 57 OPS+ , was the most straightforward way to keep Jeffers' production up. He batted .266/.356/.397 last season , and the .490 slugging percentage from 2023 was nowhere to be seen. It remains questionable if a larger workload won't simply sap his output even further.
Clemens was a waiver claim after being dumped by the Philadelphia Phillies . His 91 OPS+ in 112 games was a career high. However, he had just a .482 OPS lefties with a .782 OPS against righties wasn't exactly earth-shattering either.
My assumption coming into the offseason was that adding a good veteran bat at first base would be a priority, but instead, Falvey has indicated the job might be Clemens' to lose…If the Twins aren't even going to be in the market for a mid-tier free-agent first baseman — along the lines of, say, Carlos Santana two years ago — then that's a pretty strong indication they're not serious about investing in the roster.
It's a relative assumption that the MN Twins aren't interested in putting their best foot forward this season. Using Clemens as an every day first baseman would be completely indicative of that. Also, Edouard Julien is a lefty as well, negating any platoon option there.
Bullpen could see young faces round out roles
There is next to nothing left for the Minnesota Twins bullpen after the trade deadline. It's the most important and necessary place for Derek Falvey to rebuild this offseason. Thankfully for him, it's also a relatively cheap area to make additions. That doesn't stop either Hayes or Gleeman from opining that young arms may fill key roles.
Prielipp and Raya were identified by Falvey as bullpen options earlier this month, and you can see the upside, but both will face big learning curves.
It makes sense for both Prielipp and Raya to be involved in the Twins bullpen this season. The former has struggled to stay healthy, but turned in 82 2/3 innings this season and had 98 strikeouts.
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Raya flopped in a massive way this season and his starting prospects could be all but gone. Despite being at Triple-A, he owned a 6.02 ERA and had 57 walks to his 102 strikeouts.
Both players realistically look like upside plays in the bullpen. If things settle in right, they could eventually move their way back into starting plans. What all of these situations add up to though, is a franchise looking to cut the closest corners for the cheapest figure imaginable.
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