The Minnesota Twins have several holes to fill on their roster this offseason. They lost their starting catcher from last season, Ryan Jeffers, as his contract had expired and he recently rejected a $23.15 million qualifying offer from the Twins. Additionally, last season's RBI leader Josh Bell is also a free agent.
The Twins will also certainly want to add to a bullpen that finished with the fifth-worst earned run average in the majors last season, with a 4.74 ERA. Improving their infield defense should also be a priority, as Minnesota struggled to get consistent defensive production from several of its infielders last season. Twins chairman and CEO Tom Pohlad has publicly stated that he does expect the Twins to spend more this offseason. However, that doesn't necessarily mean Minnesota will be handing out massive contracts to some of the biggest names on the market.
The Twins have had some decent success in recent offseasons by targeting affordable veterans on the free-agent market. Prior to the 2025 season, they signed outfielder Harrison Bader to a one-year $6.25 million deal. He had a .778 OPS and provided above-average defense, putting up a 2.7 bWAR in 96 games for Minnesota. They were then able to trade him at the deadline for Hendry Mendez, who is now a top-10 prospect in the system.
Prior to the 2024 season, the Twins signed Carlos Santana to a one-year $5.25 million deal. He ended up hitting 23 home runs and won the Gold Glove Award at first base. On the pitching side of things, they made a really nice under-the-radar signing when they brought in Danny Coulombe on a one-year $3 million deal. He ended up being a very valuable relief arm for the Twins, pitching to a 1.16 ERA in 40 appearances with the Twins. With several positions needing upgrades heading into the 2027 season, the Twins could benefit from taking a similar approach in free agency.
3 buy-low free agents the Twins should target this offseason
OF Ramón Laureano
Ramón Laureano was one of the top bats available prior to the 2025 trade deadline when the Orioles dealt him to the Padres. The 32-year-old has spent the last one and a half seasons in San Diego, but he never really found the same success that he had with Baltimore. He was sidelined for most of last season due to a torn labrum in his right hip. He played his last game of the 2026 season on May 30th. In 53 games before the injury, Laureano slashed .203/.286/.374 (.660 OPS), hitting seven home runs and driving in 21 runs.
In mid-September last season, Laureano said he never fully recovered from that hip injury and had to play through the pain. What makes the 32-year-old veteran such an intriguing free agent is what he did during his last full season in 2025, when he was fully healthy. In 132 games and 488 plate appearances between Baltimore and San Diego, he slashed .281/.342/.512 (.855 OPS) to go along with 24 homers and 76 RBIs.
One thing the Twins badly need this offseason is someone who can hit left-handed pitching. The Twins offense was 25th in all of baseball last season with a .678 OPS off lefties. Hitting left-handed pitching is something Laureano has been very effective at in his career, batting .267 with a .796 OPS off southpaws. It's also worth noting that the Twins have six left-handed outfielders on the 40-man roster compared to just three righties, so adding a right-handed outfield bat feels imminent.
LHP Jose Alvarado
In terms of raw stuff, Jose Alvarado could be one of the most intriguing relief arms on the market. His 97.8 mph average fastball velocity last season put him in the 93rd percentile. Additionally, he had a strikeouts-per-nine of 10.8 last season with an above-average whiff rate of 27.0%.
The issue that Alvarado has had over his 10-year major league career is that he's struggled with keeping the ball in the strike zone. The 32-year-old has a career 4.8 walks per nine innings, which is also the same rate he had last season. That's significantly higher than the major league average of 3.4.
During the 2026 season, Alvarado pitched to a 5.86 ERA in 68 appearances. He's never been particularly good at avoiding walks, but his lowest walk rate came during his best season. This was back in 2023, when he cut his career walk rate by almost a full walk per nine innings. Alvarado pitched to a 1.74 ERA in 42 innings that season. That was also the same season that he had that memorable performance with the Phillies during their postseason run, when he pitched to a 1.13 ERA in 8 appearances.
With his strikeout rate still being well above average, it's reasonable to think that if Alvarado can regain some of that command, he could return to being one of the more effective left-handed relievers in baseball.
SS Ha-Seong Kim
There might not be a player who had a more brutal season at the plate in 2026 than Ha-Seong Kim. He was expected to be a big part of the Braves' position player group last season, as they signed him to a one-year $20 million contract last December. The 31-year-old missed a large portion of the first half of the season due to a torn tendon in his right middle finger. Unfortunately for Atlanta, this injury came after they had already signed him. Kim suffered the injury when he slipped and fell on a sheet of ice while visiting his native South Korea.
Kim just wasn't able to find his stride at all when he was activated off the injured list. In 51 games, he totaled just 147 plate appearances and batted an abysmal .116 with an OPS of just .359. The Braves likely didn't bring in Kim for his bat. If you take out last season, his career OPS is just over .700, and his batting average sits a little over .240.
The reason it took $20 million for Atlanta to sign Kim is that, since he came over from the KBO prior to the 2021 season, Kim has been a borderline elite defender, especially at the shortstop position. He won the NL Gold Glove there in 2023, back when he was with the Padres. He also has +26 career Defensive Runs Saved at shortstop.
It's no secret either that the Twins' infield defense has been an issue in recent seasons, even more so since Correa was traded. Kody Clemens was below average at second base last year, with -3 DRS. Additionally, Kaelen Culpepper, who will likely be Minnesota's starting shortstop next season, had -1 DRS in his first 33 big-league games. The Twins' up-the-middle defense could really benefit from adding a former Gold Glove winner like Kim.
It's more than fair to question Kim's bat, but he's still just 31, and we've seen him have productive seasons at the plate in the past when he's been fully healthy. He put up an OPS of .749 back in 2023, the same season he won the Gold Glove and also received MVP votes in the National League. Given how poorly his 2026 season went, it's hard to imagine Kim commanding anything close to the $20 million he received from Atlanta last offseason.
Even if he never returns to his 2023 offensive production, Kim could still provide plenty of value with his glove alone. If he can rediscover some of his previous success at the plate, the Twins could end up with one of the better bargain signings of the offseason.
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