With the Twins starting the season 3-8, let's get ahead of ourselves a bit and look at which offseason decisions have paid off and which have not.
Offseason decisions that already look genius
Signing Harrison Bader
Hopefully for Minnesota, Bader will be a part of a Twins lineup competing for the American League Central Title later this year. But given the Twins’ rough start, the athletic outfielder could very well be the centerpiece of a deal for some prospects near the trade deadline.
The good news is, the fact that Bader is being regarded in such a manner means he is performing at a high level.
After going 1-for-3 with an RBI single (nearly a home run) in Minnesota’s 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday, Bader holds a .300/.323/.633 slash line. He leads the team in OPS (.956), home runs (3) and RBI (10).
Moving Wallner to the leadoff spot
Do the Twins have their version of Kyle Schwarber?
They just might, as power lefty outfielder Matt Wallner took over the Twins’ leadoff spot this season and has proven Rocco Baldelli made the correct decision, reaching base at a .400 clip. This month, the Minnesota native has a 1.090 OPS.
Signing Danny Coulombe
With the loss of southpaw Caleb Thielbar to the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota needed a new lockdown lefty for its bullpen. To make that happen, Derek Falvey signed Coulombe, who previously played for the Twins from 2020-22.
It appears the Coulombe signing is working out for the Twins, as the former Oriole has yet to allow a run in 4 ⅓ innings. He gave up two hits and a walk in those innings and struck out three.
While Coulombe's situation in Minnesota is working out for both parties, the opposite is true for Thielbar's in Chicago.
In 4 ⅓ innings pitched this year, Thielbar surrendered three runs. Strange enough, the former Twin only gave up one hit but allowed a staggering five free passes in those innings.
Offseason decisions that already look awful
Giving Chris Paddack an opening-day rotation spot over Zebby Matthews
Talking about Paddack’s struggles feels like beating a dead horse, but it will probably keep happening as long as he is a part of the Twins' starting rotation.
If the Twins want to start winning more ball games, they need to call up the 24-year-old prospect who just tied his career-high nine strikeouts in a game instead of relying on the 29-year-old who gave up 12 earned runs combined across his first two starts of 2025.
Signing Ty France
France was a huge question mark entering 2025. Reasons to be optimistic about him included his dominant spring training at the plate, his status as a former All-Star, and his 4.2 bWAR in 2021 and 3.0 the following year.
Reasons to be pessimistic included the fact he only accumulated 0.3 WAR over the last two seasons. Additionally, he had -7 Defensive Runs Saved in both 2023 and 2024 after accumulating 2 in 2022 and 5 in 2021.
The pessimists look right, as France has a putrid OPS+ of 50 and a -0.4 WAR this year.
Giving Mickey Gasper a spot on the roster
Given the injury bug that always seems to bite the Twins, it’s hard to rip into the decision to give Gasper a spot on the opening-day roster, especially with the journeyman’s success in spring training and the minor league level.
However, Gasper has looked completely lost at the plate eleven games into the regular season, collecting only one hit in 12 at-bats. His defense also hasn't looked great.
Gasper's time on the Twins might soon end, as Brooks Lee is rehabbing and Royce Lewis is waiting to return to the field.