It seems Minnesota Twins fans have a keen eye for whatever former Twins are doing around the league.
And in that vein, it felt like it could be fun to compare the best version of the current Twins roster — as decided by yours truly — to the best players who were no longer on the big-league team, but had been previously.
There are a few ground rules:
- One must build an entire 26-man roster (to be used strategically as if managed by Rocco Baldelli for the Twins and, let’s say, Ehire Adrianza for the ex-Twins team)
- Let’s assume these teams play a full seven-game series, but use all five starters.
- This is not the official Puckett’s Pond prediction for what the 26-man roster will look like. It is simply who the writer feels would be the best 26-man roster that’s at least somewhat realistic.
- Only players who played for the Twins in the major leagues are eligible. And as such, we issue sincere apologies to players like Luke Raley, Calvin Faucher, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Spencer Steer, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Akil Baddoo, Trey Cabbage and Luis Gil.
- Players who were on the team in 2024 are available to be selected (if for any reason this was unclear).
Twins Starting Lineup
C- Ryan Jeffers
1B- Jose Miranda
2B- Brooks Lee
3B- Royce Lewis
SS- Carlos Correa
LF- Willi Castro
CF- Byron Buxton
RF- Matt Wallner
DH- Trevor Larnach
Ex-Twins Starting Lineup
C- Ben Rortvedt
1B- Carlos Santana
2B- Luis Arraez
3B- Jorge Polanco
SS- Kyle Farmer
LF- LaMonte Wade Jr.
CF- Rob Refsnyder
RF- Max Kepler
DH- Brent Rooker
The advantage
This is probably closer than I’d like to admit. I like the current team’s offense, but the ex-Twins lineup has some on-base ability with Brent Rooker to dive ‘em all in.
With that said, the defense and bottom of the order might be horrible, and Father Time will come for Carlos Santana sooner rather than later. What version of Max Kepler are you getting here?
I’m taking the current offense by a reasonable margin. As a side note, I just like Willi Castro in left a bit better than Trevor Larnach, but think of both of them as hitters I want playing most days.
Twins Bench
C- Christian Vazquez
IF- Ty France
IF/OF- Austin Martin
OF- Harrison Bader
Ex-Twins Bench
C- Gary Sanchez
IF- Gio Urshela
IF- Donovan Solano
OF- Joey Gallo
The advantage
I think this one is pretty squarely in the current Twins camp. I still like Donovan Solano and thought he might be a fit in Minnesota again, but otherwise, player-for-player you really have to favor the current Twin — and probably by a healthy margin.
It helps that the current bench compliments the roster fairly well. There’s a good defensive catcher, help on the corners, help up the middle (with Castro on the roster and capable of short) and a good defensive outfielder who can bring some skills to the table the other corner guys don’t (hits right-handed pitching, good defense and can run a little bit).
Twins Starting Rotation
1. Pablo Lopez
2. Joe Ryan
3. Bailey Ober
4. Simeon Woods Richardson
5. Chris Paddack
Ex-Twins Starting Rotation
1. Sonny Gray
2. Zack Littell
3. Kyle Gibson
4. Lance Lynn
5. Martin Perez
The advantage
This one is squarely in the Twins’ favor. Sonny Gray is coming off a solid year and Zack Littell has taken a leap I think few ever expected, but after that it’s two unsigned pitchers and a member of the Chicago White Sox.
This one is the current Twins in a landslide.
Twins Bullpen
RP- David Festa
RP- Louie Varland
RP- Danny Coulombe
RP- Jorge Alcala
RP- Brock Stewart
RP- Cole Sands
RP- Griffin Jax
RP- Jhoan Duran
Ex-Twins Bullpen
RP- Jorge Lopez
RP- Emilio Pagan
RP- Yennier Cano
RP- Taylor Rogers
RP- Ian Hamilton
RP- Ryan Pressly
RP- Derek Law
RP- Trevor Megill
The advantage
This one is fun. I again give the nod to the current bullpen, which is projected by many to be among the finest in MLB this season, but there’s just an element of fun with the former Twins as well.
If you could get the best version of every single reliever on the ex-Twins staff, you’d very easily have a case it’s better. It might even be a slam dunk.
But with that said, the only reliever on the list who is possibly on the upswing is Trevor Megill, who may well end up closing for the Brewers this season after Devin Williams was traded to the Yankees. Ian Hamilton is good and headed into his age-30 season, but did see his numbers dip a bit from 2023 to 2024.
Pressly and Rogers have shown signs of aging. Cano hasn’t stayed healthy recently. Derek Law is fine but doesn’t match up well against the current team’s relievers in the same spot. Which Emilio Pagan shows up? Jorge Lopez? Same question.
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The verdict
I’m taking the current Twins in five games. I think you can make the case that the ex-Twins split the first two games, but there’s no reason for the current bunch not to clean up on the back end of the former Twins rotation, making this series a wrap in relatively short order.
One other key takeaway that I didn't expect to have was that the ex-Twins team was of lower quality than I'd expected.