Thursday was the deadline for arbitration-eligible players to come to terms with their teams on a salary for 2026. Players who failed to reach an agreement with their teams will head to hearings, and a third party will determine which side presents the strongest case.
Seven of the eight arbitration-eligible players on the Twins have agreed to a salary for 2026, with right-handed starting pitcher Joe Ryan being the lone Twins player who didn't come to an agreement. Joe Ryan filed at $6.35 million, and the Twins filed at $5.85 million, per MLB's Mark Feinsand.
Twins' reluctance to pay Joe Ryan $500k speaks volumes about organization
Ryan is among the best starting pitchers in the league. The fact that the Twins would rather head to a hearing with Ryan than pay him an additional $500,000, which he deserves, proves the organization is being cheap. Per FanGraphs, Ryan was worth $25 million last season, $25.1 million in 2024, $18.7 million in 2023, $17.3 million in 2022 and $4.5 million in 2021. In conclusion, Ryan has provided the Twins with $90.6 million in value during his career, while making just above $7 million.
Ryan will likely be a trade candidate this summer if the Twins aren't competing for a postseason spot. If he remains with Minnesota for the entire 2026 season, he may be a trade candidate next winter as well.
But if the Twins want a chance to extend or re-sign Ryan rather than trade him, they likely hurt their chances of doing so by refusing to pay the righty $500,000 more. When Ryan and the Twins have their arbitration hearing, Minnesota's front office will do its best to prove why Ryan isn't worth the additional $500,000, which could leave a bad taste in the righty's mouth regarding the organization.
Ryan Jeffers, Royce Lewis, Bailey Ober and more come to pre-arbitration agreement with Twins
Per KSTP's Darren Wolfson and the New York Post's Joel Sherman, here are the arbitration-eligible Twins players who have come to an agreement with Minnesota and their 2026 salaries: