4 Minnesota Twins who won't be back next season

Michael A. Taylor, OF

This one is tough because Taylor has been such a huge part of the Twins success this season. With Byron Buxton's season essentially a wash due to injuries, Taylor unexpectedly became Minnesota's everyday center fielder and gave a masterful defensive performance.

Minnesota traded for him to get some of that high-end defensive efficiency in its lineup, and that's exactly what they got. What ended up being a pleasant surprise was how much Taylor ended up contributing offensively. He finished the season with a career-high in home runs and the second-best OPS of his career. Taylor also came up with some clutch offense down the stretch of the season when the Twins were trying to put distance between themselves and Cleveland to win the division.

Trading for Taylor was an absolute steal for the Twins, but it was never meant to be a long-term option. He did exactly what the front office needed him to do: fill in for Buxton, and they ended up getting way more value out of that than intended. Minnesota could bring him back in 2024, but Taylor is an unrestricted free agent and will likely be able to leverage his great season to land a nice deal somewhere else. He very well could get a deal in the $10 million range, which is doable for the Twins but a bit rich for their blood considering the other options the team can roll with.

Willi Castro is likely to be back next season as part of a utility platoon and there's a potential opportunity for Austin Martin to get called up and become an everyday player. We saw Edouard Julien make the leap at the start of this season, and the same trajectory could be in the future for Martin.

Above all else, the best-case scenario for the Twins is that Buxton gets healthy over the winter and is able to return to the outfield. Not having him available to play the field complicated things, but the best and easiest solution is getting him back in 2024.

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