As most of the AL Central is busy playing playoff baseball, the Minnesota Twins are picking up the pieces of their broken season.
We all know what happened; Minnesota botched a near-90 percent chance to make the postseason and are now sifting through the rubble to figure out what went wrong. Slashing $30 million out of the payroll last winter certainly didn't help, as it put a strain on the roster that ultimately broke it at the worst possible time.
Now we head into another critical winter for the Twins. Joe Pohlad has claimed the payroll won't shrink any further, but the way he described the team as though it was a just another Mom-And-Pop business to run isn't exactly getting anyone excited.
Money will no doubt be an issue again this offseason, and while the Twins won't slash more budget the team probably won't add that much either. That comes into play with more than just free agency, as Minnesota needs to figure out how to approach arbitration settlements with some key players.
Projected Minnesota Twins arbitration salaries for 2025
MLB Trade Rumors released their annual arbitration projections for each team, and the figures are a little higher than they were last year for Minnesota.
The Twins have 14 players who are arbitration-eligible heading into the winter, more than last season, and the projected salaries help make it clear who the Twins need to tender before the deadline passes in November.
Player | Position | Projected Arbitration |
|---|---|---|
Willi Castro | UT | $6.2M |
Ryan Jeffers | C | $4.7M |
Bailey Ober | P | $4.3M |
Joe Ryan | P | $3.8M |
Jhoan Duran | P | $3.7M |
Griffin Jax | P | $2.6M |
Royce Lewis | 3B | $2.3M |
Trevor Larnach | OF | $2.1M |
Alex Kirilloff | 1B | $1.8M |
Jorge Alcala | P | $1.7M |
Michael Tonkin | P | $1.5M |
Justin Topa | P | $1.3M |
Diego Castillo | P | $1M |
Brock Stewart | P | $800k |
That's roughly $35 million of the Twins' payroll, assuming everyone is brought back at their projected salart.
Diego Castillo has already elected free agency, so that takes one piece off the board for the Twins. It's also unlikely that Michael Tonkin will get tendered given that he was twice added off the waiver wire this past season.
Most the names on this list are no-brainer tenders, the quesiton is what happens as far as any potential trades. Willi Castro is due for a nice raise after making the All-Star team this year and breaking out as a key player in the lineup. He was up for arbitration last season at $2.3 million, and is more in the neighborhood of what the Twins paid Kyle Farmer.
Jhoan Duran and Alex Kirilloff could be names that get kicked around in trade talks as well, mosty depending on how little the Twins plan to spend in free agency. If the trade market is where they make any additions, which seems likely, then there might be some names floated that fans don't want to hear.
Kirilloff has been a disappointment so there's a chance he gets non-tendered, but there's also a chance he comes in under his projected salary. The same could go for Jorge Alcala, who flamed out late in the season and could find himself on the outside of the bubble.
Minnesota has until mid-November to make a decision on who to tender and who to let walk.
More Minnesota Twins news and rumors