The Minnesota Twins are confusing everyone this offseason. At first, it seemed as if Minnesota was going to trade stars Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton, and possibly more, before the 2026 season began. The Twins shut down those trade rumors, making it clear they plan to compete next season. They've made some minor moves, such as signing lefty reliever Taylor Rogers, catcher Victor Caratini and first baseman Josh Bell, and acquiring righty reliever Eric Orze from the Tampa Bay Rays. But they haven't made any significant moves that will drastically improve their roster.
However, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported that the Twins were interested in All-Star righty starting pitcher Freddy Peralta before the Milwaukee Brewers traded him to the New York Mets. About a week after that news broke, the Twins shockingly announced they were parting ways with president Derek Falvey despite spring training being less than a month away.
Another interesting report emerged, with KSTP's Darren Wolfson revealing on the SKOR North Twins Show that Minnesota pursued lefty starter MacKenzie Gore before the Washington Nationals dealt him to the Texas Rangers. However, it's unclear how serious Minnesota was about pursuing both starters. It's likely the club just checked in on both and quickly realized it wasn't worth giving up a haul of prospects for starters nearing free agency.
Twins' bizarre cameo in Framber Valdez chase has fans questioning priorities
To top off the Twins' confusing offseason to date, ESPN's Jesse Rogers reported that the Twins "were in" on left-handed starting pitcher Framber Valdez before he signed a three-year, $115 million contract with the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.
It's hard to imagine the Twins would have been willing to offer Valdez a contract worth anywhere near the dollar amount of his deal with Detroit. Even for one season, it's difficult to think Minnesota would give him an annual salary just shy of $40 million.
Will Twins pursue another starting pitcher after missing out on Framber Valdez?
The American League Central is seemingly wide open. Still, the Tigers likely have the best chance at winning the division, and just improved their odds of doing so by signing Valdez.
During a virtual press conference after the shocking Falvey news, Twins executive chair Tom Pohlad said, "we will be competitive in 2026." If Pohlad is actually serious about being competitive, and the Twins were actually serious about pursuing Valdez, then maybe they'll look to add a different starting pitcher. Minnesota's rotation is pretty full, with Ryan, Pablo López, Bailey Ober being the top three, and Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel and Taj Bradley all likely to be competing for the final rotation spots. Minnesota's bullpen, however, is full of questions, and it's likely the Twins will convert some of their starters to relievers. Therefore, instead of adding more relief help, the Twins may sign a starter like Lucas Giolito, José Quintana, Justin Verlander, etc., and improve their bullpen by converting some starters to relievers.