All offseason long, the Minnesota Twins have defended themselves from initial speculation that they would trade star pitchers Joe Ryan and Pablo López ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Minnesota has held strong to the reports that they'd hang on to their two best arms. Then all of a sudden this week, Freddy Peralta was traded from the Brewers to the Mets in a blockbuster deal. Peralta was expected to be dealt this winter, and a team like the Mets was always a strong suitor.
But to throw a wrench in it, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Twins (yes, the Twins!) were in on the Peralta sweepstakes — to some undisclosed degree. How serious the Twins were about acquiring Peralta is something we may never know, but the fact that they were in the hunt for him raises a lot of questions.
Twins were reportedly interested in trading for Brewers ace Freddy Peralta
Adding Peralta to a rotation with Ryan and López does not make much sense, so the first thought here is that if Minnesota were to land the former Brewers ace, would they have shipped one of the other guys? It feels like that would have been the likeliest scenario.
Peralta would have cost the Twins a ton of prospect capital, which may have been something the organization was willing to part with, as long as they traded Ryan or López for a stable of prospects in return. It feels like a lot of work for the Twins to go through in order to acquire a player under team control for one season, but who knows? Maybe Minnesota would have pursued Peralta long-term, though unlikely.
As a fallout of the Peralta traded to the Mets, the Twins probably can't help themselves but listen to more offers on their two starters. The Brewers landed a Top 30 prospect in all of baseball in Jett Williams, plus another top prospect in Brandon Sproat. Minnesota is probably salivating at the thought of bringing in more Top 100-level prospects at the price of Ryan or López.
It's risky, but that's the business. Twins fans still probably want both pitchers to remain in Minnesota, especially in front of a season with some hope of success. Regardless, it will have to be done without Freddy Peralta, who was somehow linked to the Twins before his trade to New York. It's fun to imagine a rotation with those three at the top, but it's likely that one of our guys would have been traded before Opening Day.
This latest report suggests that maybe the Twins are completely closed off from trading Ryan or López (at the right price) — which makes things even more confusing as Spring Training nears.