The Minnesota Twins will open a crucial six-game homestand on Friday night. But while they must take care of business on the field against the struggling Athletics and Kansas City Royals, the business off the field is still being sorted out ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Sitting 2.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox for the American League Wild Card spot (but doing so with a record of 51-53), the Twins have reasons to either buy or sell at the deadline. But when it comes to keeping Joe Ryan or Ryan Jeffers, SKOR North’s Phil Mackey revealed a potential salary floor in the next collective bargaining agreement could persuade them to keep both of their top trade chips.
“The owners are pushing so aggressively for a new salary cap structure that involves a floor of $175 million. If that happens, the Twins are gonna have to spend, like $60 or $70 million in the offseason just to get to the floor,” Mackey said on an episode of The SKOR North Twins Show. “...It would be up to Jeffers if he’d want to re-sign here as a free agent and you gotta be careful with a 29-year-old catcher, but he’s one of the first guys I would look at and say ‘All right, here’s a three-year contract, we’ve gotta spend it somewhere,’ and it would be a perfect bridge until your top-three overall pick catcher [Vahn Lackey] comes into the equation.”
A potential salary floor could convince the Twins to keep Ryan Jeffers and Joe Ryan
Mackey’s point is valid based on MLB’s latest CBA proposal that calls for a cap of $245.3 million and a floor of $171.2 million per team. According to Cot’s Baseball contracts, the Twins currently have a year-end 40-man roster payroll of $109.4 million, meaning the Twins would have to spend $61.8 million just to get to the floor next season.
While the MLB Players Association has been against the proposal due to the hard salary cap, it’s also highly likely there will be a floor in the next agreement, meaning the Twins will have to boost their payroll at some point.
Keeping Jeffers and Ryan would be a valid way to boost that spending. Jeffers is hitting .284/392/.541 with nine homers and 32 RBI in 44 games this season and has put himself into the upper tier of offensive catchers. That production also has him in line to become one of the highest-paid catchers in the game as he approaches free agency next winter, perhaps asking for a deal similar to the $17.5 million per season the St. Louis Cardinals gave Willson Contreras in a five-year, $87.5 million free-agent contract signed in 2022.
Paying Ryan would be another way to boost the Twins’ payroll. Coming off his second straight All-Star appearance, Ryan will be one of the top pitchers available when he hits free agency after the 2027 season. While the Twins have another year of team control, trading Ryan to maximize his value might be the best move. But the Twins can also agree to an extension worth roughly $25 million per season to keep him around.
If the Twins keep and pay both players, that could result in $42.5 million in spending that could get them closer to the floor. It would also invest in players they know as opposed to picking up scraps and salary dumps from other teams, keeping the current core together and allowing them to continue their push to the playoffs in the short term.
The Twins have other ways to get to the salary floor without Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers
Even if keeping Ryan and Jeffers to spend to the floor is an option, there are several issues with that strategy. Ryan will turn 31 in his final year in team control and if he’s looking for a five-year contract, it would have him on the mound through his age-36 season. A short-term deal is a possibility, but Ryan would have to agree to that, leaving the two sides at a potential impasse in negotiations.
Jeffers also may not fit in the Twins’ timeline. While he’s a clear upgrade over Victor Caratini and Alex Jackson, the Twins used the third overall pick in the draft to select Lackey and have another talented prospect in Eduardo Tait, who is finding his footing as a teenager at High-A Cedar Rapids.
Trading both wouldn’t be the best public relations move for the Twins – especially if they’re still in contention at the deadline. But it could be a more effective way to build around their young core and finish the roster construction that Derek Falvey began at last year’s trade deadline.
The alternative strategy would be to take the money they could have paid Ryan and Jeffers and invest it into some of the younger players. Taj Bradley should be an extension candidate after enjoying a breakout 2026 season and the Twins could move to lock up some of their top prospects to long-term deals including Walker Jenkins and Kaelen Culpepper.
It’s also possible the Twins could use the money they would have paid Jeffers to lock up Lackey if he acclimates to the professional game quickly, and there’s also money to keep current major leaguers including Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis and Luke Keaschall.
Of course, this is the great unknown until players and owners decide on a new collective bargaining agreement and the Twins may not want to prepare for something that might not be there once a CBA is finalized. But it’s another factor to consider as the Twins decide what approach they want to take at the deadline.
Add us as a preferred source on Google