Unfortunately, it might be time for Minnesota Twins fans to pick another team to root for in the postseason. After losing two of three games to the Cleveland Guardians this past weekend, Minnesota fell to 5 1/2 games behind Cleveland for the final Wild Card spot and 6 games behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the American League Central with a 70-79 record. Entering Monday, FanGraphs gave the Twins a 0.5% chance to make the postseason and a 0.0% chance to win the World Series.
The Twins have just 13 games remaining on their regular-season schedule. At this point, it feels like they'd have to win the rest of their games for a chance at reaching the postseason. Even if the Twins did win the rest of their games, they would have to count on several teams ahead of them to lose enough to make the playoffs.
Updated AL Wild Card standings after Twins-Guardians Series
Team | Record | Games back | Postseason odds |
|---|---|---|---|
New York Yankees | 86-63 | +10.5 | 100.0% |
Boston Red Sox | 82-68 | +6.0 | 100.0% |
Cleveland Guardians | 76-74 | 67.3% | |
Toronto Blue Jays | 75-75 | 1.0 | 43.7% |
Texas Rangers | 74-76 | 2.0 | 30.5% |
Baltimore Orioles | 72-78 | 4.0 | 1.4% |
Minnesota Twins | 70-79 | 5.5 | 0.5% |
Detroit Tigers | 70-79 | 5.5 | 0.7% |
Seattle Mariners | 70-80 | 6.0 | 4% |
Updated AL Central standings after Twins-Guardians Series
Team | Record | Games back | Postseason odds |
|---|---|---|---|
Chicago White Sox | 76-73 | 75.2% | |
Cleveland Guardians | 76-74 | 0.5 | 67.4% |
Minnesota Twins | 70-79 | 6.0 | 0.5% |
Detroit Tigers | 70-79 | 6.0 | 0.7% |
Kansas City Royals | 66-84 | 10.5 | 0.0% |
It's especially disappointing that the Twins have ended up where they are because they bought at the trade deadline, acquiring right-handed relievers Jeff Hoffman and Tommy Nance, right-handed starting pitcher Dean Kremer and left-handed reliever A.J. Minter. Luckily, all of those players besides Minter are under team control past this season. Still, the Twins acquired those players hoping they could help the team reach the playoffs this year.
Unfortunately, Twins fans are used to this type of disappointment. The 2024 Twins held a 95.4% chance at a playoff spot on Sept. 5, per FanGraphs. Minnesota missed the playoffs with an 82-80 record that year.
The 2022 Twins were also extremely disappointing. They began the season with a 62-55 record and led the American League Central in mid-August. They went just 16-29 for the rest of the season and missed the playoffs.
What makes this year's collapse even more of a bummer is that we may not have baseball next season. With the current CBA set to expire on Dec. 1, many around the league speculate a lockout could extend through the regular season. It would've been nice if the Twins had made the end of the 2026 season exciting before entering an offseason of uncertainty. For all we know, the Minnesota Twins might not play baseball until 2028 after this season ends.
For those who are still tuning in, the Twins are scheduled to begin a three-game series against the New York Yankees at Target Field at 6:40 p.m. CDT on Monday. Fans can stream the game on Twins.TV.
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