Winter Meetings will show if Twins are serious about competing initially appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Minnesota Twins ended 2025 with a 70–92 file and a serious sell-off — together with sending Carlos Correa again to the Astros. Their payroll is unclear, spending pauses loom, and the roster feels caught between rebuilding and contending. At the Winter Meetings, front-office leaders should determine: are they building around top arms like Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez — or getting ready to reset?
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1. Decide if Ryan and Lopez are constructing blocks or commerce chips
Joe Ryan was an All-Star in 2025, exhibiting frontline promise. Pablo Lopez, when wholesome, nonetheless carries prime rotation upside. If the Twins say these two are off-limits, they must commit payroll and add real support around them. If not, shifting one now may return the type of offensive core they badly want.
2. Build a bullpen that stops surrendering leads
The Twins’ bullpen completed with a 4.60 ERA and 25 blown saves, rating close to the underside of MLB and turning winnable nights into lengthy postgames. Duran and Griffin Jax are gone, and the only external move so far is including Eric Orze from the Rays. They want not less than two confirmed late-inning arms — a righty with strikeout punch and a reliable lefty. Free brokers like Seranthony Dominguez, Scott Barlow, or left-handers Caleb Ferguson and Brent Suter match the “stuff plus experience” profile this group badly lacks.
3. Add one impactful bat to cease counting on hope
Byron Buxton launched 35 dwelling runs final yr — when wholesome — however he can’t carry the offense alone. The Twins are not linked to the massive names like Pete Alonso, so they are looking for a bargain 20–25 homer bat that protects the lineup and provides pitchers causes to pitch to greater than the highest of the order.
The selections this week aren’t optionally available. If the entrance workplace leaves Orlando hoping youth and upside carry them once more, 2026 will possible finish the identical manner — with extra questions, not solutions. But if they stabilize the rotation, repair the bullpen, and add actual energy, they might stroll out with the skeleton of a contender as a substitute of one other rebuild.