All Things 2025-26 Minnesota Twins Off-Season Thread

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Breakin' The Plane said:
If they're only trading one, I'd bet on the guy that's owed 43 million over the guy that still has to go to arbitration. Although Ryan is much, much more likely to be a malcontent if he stays.
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I’m betting on the latter portion on your comment, in addition to the reasoning below.

Additionally, Pablo was excellent when he came back from injury in his starts at the end of the season, however, he’s had two significant injuries in back to back seasons and has much more tread on the tires 1396 IP vs. Joe’s 1091 (including all levels & college).

Joe is more dominant/better stuff as shown by his 4.5 WAR last season, vs. Pablo’s career high of 3.5 in 2023. All stats via Baseball Reference.

The aforementioned team control also is another notch in Joe being more attractive to suitors- he’ll simply fetch a much higher return in a trade.
 








Update on 40 man roster and a trade for a Rays reliever (arbitration decisions tomorrow) -

Rule 5 adds fill 40-man roster​

There were no surprises among the six prospects the Twins added to the 40-man roster Tuesday to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.

Last week, I ranked the top Twins prospects eligible for the Rule 5 draft, and they added the first five names on my list — Connor Prielipp, Kendry Rojas, Gabriel Gonzalez, Andrew Morris and Hendry Mendez — plus eighth-rated John Klein, whose stock jumped during a breakthrough 2025 season.

Everyone except Mendez finished this past season at Triple-A St. Paul, and Mendez looks ready to join the Saints’ lineup after arriving in the Harrison Bader trade and hitting .324/.461/.450 at Double-A Wichita. It’s reasonable to expect all six players to see big-league time for the Twins in 2026.

Double-A corner outfielder Kala’i Rosario and Double-A right-hander C.J. Culpepper are the most prominent Twins prospects left unprotected. And though 26-year-old outfielder Kyler Fedko lacks their long-term upside, it’s not hard to envision another team poaching him as a backup outfielder.

After adding six prospects and trading for Tampa Bay Rays reliever Eric Orze, the Twins have a full 40-man roster. That means any acquisition this offseason — including a possible Rule 5 pick of their own next month at the Winter Meetings — would require dropping someone to make room.

At this stage of past offseasons, the Twins have typically left multiple spots open. However, there are still a handful of players on the 40-man roster who could be dropped without much pain whenever necessary. It was somewhat surprising their initial round of roster housecleaning didn’t have more cuts.
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Update on 40 man roster and a trade for a Rays reliever (arbitration decisions tomorrow) -

Rule 5 adds fill 40-man roster​

There were no surprises among the six prospects the Twins added to the 40-man roster Tuesday to protect them from the Rule 5 draft.

Last week, I ranked the top Twins prospects eligible for the Rule 5 draft, and they added the first five names on my list — Connor Prielipp, Kendry Rojas, Gabriel Gonzalez, Andrew Morris and Hendry Mendez — plus eighth-rated John Klein, whose stock jumped during a breakthrough 2025 season.

Everyone except Mendez finished this past season at Triple-A St. Paul, and Mendez looks ready to join the Saints’ lineup after arriving in the Harrison Bader trade and hitting .324/.461/.450 at Double-A Wichita. It’s reasonable to expect all six players to see big-league time for the Twins in 2026.

Double-A corner outfielder Kala’i Rosario and Double-A right-hander C.J. Culpepper are the most prominent Twins prospects left unprotected. And though 26-year-old outfielder Kyler Fedko lacks their long-term upside, it’s not hard to envision another team poaching him as a backup outfielder.

After adding six prospects and trading for Tampa Bay Rays reliever Eric Orze, the Twins have a full 40-man roster. That means any acquisition this offseason — including a possible Rule 5 pick of their own next month at the Winter Meetings — would require dropping someone to make room.

At this stage of past offseasons, the Twins have typically left multiple spots open. However, there are still a handful of players on the 40-man roster who could be dropped without much pain whenever necessary. It was somewhat surprising their initial round of roster housecleaning didn’t have more cuts.
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Last year was Orze’z first season in the Bigs with extended action, after a cup of coffee last year.

3.03 ERA in 33 games; over 4 W per 9, so need improvement there.

Here’s a nice little write up on the trade via the AP -

apnews.com

Twins acquire reliever Eric Orze in trade with Rays for minor leaguer to begin bullpen rebuild

The Minnesota Twins have taken a small step toward rebuilding their bullpen by acquiring right-handed reliever Eric Orze in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league pitcher Jacob Kisting.
apnews.com apnews.com

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins took a small step toward rebuilding their bullpen Tuesday by acquiring reliever Eric Orze in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league pitcher Jacob Kisting.

Orze had a 3.02 ERA and three saves in 33 relief appearances last season for the Rays, with 19 walks, 40 strikeouts and a .244 opponents’ batting average in 41 2/3 innings. The 28-year-old right-hander also made 24 appearances at Triple-A Durham, posting a 2.20 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings.

A cancer survivor, Orze was a fifth-round draft pick in 2020 by the New York Mets and made his major league debut for them on July 8, 2024.

During the week leading up to the MLB trade deadline on July 31, the Twins dealt away their top four relievers: Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Brock Stewart.

Kisting, 22, was a 14th-round draft pick by the Twins in 2024. The right-hander had a 3.79 ERA with 23 walks and 77 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings over 30 appearances this year between Low-A Fort Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids.
 

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