The Twins’ bizarre cameo in the Framber Valdez chase has fans questioning their priorities

The Minnesota Twins are confusing everyone this season. At first, it appeared Minnesota would trade stars Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton, and possibly more, before the 2026 season began. The Twins shut down those trade rumors and made it clear they plan to compete next season. They have made some minor moves, such as signing lefty reliever Taylor Rogers, catcher Victor Caratini and first baseman Josh Bell, and acquiring righty reliever Eric Orze from the Tampa Bay Rays. But they haven’t made any significant moves that will drastically improve their roster.

However, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that the Twins were interested in All-Star right-wing starting pitcher Freddy Peralta before the Milwaukee Brewers traded him to the New York Mets. About a week after that news broke, the Twins shockingly announced they would be parting ways with president Derek Falvey, despite spring training being less than a month away.

Another interesting report emerged, with KSTP’s Darren Wolfson reveals on the SKOR North Twins Show that Minnesota pursued lefty starter MacKenzie Gore before the Washington Nationals dealt him to the Texas Rangers. However, it’s unclear how serious Minnesota was about pursuing both starters. It’s likely the club just checked in on both and quickly realized it wasn’t worth giving up a ton of prospects for starters nearing free agency.

The Twins’ bizarre cameo in the Framber Valdez chase has fans questioning their priorities

To add to the Twins’ confusing offseason so far: ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported that the Twins were “in” on left-handed starting pitcher Framber Valdez before signing a three-year, $115 million contract with the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.

It’s hard to imagine the Twins would have been willing to offer Valdez a contract worth roughly the dollar amount of his deal with Detroit. Even for one season, it’s hard to think Minnesota would give him an annual salary of just under $40 million.

Will Twins pursue a new starting pitcher after missing Framber Valdez?

The American League Central appears to be wide open. Still, the Tigers probably have the best chance to win the division, and they only increased their chances of doing so by signing Valdez.

During a virtual press conference following the shocking Falvey news, Twins general manager Tom Pohlad said “we will be competitive in 2026.” If Pohlad is really serious about being competitive, and the Twins are really serious about pursuing Valdez, then maybe they’ll look to add another starting pitcher. Minnesota’s rotation is quite full, with Ryan, Pablo López, Bailey Ober as the top three, and Simeon Woods Richardson, Zebby Matthews, Mick Abel and Taj Bradley all likely to battle for the final rotation spots. However, Minnesota’s bullpen is full of questions, and it’s likely the Twins will convert some of their starters to relievers. Therefore, instead of adding more relief help, the Twins can sign a starter like Lucas Giolito, José Quintana, Justin Verlander, etc. and improve their bullpen by converting some starters to relievers.