Philadelphia capped a 96-win season with a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning as the Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1 on Sunday. The Phillies head to the postseason as the NL's second seed.
The Twins? They came back to Minneapolis to clean out their clubhouse heading into an offseason wondering what is next after the team fired manager Rocco Baldelli Monday.
“Over the past seven years Rocco has been much more than our manager. He has been a trusted partner and teammate to me in leading this organization,” said Twins President, Baseball & Business Operations Derek Falvey. “Together we shared a deep care for the Twins, for our players and staff, and for doing everything in our power to put this club in the best position to succeed. Along the way we experienced some meaningful accomplishments, and I will always be proud of those, even as I wish we had ultimately achieved more.
Baldelli got to the end of the season and found a lot of things to be proud of, despite the struggles of the team in the second half.
"It's incredibly encouraging and it shows you what the guys have inside them and their and their heart. And the types of workers that they are and teammates that they are," Baldelli explained. "You know, as much as anything, and those things matter a lot, and a lot of those things lead to performance as guys continue to get better. It leads to very positive things and a lot of wins."
But it wasn't enough for Falvey and the Twins ownership. On June 4, the Twins were 34-27 and right in the heart of the postseason chase. The rest of the season, it was 36-65, a full 18 games behind eventual AL Central champs Cleveland. That isn't just a big swing, that's whiplash.
“This is a difficult day because of what Rocco represents to so many people here," says Falvey." He led with honesty, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to our players and staff. He gave himself fully to this role and I have tremendous respect and gratitude for the way he carried himself and the way he showed up every single day.
After the success of 2023, the Twins decided not to re-sign their best pitcher, Sonny Gray. Then, during spring training of 2024, Twins new executive chair, Joe Pohlad, made it clear the Twins not only weren't spending more money in free agency, they were looking to cut payroll money in an appearance on WCCO with Jason DeRusha.
That didn't sit well with fans. It also made Baldelli's job - getting the Twins back in the postseason - more difficult. The Twins missed the playoffs in four of the last five years.
“This game is ultimately measured by results, and over the past two seasons we did not reach the goals we set," Falvey explained in a statement. "I take personal responsibility for that. After discussions with ownership, we determined that this is the right moment for a change in voice and direction. This decision is not a reflection of Rocco’s effort or leadership. It reflects where we are as an organization and the belief that a different voice is needed to help us move forward.
Throw in another mid-seasons gutting of the roster, especially in the bullpen, and there wasn't a lot any manager was going to do to squeeze out more wins when Carlos Correa, Harrison Bader, Willi Castro, Ty France, Chris Paddack and nearly the entire bullpen was sent packing for prospects - and yes, to save money.
Add in the fact the Pohlad family will be retaining the franchise after exploring a sale, it looks like the Twins run it back again next year exploring their young core, prospects, and now they'll do it with different leadership.
“After ongoing internal discussions, we believe this is the right time for a change in leadership of our Major League team. These decisions are never easy, particularly given the respect we have for Rocco,” said club Executive Chair Joe Pohlad. “He led with professionalism and care for both his players and our organization, and we are grateful for the way Rocco represented the Twins. Rocco, Allie and their children will always be part of the Twins family, and we wish them the very best moving forward.”
That leaves the Twins on some unstable ground again heading into the offseason. Here are some other big questions the team needs to answer ahead of 2026:
Can the Twins count on Byron Buxton to be healthy again?
Expectations for Buxton in 2025 were probably muted a bit. He came into spring training as healthy as ever, not having to do any offseason rehab.
Outside of a little mid-summer hamstring injury, Buxton played his most games since 2017, had a career year, became a 30-20 member (homers and stolen bases and only the second Twin to do it), was an All-Star, and embraced his role as team leader after all of the team's trades in August.
The Twins just wasted Buxton's best season. There's no other way to say it.
Can they count on the same results in 2026? That would be the first time Buxton had back-to-back years of healthy ball.
Then there's this question, which could send Twins fans into full revolt: will the Twins trade Buxton in the offseason?
That question was posed by Cory Provus, the Twins TV play-by-play voice on a podcast talking about the end of the Twins season.
“Is he going to be back? I don’t know," Provus told a recent episode of Hot Mic with Dom Izzo. "I don’t know what this is going to look like this offseason. And you know, I think if Pablo, if the Twins trade Pablo, then the likelihood of Buxton coming back, I think, drops considerably. That’s on my mind a lot."
Obviously Buxton could command quite a haul - at least you'd think so. But the talent loss is massive. But the Twins do need to weigh that return with the likelihood Buxton can repeat his healthy, 35-homer performance of 2025. It should also be noted, Buxton does have a full no-trade clause so he'd have to be on board with any moves. But like Carlos Correa, the prospect of winning in the postseason and being able to pick a landing spot could be attractive.
What young Twins players are ready to step-up?
Royce Lewis, after two seasons of injuries, made it to the end of 2026 with some relative health.
He also battled through a terrible slump over the summer and started to show a little bit of his rookie-year promise again this September. His bat is a huge unknown going forward. The former number one overall pick has to get back to the level of play the Twins saw in the 2023 season, and in that year's postseason where he hit several huge home runs.
Too often in 2026, even when healthy, Lewis didn't hit the ball. The Twins need him to be far better going forward.
Luke Keaschall finally got to the majors and showed why the Twins are so high on him. He can clearly rake and showed he's ready for a prominent role in 2026.
Kody Clemens also showed some promise at the plate. So did Brooks Lee. Along with Lewis, if he can get going, gives the team a really young, solid infield core.
It'll be interesting to see if Walker Jenkins, the Twins highly-touted outfield prospect, can get on the field to start 2026 as well.
What can we expect from the Twins pitching staff?
There should be some expectations for the Twins starting staff in 2026 if - and it's a big if - the Twins keep Pablo López. Joe Ryan was an All-Star this year, and since he's under team control, he should return. López, like Buxton, might be a place the Twins try to restock and save money.
But those two could anchor a starting staff that includes some guys who showed flashes in 2025. Simeon Woods Richardson (4.27 ERA), David Festa (5.40), and Zebby Matthews (5.56) have shown promise but can’t anchor a rotation if the Twins trade López and Ryan in the offseason. Taj Bradley (6.61) and Mick Abel (8.36) showed promise late in the season but they're back of the rotation guys for sure. There's also Bailey Ober (5.10), who struggled through parts of '25 but ended the year on a positive.
The bullpen is another story. Trading Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Danny Coulombe and Brock Stewart basically gutted every trustworthy reliever the Twins had. They started from scratch in August and it showed.
Going into the season, the bullpen was a strength. By the end of the season the bullpen had the fifth-worst ERA in baseball.
There's very little chance the Twins are going out into the free agent market this offseason to add bullpen arms, so it'll have to be a fix done internally, with some young arms making the move into a big league bullpen.
Depending on what the Twins do with some player options and arbitration-eligible players, they might have to find five, six, maybe even seven pitchers to fill out the pen going into 2026, one of the most wide-open positional situations we've seen from the team in a long time.
Expect to see a lot of names next February and March that are unknown.