It’s no secret that the Twins’ 2025 season has been extremely disappointing, as the team went from being favored to win the American League Central by multiple publications to trading nearly 40% of their roster and falling to nine games out of a playoff spot, and the Pohlad Family decided to retain majority ownership at the expense of widespread fan outrage. However, there are reasons to believe that the Twins will return to the postseason in 2026.

MLB reporter Theo DeRosa says Twins could become buyers at 2026 trade deadline

In DeRosa’s recent article titled “These 2025 Deadline sellers could become buyers in 2026,” he named the Twins, along with the Athletics, Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox as teams that sold at this season’s trade deadline who could be buyers next summer.

It may seem like a long shot for the Twins to make the postseason next year in the minds of fans, given how quickly this season went downhill. But, DeRosa pointed out that the added depth acquired at the deadline in outfielder Alan Roden and right-handed starting pitchers Taj Bradley and Mick Abel, in addition to top prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez likely to join the 26-man roster at some point next year, means a 2026 postseason berth for Minnesota is more likely than some would think.

DeRosa is correct, but as he also said in his article, a lot probably has to go right for the Twins to make a turnaround next season. Suppose Minnesota were to make the postseason in 2026. In that case, Jenkins and Rodriguez likely played significant roles on the team. Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and Pablo López will have performed at their best and stayed healthy, Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee would have performed more consistently and the bullpen would have been pieced back together. There are a lot of things that need to go right, but they certainly can.

Fans need to keep expectations in check, but 2026 has the potential to be one of the more exciting seasons in Twins history if all goes as planned.