The MLB off-season is slowly gaining traction ahead of the Winter Meetings, and the Minnesota Twins have been busy with minor league free-agent signings.
The Twins will likely be less active in the major league free-agent market because they are filling the St. Paul Saints roster. Still, they could pursue at least a few names to meet some of their roster needs. They get these affordable players, though, because of potential injury or regression in performance over recent seasons.
Despite the flaws of regression and injuries in recent years, the upside for all the names listed here is their age. Each player is in their early 30s, not young but still not old enough to be written off completely. Still, these are high-risk players, given what could go wrong for them in 2025. However, if any of these players get the right grove going next season, they could play vital roles in getting the Twins back to the postseason.
Ramón Laureano
The Twins were among the few teams that saw the two versions of Laureano at the plate last season. Laureano looked lost at the plate with the Cleveland Guardians, striking out 38.6% of the time and only going 10-for-70 (.143 batting average) in 31 games. He was 0-for-6 in six games against Minnesota.
Cleveland released Laureano on May 25. However, he signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves four days later. With Atlanta, Laureano looked as good as he was when he broke into the majors with the Oakland Athletics in 2018. He played in 67 games with the Braves and posted a .296/.327/.505 triple slash and .832 OPS in 226 plate appearances.
The Twins saw this rejuvenated version of Laureano when the Braves were at Target Field in late August. Laureano was a key contributor to Atlanta’s three-game sweep, going 5-for-13 with three runs batted in. Laureano was one of the Braves’ hottest hitters down the stretch, posting a .906 OPS in August and a .829 OPS in September. Still, they decided to non-tender him on Friday, making him a free agent for the second time.
Laureano has been a corner outfielder more recently in his career, and as a right-handed hitter, he fits the bill for what the Twins need the most in their outfield this season. Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner are expected to be Minnesota’s corner outfielders to start 2025, and the left-handed hitters will still need a right-handed hitter to balance their roles.
Per Baseball-Reference, Laureano had earned $5.15 million in salary for 2025, but the Braves non-tendered him. He will likely draw a similar salary depending on what teams offer him a contract. A one-year, $4 million could be the right deal to land Laureano in Minnesota and provide the corner outfield/designated hitter platoon role with an opening on the team.
Patrick Sandoval
Sandoval, 28, is one of the youngest starting pitchers on the market. He joined this year’s free-agent class when the Angels non-tendered him on Friday.
Whichever team signs Sandoval will be taking a substantial risk. He hasn’t pitched since June 21 because his season ended early due to a high-grade flexor and UCL tear in his left elbow. It will take Sandoval a year to recover from his UCL tear, and it’s unlikely he’ll be able to throw in an MLB game again until August 1 at the earliest.
Sandoval wasn’t pitching well before he tore his UCL. He had a 5.08 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, and a career-high .341 batting average on balls in play in 79.2 innings. Despite the bad performances on the mound, the upside in Sandoval’s shortened season was his 3.87 FIP and 2.31 strikeout-to-walk rate.
They are not All-Star caliber numbers. However, compared to the traditional counting numbers, they show Sandoval can still pitch as he did during his breakout performance in 2022. That season, he had a career-low 2.91 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP, a 3.09 FIP, and 151 strikeouts in 148.2 innings across 27 starts.
Nobody knows what Sandoval will look like on the mound when he faces live batters and then into rehab games. But Sandoval didn’t pitch healthy for most of 2024.
If he returns, he may show flashes of his 2022 dominance. However, if the Twins have him in the rotation down the stretch in August and September, they may not have to trade for a starter before the deadline.
Sandoval was in his first year of arbitration eligibility in 2025, and MLB Trade Rumors projected him to earn $5.9 million. Being out for most of 2025 could bring his price tag down a couple of million and make him a cheaper reclamation project for the Twins.
Jordan Romano
Romano has been one of the best relievers in baseball over the last five years, posting a 2.29 ERA, 11.3 strikeouts per 9, and 97 saves across 199 relief appearances from 2020 to 2023. However, injuries caught up with Romano last year and limited him to 15 games due to arthroscopic right elbow surgery in early July.
He has not been on an MLB mound since May 29. While Romano was active in 2024, he didn’t pitch well. He had a 6.59 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, and 6.17 WHIP, allowing four home runs in 13.2 innings pitched. However, Romano’s fastball was the silver lining in his season before he went down. He maintained its velocity, averaging 96.4 MPH. Still, it wasn’t enough to keep the Toronto Blue Jays from non-tendering him on Friday.
Romano’s injury is the same as Walker Buehler‘s in 2022, which caused him to miss out on the 2023 season. Buehler’s return performance from the injury was not too exciting during the regular season, with a 5.38 ERA across 16 starts. Still, when it mattered in the postseason, Buehler showed up for the Dodgers and got the final out in their 2024 World Series victory.
Buehler’s 90.1 innings in 2024 between the regular and postseason are over 25 more innings than Romano has ever thrown in his career. It may not be the best comparison to what Romano could look like in 2025. Still, Romano will likely sign for more than these three players due to his previous success as a two-time All-Star.
Romano earned $7.75 million with the Blue Jays in 2024 and could earn that on a one-year deal. He’s expected to be ready to go for Spring Training. However, if his price tag goes down, the Twins could swoop him and sign him to become part of a potential three-headed bullpen monster between himself, Griffin Jax, and Jhoan Duran.
