Three years have flown by quickly since 2021. Over that time, Twins fans have seen top-rated prospects turn into everyday MLB players. MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Minnesota Twins in 2021 landed all over the place as they finished their 2024 seasons.
How many finished their 2024 season in the majors? And how many others were hurt, in the minors or out of the pro baseball altogether?
Let’s find out.
1. Royce Lewis
2024 Season End: Twins active roster
The good news for Lewis is he ended the 2024 season healthy and on the field. The bad news is that he didn’t hit well at the end of the year. Lewis only had one home run, seven RBI, and a .181/.245/.255 triple slash to finish out the season.
Lewis’s performance at the plate to end the season stayed with him throughout the offseason. Dan Hayes reported in The Athletic that Lewis is reconfiguring his swing this off-season to loosen his body and get it closer to where it was in 2023.
Lewis knows he could have done much more for the Twins down the stretch this past season. He’s doing everything he can to be a star again in 2025.
2. Alex Kirilloff
2024 Season End: Injured, retired in the off-season
Kirilloff has one of the more perplexed cases of any former prospect on this list. He’s battled many injuries over the last four years to stay on Minnesota’s roster.
No one, not even Kirlloff, knew he’d be playing in his last MLB game on June 11 against the Colorado Rockies. The Twins tried to send him down to Triple-A the next day. Instead, Kirlloff disclosed he was dealing with a lower back injury, making it impossible to continue playing.
Kirlloff, 26, announced his retirement on Halloween. A once-promising prospect who made his MLB debut in the 2020 postseason, his career was over within four years because of injuries his body couldn’t overcome.
As sad as it is to see Kirilloff’s career end this way, there’s a level of comfort knowing he’s doing it so his body can keep up with his kids as they grow older.
3. Trevor Larnach
2024 Season End: Injured
Despite ending the season on the injured list, Larnach had his best season in a Twins uniform in 2024. He played in over 100 games for the first time, clocking in 112, clubbed 15 home runs, 52 RBI, and a .259/.338/.434 triple slash.
His outfield defense improved as Larnach committed zero errors in 429 innings between left and right field. However, his defensive run save average, which has become the standard stat used to consider a player’s merit at their position, also sat at zero, meaning he didn’t save any extra runs for the Twins but didn’t allow any extra runs he should have recorded as outs.
Despite the improvements, the injury bug was inescapable for Larnach – as it was for most of Minnesota’s players. He spent the final days of the year out with a left hamstring strain.
Hayes also reported that Larnach is working out with Lewis this off-season to keep himself in shape. If Larnach can play in 112 games or more again in 2025, he could finally fit into the player mold he had as a prospect in 2021.
4. Jordan Balazovic
2024 Season End: KBO Doosan Bears
Balazovic started the 2024 season in Triple-A. However, after 24 relief outings through June 28 with an ERA over 5.50, he opted out of his contract with the Twins and signed with the KBO’s Doosan Bears.
The Bears used Balazovic as a starter, and he played better in Korea than in St. Paul. He had a 4.26 ERA and 10.9 K per nine in 11 starts with the Bears but still saw a WHIP of 1.49 and walked 28 batters in 57 innings of work.
Balazovic’s performance with the Bears was enough for the Detroit Tigers to take a chance on him with a minor league deal this off-season. It’s unclear how the Tigers will use Balazovic moving forward. However, at only 26 years old, Balazovic can still carve out a solid career as an MLB reliever.
5. Jhoan Duran
2024 Season End: Twins active roster
Duran had an up-and-down season with the Twins in 2024. Starting the season on the injured list recovering from an oblique strain, Duran returned with a downtick in his fastball velocity. He was still hitting 100 MPH with his fastball and 98 MPH with his splinker, but he threw 101 or 102 more often than he had the two seasons prior.
Duran allowed two or more runs in six outings this season, and he had only six outings in the past two seasons combined when he allowed two or more runs. Despite the setbacks, Duran still was valuable in Minnesota’s bullpen in 2024, recording 23 of 25 save opportunities.
If he has a fully healthy 2025, it’s possible he can return to form and be as dependable as he was in his first two seasons with the Twins.
6. Ryan Jeffers
2024 Season Start: Twins active roster
Jeffers was one of the few players off to a hot start immediately in 2024, posting a .296/.391/.557 triple slash in April. However, aside from August, when he had a .278 batting average, Jeffers never hit above .214 in any other month during the season.
Despite the low offensive numbers, Jeffers remained healthy all year, splitting all the starts at catcher between himself and Christian Vázquez for the second year in a row, and hit 21 home runs.
Offensive output from catchers has been down league-wide for a while, but it may be more valuable to have a catcher fully healthy for a season than producing an OPS over the .679 league average from catchers.
As long as Jeffers can keep himself healthy and his OPS above league average in 2025, he’ll be in a great spot as Minnesota’s primary catcher.
7. Aaron Sabato
2024 Season End: Double-A Wichita
Minnesota’s top pick from the five-round pandemic-reduced 2020 draft class, most of his 2024 season at Double-A in Wichita for the second year in a row. After playing in the Arizona Fall League in 2023 and hitting seven home runs with a .905 OPS, Sabato put up lackluster offensive numbers while battling an oblique injury throughout 2024.
In 85 games with the Wind Surge, Sabato posted a .206/.303/.350 triple slash with 10 home runs and 33 RBI in 350 plate appearances. Sabato has slowly worked his way up the Twins system but hasn’t reached the high-level power-hitting first baseman he was profiled as at the University of North Carolina.
Sabato has two years still under team control in the minors. He’ll turn 26 on June 4, and with his age, he’ll likely start the season in St. Paul to have his first shot in Triple-A.
8. Matt Canterino
2024 Season End: Injured
Perhaps no player in the Twins organization has had worse luck with injuries than Canterino over the last three seasons. Canterino arrived into Spring Training healthy and looking like he’d be a part of the Saints starting rotation to start 2024 despite not having pitched since July 30, 2022.
But a shoulder injury late in camp kept him out for the 2024 season and further set back his career. Now that he is 27 and with plenty of starting pitching prospects jumping ahead of him, Canterino’s path to the majors will best be viable in the bullpen. Many fans and people in the organization will root for him to stay healthy this year and make that dream a reality.
9. Gilberto Celestino
2024 Season Start: Minor League free agent
The Twins rushed Celestino to the majors, which shortened his time in Minnesota. Byron Buxton’s impressive start to the 2021 season was cut short due to a grade-two hip strain, leading to Celestino debuting at 22.
Over the next few seasons, Celestino never developed into the hitter he once was projected to be. The Twins let him go last off-season, and the Pittsburgh Pirates picked him up on a minor-league deal. Celestino played in 67 games with Pittsburgh’s Triple-A squad, hitting .271/.349/.356, and the Chicago Cubs purchased his contract purchased on July 25.
His time with the Iowa Cubs was short-lived, though. He only played five games with them before they cut him on August 11.
10. Keoni Cavaco
2024 Season End: Astros minor-league system
The last of Minnesota’s five former first-round picks on this list, Cavaco’s 2024 season played out interestingly. The Twins released him on June 17 after hitting .144/.202/.327 in 34 games with High-A Cedar Rapids.
Cavaco did not take long to find a new home. Ten days later, the Houston Astros picked him up and converted him into a pitcher. Cavaco did not pitch in a live game for the Astros in 2024, but he will likely find his way into action in 2025.
11. Misael Urbina
2024 Season End: High-A Cedar Rapids Kernels
Urbina has slowly progressed through the minors since the Twins signed him as a 17-year-old out of Venezuela in 2019. He spent the second consecutive season at High-A Cedar Rapids and improved upon his 2023 season, hitting .218/.335/.324 in 101 games with the Kernels.
What Urbina has lacked in offensive skills over the years, he’s made up for with his defensive skills in all three outfield positions. Urbina still has one more year under team control before qualifying for minor-league free agency. He’ll be 23 in April and will likely begin his 2025 season with Double-A Wichita.
12. Blayne Enlow
2024 Season End: Injured (San Francisco Giants organization)
The Giants signed Enlow last off-season after the Twins released him. He only made two starts with Triple-A Sacramento before an undisclosed injury cut his season short.
Enlow allowed seven runs in 7.2 innings over his two starts, but his injury could have led to the poor results on the mound. The Giants released Enlow at the end of the season, making him a Minor League free agent.
13. Brent Rooker
2024 Season End: Oakland Athletics active roster
One of the better success stories on this list, Rooker has been the Oakland Athletics’ best hitter over the last two seasons. After a breakout 2023 campaign, Rooker improved his numbers in 2024, slugging 39 home runs and 112 RBI. He posted a .293/.365/.562 triple slash and a 165 OPS+ in 145 games with Oakland.
Rooker finished in the top 10 of all the aforementioned categories and is now looking to lead the Athletics lineup wherever they call home next season. He became a full-time designated hitter in 2024, only playing 14 games in the outfield.
14. Matt Wallner
2024 Season End: MLB Injured List
Despite a 2-for-25 slump to start the season, Wallner became one of Minnesota’s better hitters for 2024 after reconfiguring his swing at Triple-A for two months. Wallner returned to the Twins lineup on July 7, hitting a .282/.386/.559 triple slash, 12 home runs, 33 RBI, and a .945 OPS in 62 games.
Wallner’s second-half resurgence made up for his slow start. He will open as Minnesota’s right fielder next season after Max Kepler signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Wallner may not be the same caliber defensive player as Kepler. Still, having his arm in right field every day will have fewer opposing base runners trying to extend singles to doubles.
15. Josh Winder
2024 Season End: Triple-A St. Paul injured list
Winder had an up-and-down year between the majors and minors. He started the season on the 60-day injured list with an injured shoulder, and the Twins sent him down to Triple-A after activating him.
He performed well on the mound during his limited time with the Twins. Winder posted a 3.00 ERA, allowed only one walk, and struck out 10 in nine innings of work across four major league appearances.
However, he didn’t pitch as well in the minors. Over 29 Triple-A games, Winder posted a 6.45 ERA, 1.68 WHIP, and 62 hits in 44 ⅔ innings and finished the season on the injured list with a right forearm strain.
After Winder’s injuries and mixed results, the Twins removed him from the 40-man roster at season’s end. The Twins released him on November 5, and he hasn’t signed with a new club.
16. Cole Sands
2024 Season End: Twins active roster
No one had a better case for Minnesota’s most-improved player in 2024 than Sands, and he was voted the most-improved player at the Diamond Awards. Sands rarely got consistent time on the mound in 2023, appearing in only 15 games all season.
Over 62 relief appearances, Sands posted a 3.28 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, struck out 85, and only walked 12 batters in 71 ⅓ innings. He was one of the only three relievers the Twins could count on down the stretch, and he should have a larger role in the bullpen pecking order going into 2025.
17. Alerick Soularie
2024 Season End: Indy Ball
Soularie was Minnesota’s second-round draft pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. He slowly made his way up the system and started the 2024 season with Double-A Wichita.
However, after 33 games with only a .164/.314..284 triple-slash with only two home runs and 10 RBI, the Twins cut him on May 24. The Giants picked Soularie up a few days later, but his time with their org was short-lived. He only hit .211/.256/.338 in 24 Double-A games.
Soularie found a home with the Atlantic League’s York Revolution and rejuvenated his career in 31 games. He mashed six home runs, 30 RBI, and a .305/.365/.600 triple slash. Soularie never ranked higher than 17 on any Twins Top 30 lists, but his resurgence in Indy Ball may allow him to keep his career going in 2025.
18. Edwar Colina
2024 Season: Venezuelan League
Colina debuted with the Twins on September 25, 2020, and pitched the ninth inning in a 7-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. However, he only recorded one out, and the Reds tagged him for two walks and three runs, including a home run.
Colina was out for all of 2021 with right elbow inflammation, and the Texas Rangers claimed him off waivers at the end of 2021. He also missed all of 2022 with injuries but pitched in 2023 with the Rangers Triple-A squad and had a 4.65 in 26 games.
The Rangers released Colina last November, and he has pitched in the Venezuelan League the last two winters. He has a 6.85 ERA in seven games this winter.
19. Travis Blankenhorn
2024 Season End: Minor league free agent
Minnesota’s former utility prospect has spent the last two seasons with the Washington Nationals organization. Blankenhorn has spent most of that time with the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, Minnesota’s former affiliate.
Blankenhorn was one of the best power hitters in Triple-A this year, slugging 26 home runs and 72 RBI for a .820 OPS. The Nationals called him up for a 13-game stint from the end of July to the middle of August. However, Blankenhorn was unproductive in his return to the majors, going 4-for-31.
Washington sent Blankenhorn back down to the minors on August 19. He went 8-for-46 (.174) in his return to the Red Wings, leading to his release on September 9. He remains a free agent.
20. José Miranda
2024 Season End: Injured list
Miranda had some of the hottest and coldest hitting streaks on the Twins this season. He recorded a base hit in 12 consecutive at-bats at the start of July. However, he ended the season going 0-for-19 before landing on the injured list with a lower back strain.
There’s no arguing that Miranda’s 2024 season was a meaningful improvement from the year before when he tried to play through a shoulder injury before being shut down for the season.
However, he still had more hot and cold streaks at the plate than consistency with his performance. That will be the next hurdle he’ll need to overcome. He currently lines up to be Minnesota’s first baseman on Opening Day.
21. Emmanuel Rodriguez
2024 Season End: Injured list
Rodriguez has risen the ranks handsomely since 2021. He’s now Minnesota’s second-best prospect and has been productive when healthy in 2024.
Between Double-A and Triple-A, Rodriguez hit .280/.459/.567 with nine home runs (including an inside-the-park grand slam for his first homer in Triple-A), 27 RBI, and a 1.026 OPS in 47 games. However, Rodriguez had trouble staying on the field due to a right thumb sprain that plagued him all year.
The right thumb strain resurfaced during a game against the Columbus Clippers on September 11, and his season ended there. Rodriguez will likely begin his 2025 season in Triple-A and make his MLB debut by the middle of the summer.
22. Chris Vallimont
2024 Season End: Indy Ball
The Baltimore Orioles claimed Vallimont off waivers in May of 2022. He began as a free agent last season and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple-A team on May 29.
However, he only spent two months in Triple-A, posting an ERA north of 8.50 in 42 innings (nine starts, one relief appearance). The Dodgers released him on July 26, but Vallimont has kept his career alive through Indy Ball, playing for the York Revolution alongside former Twins prospect Souliare.
23. Wander Javier
2024 Season End: Remains out of baseball
Javier remains one of the biggest enigmas in recent Twins prospect history. He was one of Baseball America’s top-100 prospects in 2018 and ranked as high as the Twins fourth-best prospect by MLB Pipeline in 2019.
Javier last played for the Twins organization in 2022, appearing in 116 games with a .204/.271/.357 triple slash. Minnesota released him later the following winter and he showed up in Spring Training with the San Diego Padres. However, they released him shortly before the season began.
He hasn’t been heard from in the baseball world since his time in Spring Training with the Padres and few know where this once-promising Twins prospect wanders now.
24. Will Holland
2024 Seasons End: Triple-A injured list
After working through Minnesota’s minor league system for the last five years, Holland made it to Triple-A for the first time in 2024. He performed well with the Saints during the first half of their season.
Holland had a .299/.428/.556 triple slash with six homers and 20 RBI in 41 games, but injuries kept him off the field for most of the year. First, a hamstring strain in late April, then a right fibula fracture that happened on June 27 and ended his season prematurely.
Holland went unclaimed in this year’s Rule-5 Draft and remains in the Twins org. He will likely start his 2025 season in St. Paul again in hopes of reclaiming his success in 2024.
25. Bailey Ober
2024 Season End: Twins active roster
Perhaps no other player on this list has had a larger rise in stock than Ober. He went from a rookie starter who couldn’t get enough run support to move past his bad lack in 2021 to one of Minnesota’s most dependable starters over the last three seasons.
Ober pitched a career-high in innings this season (178 ⅔) and a new career-high in strikeouts (191). Outside of two blowout losses against the Kansas City Royals in his first start of 2024 and on August 26 when the Twins tried to play ahead of inclement weather, Ober’s outcomes this season were what they were hoping for from him.
Now that he’s taken the larger step staying healthy all year and performing well. Ober will be a key piece of Minnesota’s rotation in 2025.
26. Marco Raya
2024 Season End: Triple-A St. Paul
Following years of injury setbacks and innings limitations, the Twins allowed Raya to increase his workload to five to six innings on average in 2024.
MLB Pipeline currently ranks Raya as Minnesota’s top pitching prospect, pitched admirably at Double-A this season posting a 4.27 ERA in 24 starts. However, his command was still an issue; he walked 44 batters in 92 ⅔ innings.
Raya’s performance at Double-A earned him a call-up to the Saints to make one final start at the end of the Triple-A season. Raya pitched well in that start, allowing no runs or walks, and struck out four in five innings.
27. Seth Gray
2024 Season End: Indy Ball
Gray was in camp with the Twins during Spring Training, but they released him on March 27, right before the start of the minor league season.
He played in Indy Ball this past season with the Schaumburg Boomers in the Frontier League. He played 30 games with the Boomers, hitting four home runs, 23 RBI, and a .225/.329/.358 triple slash.
28. Luis Rijo
2024 Season End: Venezuelan League
Rijo has been out of organized baseball in North America since the Twins let him go in 2022. Since then, he has pitched each winter in the Venezuelan League, becoming an effective reliever for the Tigres de Aragua.
Rijo posted a 2.25 ERA this winter in 21 relief appearances with Tigres. At 25 years old, Rijo could still make a case for a return to the minor leagues.
29. Ben Rortvedt
2024 Season End: Tampa Bay Rays active roster
The Twins threw Rortvedt in as part of the trade that sent Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the Yankees for Gio Urshela and Gary Sánchez. Now Rortvedt has found himself with the Rays as part of a three-team trade between them, the Marlins and Yankees.
After spending all of 2022 hurt or in the minors and playing only 32 games with the Yankees in 2023, Rodvert finally got regular playing time with the Rays. Rodvert started the most games behind the plate for Tampa Bay this season at 111 and hit .228/.317/.303 in 328 plate appearances.
Rodvert will likely split the catching duties with the Rays more evenly with Danny Jansen, whom the Rays signed on December 12.
30. Danny De Andrade
2024 Season End: High-A injured list
The 20-year-old shortstop from Venezuela had a promising start to his 2024 season at High-A Cedar Rapids. Through 29 games, De Andrade hit .243/.333/.359 with a couple of homers and 19 RBI.
But on May 15, De Andrade exited the Kernels game early as he sprained his left ankle severely. The sprain kept him on the injured list for the rest of the season. De Andrade will only be 21 on April 10 and still has plenty of time to develop further at the lower minor league levels after missing most of last season.
2024 Season’s End Totals
On MLB rosters: 8
On MLB/MiLB injured lists: 7
In the minors or other pro ball: 16
Free agents or out of professional baseball: 2
Only Jaiver and Colina were on the top 30 Twins prospect lists in 2021 and are out of professional baseball. Nearly half are still finding their way into the majors and back to it, while just under a third of them finished their 2024 seasons on an active major league roster.
There’s still plenty of time for most of these former or current prospects to regain their health and have a real impact in the major leagues. But these retrospectives allow us to see how far or how short these prospects have their careers go just within three years.
