𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Welcome to Camp So Many Things Must Go Right.

For three months, the Minnesota Twins have talked a good game about improving upon last year’s abysmal 92-loss season. The team’s midseason spiral resulted in perhaps the greatest fire sale of talent in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues and a decline in fan morale so steep that attendance figures cratered to a Target Field low.

But the team’s rosy internal expectations for 2026 don’t align with what the rest of the baseball world expects.

Coming off a fourth-place finish with a $35 million payroll reduction, already without Pablo López for the season, and counting on a bullpen being rebuilt on the fly, the Twins are projected to finish under .500. FanGraphs pegs the Twins as a 78-win team. So does Baseball Prospectus. BetOnline projects the team’s over/under line at 73 1/2 wins and BetMGM is offering its line at 72 1/2.

That hasn’t stopped the Twins, who haven’t reached the postseason since 2023, from looking at the glass as half-full.

“I don’t think our guys really give a s—,” said starting pitcher Bailey Ober, the Twins’ fourth-longest tenured player. “We’re just going to go out there and go play. I don’t think anyone is (worried about) what everyone is saying about us. Each person has a job and each person is going to try and execute to the best of their abilities. (Those) guys know what they need to do to be successful and they’ve done it. Now, it’s being consistent and having confidence and playing hard.”

Tom Pohlad took over as the Twins’ controlling owner on Dec. 17 with a new message for 2026 — one of promise after two seasons of torment. Earlier in the offseason, the team’s front office didn’t know if it had the resources to add to the roster or would even be allowed to retain key players.

But after the team’s partial sale was completed in December, Pohlad said a division title was within reach, an idea he’s championed multiple times since. General manager Jeremy Zoll and manager Derek Shelton echoed those sentiments of playing competitively.

Yet the Twins did little to enhance their roster via free agency or trades, and the area of greatest need wasn’t bolstered until late January, a month after all the top free-agent relievers had signed. Now, the Twins will open the new season Thursday with a cobbled-together bullpen that still has no defined roles.

“From an internal evaluation perspective, we do have more optimism than what that’s showing,” Zoll said. “It’s definitely different than how other teams are set up or other years where the roles are much more defined going into the season. But we also know the (Jhoan Duran-Griffin Jax) bullpen we ultimately built along the way, at various points, those guys needed to take steps forward. We think there’s a blend of guys who have had success we can put in situations for success. Good bullpens are built in a lot of different ways and we think we still can accomplish that over the course of the season.”

Even if the bullpen jells immediately and succeeds, the club has a long list of additional issues that could result in the difference between an entertaining season of good baseball or a painfully long campaign full of questions.

Among the latter:

• Can both or either of Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner stay on the field and develop into middle-of-the-order hitters?

• Will Brooks Lee progress enough at the plate to make up for projected below-average defense at shortstop?

• How will Ober, still battling velocity and command issues at the end of camp, rebound from the worst season of his career?

• Are Taj Bradley and Mick Abel ready to deliver on the killer set of tools each possesses?

• How will one of baseball’s second-worst defensive units improve on last year’s results while relying largely on the same cast of defenders?

“We’re going to be asking a lot from guys that haven’t proven themselves over multiple seasons in a row,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “There’s big question marks there. But that doesn’t mean the question marks are all going to end with bad results. … Are we going to go out and win 100 games? Probably not. But, just because payroll is small doesn’t mean we can’t put a competitive season together and make things interesting.”

One way the Twins hope to squeeze more out of the roster is by continuing the aggressive base running they adopted after the trade deadline last season. Over the final six weeks, the Twins were the most aggressive base-running team in baseball.

In camp, Shelton had the Twins — who stole seven more bases as a team this spring versus a year ago — participate in more interactive drills. The team brought minor leaguers over to play defense while Twins major leaguers received instruction and ran the bases “at full tilt,” Shelton said. Coaches didn’t hesitate to correct mistakes or ask for multiple attempts.

The Twins drilled down on base running in spring training. (Jonah Hinebaugh / Imagn Images)

After seeing a taste of it last year, Joe Ryan is intrigued to see how dedication to a new style on the base paths plays out over a full season.

“We played a little more athletic and we were close in a lot more games than we got credit for,” Ryan said. “We’ve taken care of some of those pieces and guys are in a pretty good spot. … I feel good about where the guys are at.”

Multiple players mentioned there was a different feel to the way spring training was run under their new manager. Shelton’s desire for precision was felt throughout, with the team focused more on fundamental play and accountability.

Early in camp, pitchers went through more fielding practice, echoing the days of Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire and Paul Molitor. The Twins also took advantage of a reduced roster during the World Baseball Classic to drill down on cutoffs and relay plays. Additionally, coaches emphasized infield and outfield drills, running them before most exhibition games.

“Shelty did a real good job orchestrating his vision this camp,” veteran Josh Bell said. “Attention to detail, some of the finer details, playing the game the right way, but also having a purpose for each workday. Each day has a different plan of what we want to work on.”

The Twins, to their credit, recognized they have less margin for error than most teams and spent spring training focused on establishing a strong foundation. Shelton thinks those efforts can minimize mistakes, which is critical for a team that will often find itself playing against opponents with larger payrolls.

“I feel good,” Shelton said. “There’s definitely some areas we still need to be more consistent with, but I’m very happy with the detail of the work that we’ve got in.”

Bell added he’s pleasantly surprised by the amount of talent he discovered within the clubhouse. After signing a one-year deal worth $7 million in December, Bell wasn’t sure what he’d find when he joined the Twins. Then he faced Abel and Bradley in live batting practices.

“It seems like our arms, even with Pablo going down (are good),” Bell said. “These guys are forces and can really take a step forward this year and establish our rotation.”

Whether enough of the team’s young players can gain footholds in the majors will determine much about how this season goes. Same as in the past few years, the Twins have good pedigrees on the roster.

But if those players continue to sputter as they have in the past, because of injury or underperformance, the Twins could be in for another slog of a year.

The players, at least, believe they’re ready to shake off the doldrums.

“People talking about we’re going to be a below .500 team, that’s kind of wild,” Royce Lewis said. “I’m looking at our (pitching) staff, guys on this roster. It doesn’t make sense to me. We have a lot of first-rounders, we’ve got a lot of high draft picks, (top) prospects. I don’t understand it. That’s neither here nor there. People have their opinions. I don’t just agree with their opinions. I would just say I disagree.”