Twins Were Apparently 'In On' Another Star Pitcher, For What That's Worth

The top remaining free agent in baseball came off the market on Wednesday when longtime Astros starter and two-time All-Star Framber Valdez inked a three-year, $115 million deal with the Detroit Tigers. Valdez will join back-to-back AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal — who won his high-profile arbitration case on Thursday — atop the rotation for the favorites in the AL Central.

There were reportedly several other teams who were in on Valdez before he signed with the Tigers. According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, those included the Orioles, the Blue Jays and ... the Twins?

The Orioles, Blue Jays and even the Twins were in on Valdez, per source. Tigers get him as they await arb decision on Skubal. https://t.co/jCDiAIH8jG
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) February 5, 2026

The Twins? The 2026 Minnesota Twins? It's hard to know what to make of the notion that a team whose payroll is currently around $105 million was even remotely involved in the free agent pursuit of a player who just signed a deal worth $38.3 million per year. That contract alone is over a third of their current payroll. What are we talking about?

"In doesn’t have to mean the same contract," Rogers replied to a fan who pointed that out. OK, sure, but how is it even worth acknowledging if it's clearly something that was never going to happen? This offseason, the Twins have committed $16 million in 2026 salary to three low-level free agents: Josh Bell, Victor Caratini, and Taylor Rogers. And we're supposed to believe they were in the mix for Valdez to the point where it's worth reporting?

It's not just one reporter who mentioned this. "The Twins were involved," MLB Network's Matt Vasgersian said on Thursday. Local insider Darren Wolfson said he was told the Twins' interest in Valdez was "genuine" and that they were "heavily" involved, but added that he has "zero sense they came close" to the Tigers' offer.

Framber Valdez | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

The point here is not to question the legitimacy of those reports. They undoubtedly came from somewhere. But the whole idea just doesn't add up. It makes sense for GM Jeremy Zoll and the Twins' front office to check in on every available free agent, but there's been absolutely nothing this offseason that suggests they have anywhere near the spending power to go out and land someone like Valdez. And if they were never actually close, what good does it do to mention their involvement?

It's not the first time this offseason the Twins have been linked, after the fact, to a prominent starting pitcher. They reportedly expressed interest in Brewers ace Freddy Peralta before he was traded to the Mets a couple weeks ago. Wolfson also noted the Twins had interest in trading for the Nationals' Mackenzie Gore before he was dealt to the Rangers. Those are far more understandable because both pitchers are on reasonable contracts that the Twins could've afforded.

The Valdez one makes no sense whatsoever.

The optimistic way to view these reports is that the Twins still have interest in adding to their starting rotation and/or spending more money this offseason. If that happens, we'll give credit where it's due. But at the moment, the idea that the Twins were "in on" Valdez before the Tigers gave him nearly $40 million a year is simply bizarre. The cynical view is that the interest from the Twins was nothing more than a cursory attempt to look more competitive than they actually are.

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