Minnesota Twins Reportedly Looking to Offload Contracts to Balance Payroll

Catcher Christian Vázquez, utility man Willi Castro and pitcher Chris Paddack are among the players the Minnesota Twins could trade away this offseason.

Sep 20, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Minnesota Twins catcher Christian Vazquez (8) bats against the Boston Red Sox during the seventh inning at Fenway Park. / Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins took a nosedive out of the playoff race this September, marking an early end to their season.

A month later, with the MLB General Manager Meetings getting underway in San Antonio, the Twins are finally starting to lay the groundwork for how they will approach the offseason.

President of baseball operations Derek Falvey spoke with reporters on Tuesday, giving insight into Minnesota's payroll expectations and his general thoughts on the current roster. While Falvey said the Twins have a competitive core in place, he admitted that the front office's plans can't be as simple as bringing everyone back.

"We’re going to have to be creative if we want to make a lot of tweaks to the group," Falvey said.

The Twins' 40-man payroll this past season came in at $162 million, down from $177 million in 2023 and $173 million in 2022. Before even making any moves this winter, Minnesota's payroll is projected to land $138 million and $165 million, and Falvey insinuated that he doesn't expect that figure to climb much higher.

So, in order to replace the outgoing production of Max Kepler, Carlos Santana, Manuel Margot and Alex Kirilloff, the Twins may have to shed some salary.

The Minnesota Star Tribune's Bobby Nightengale singled out three players on expiring deals who he thinks could be shipped out of town: catcher Christian Vázquez, starting pitcher Chris Paddack and utility man Willi Castro.

Vázquez has one year and $10 million remaining on the three-year, $30 million contract he inked with the Twins ahead of the 2023 campaign. The 34-year-old backstop, who previously won World Series with the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros, has hit .222 with 13 home runs, 59 RBI, a .587 OPS, 10 defensive runs saved and a -0.5 WAR across 195 games since arriving in Minnesota.

Paddack is on the books for $7.5 million in 2025, which is his last year under contract. He appeared in just seven games between 2022 and 2023 due to Tommy John surgery, and even when he returned to the mound at full strength in 2024, the right-hander was limited to 17 starts as a result of a forearm strain.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old went 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA, 0.981 WHIP and 2.9 WAR as a rookie with the San Diego Padres back in 2019. He is 18-17 with a 4.90 ERA, 1.293 WHIP and 0.2 WAR in the five seasons since.

The Twins also have one year left of team control with Castro, who made his first All-Star appearance in 2024. After four lackluster seasons with the Detroit Tigers, Castro has averaged 11 home runs, 47 RBI, 24 stolen bases and a 2.1 WAR across his two campaigns in Minnesota, batting .251 with a .729 OPS.

Castro, who has played everywhere except catcher and first base, is projected to earn $6 million in his final round of arbitration this offseason.

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