As I mentioned in my Minnesota Twins 2026 breakdown, due to the underperformance of the club for the last couple of years, and the long injury histories of Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis, and especially now after receiving bad news about Pablo Lopez, I think it’s time for the Twins to sell of their assists and re-build. And that rebuild should be centered around their top prospect Walker Jenkins (#14).

Jenkins is the best offensive prospect Minnesota has had in years, and he is a true five tool player. Plus power and contact, above average speed, and a strong throwing arm, it’s only a matter of time before he is roaming Target Field. He has the ability to do damage to all fields, draws walks well, and keeps his strikeouts in check, making him a truly dangerous hitter.

Two names that come up most often when projecting Walker Jenkins are Matt Olson and Kyle Tucker. I’d also throw Joey Votto in there, due to Votto’s elite plate discipline and OBP (Jenkins’ hit tool is projecting as ELITE), I’d lean more toward Kyle Tucker as a powerful lefty outfielder.

Outside of Walker Jenkins, the Twins have another powerful outfielder, Emmanuel Rodriguez (#74) waiting in the wings in AAA, and they also have Kaelen Culpepper (#52) in AA, a 23-year-old shortstop who was drafted 21st overall in 2024 out of Kansas State, becoming the Wildcats’ first position player to ever go in the first round. Culpepper is a contact machine who can use all fields and has good speed.

That said, Minnesota’s offense looks to be in good hands, so if they wanted to sell off Buxton and Lewis for assets in favor of an express re-tooling, that may be a wise choice. Jenkins and Rodriguez are expected to debut in 2026, maybe even making the team out of camp. Culpepper is projected to arrive in Minnesota next season, but if he continues to hit the ball like he has, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was express shipped to the Twin Cities by the time the rosters expand in September, if not earlier.

Whether or not the Twins decide to run it back with Royce Lewis and Byron Buxton, the offensive pipeline is in great shape and poised to put up big numbers in the seasons to come.