MN Twins Outfielder Heading to Atlanta

The Minnesota Twins continue to shuffle their roster this offseason as they prepare for 2026 spring training, just six weeks from now, though the moves so far have been mostly been on the fringes.

President Derek Falvey signed Eric Orze as the Twins’ the only needle-moving bullpen addition. For the offense, he brought in veteran 1B/DH Josh Bell, as the lone starting lineup addition.

Minnesota Twins outfielder finds new home in NL

Lost in the 40-man shuffle is outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who made his big league debut in 2025 as part of the Minnesota Twins Opening Day roster.

When the dust settled, Kiersey Jr played his first 74 Major League Baseball games on a bad Twins team last year. That was a big enough sample size for Falvey to designated the utility outfielder for assignment earlier this offseason.

After clearing waivers, Kiersey Jr. elected not to return to the Twins, instead choosing to hit free agency where he found a new home on Monday with the Atlanta Braves.

DaShawn Keirsey Jr., who was let go by the Twins in November, signed a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves.

Keirsey was a fourth-round pick in 2018 and spent eight years in the org, going from being a marginal prospect to playing 80 games with the Twins.

Good dude, too.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) January 4, 2026

Signing with the Atlanta Braves, Keirsey Jr. has been assigned to the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers. It’s the first time he has been in an organization other than Minnesota after being a 4th round pick in 2018 out of Utah.

Last season with Minnesota, Keirsey Jr. had just 88 plate appearances in 74 games. He batted .107/.138/.317 and posted an unprecedented -13 OPS+. Across 80 big league games (102 plate appearances) he has just three extra-base hits, all of which were home runs.

Can Braves develop DaShawn Keirsey Jr?

While Keirsey Jr. oftentimes looked inept with the bat, he played a strong defensive centerfield, and went 10-for-13 on stolen base attempts. Despite his offensive limitations, DaShawn’s 250 2/3 innings as a defender were good enough to make him worth 2 OAA (outs above average) overall last season.

DK puts us on the board first!! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xbyh7kWfsq

— Twins.TV (@twinstv) July 29, 2025

Atlanta is hoping that Keirsey Jr. can flash more of his minor league numbers. In 2024 at Triple-A, the speedster batted .300/.368/.476 with 22 doubles, seven triples, and 14 home runs. He also stole 36 bags.

It’s a very thin margin of error for a player like Keirsey Jr. and at 28 years old, he’s running out of time. He’ll be competing with Eli White and Mauricio Dubon for an Opening Day bench spot on the Braves active roster this spring. Of note: The MN Twins host the Braves August 17-19, 2026.