MN Twins Make Underwhelming Trade for Infielder

The Minnesota Twins have made a few moves this offseason that will impact the big league roster in 2026. They signed a new first baseman earlier this offseason, in Josh Bell. More recently, they inked a nice little catcher, in Victor Caratini.

But for the most part, president Derek Falvey still has a lot of work to do, especially for a guy who just a couple of months ago was telling fans that they Twins plan to build a competitive roster in 2026.

If he and Tom Pohlad are going to fulfill those “promises”, the Twins still have to rebuild a bullpen that the front office gutted before the 2025 trade deadline, and rebalance a roster that might not even field a full team if it had to play baseball right now.

Tristan Gray joins Minnesota Twins in minor trade

And just a reminder: Spring Training is less than a month away. So it was no surprise when the MN Twins swung a trade Wednesday… until the details came through. Falvey is sending 25-year-old catching prospect (AA) Nate Diaz to Boston in exchange for 29-year-old utility infielder Tristan Grey.

Small overnight trade: The Boston Red Sox are acquiring catching prospect Nate Baez from the Minnesota Twins for utilityman Tristan Gray, sources tell ESPN.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 21, 2026

In order to make room on the 40-man roster for Gray, the MN Twins designated Vidal Brujan for assignment. They had just claimed the former top prospect while designating Mickey Gasper last week.

Gray will be 30 this season. He came into the league as a Pittsburgh Pirates 13th round draft pick in 2017. He has played in parts of three big league seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, and Oakland Athletics. Gray has one minor league option remaining and will likely start his season in St. Paul.

He landed in Boston back in November, when the Red Sox acquired him via trade with Rays, in exchange for Luis Guerrero. Minnesota has already added depth infielders Oswaldo Arcia and Ryan Kreidler this offseason, which makes this deal all the more interesting.

Tristan Gray’s entire big league sample size is just 47 games. Last year, in 30 games with the Rays, he slashed .231/.282/.410 with five home runs and nine runs batted in. He plays all four infield positions, with an almost even split.

If you are looking for offensive hope, good luck. Gray’s production wasn’t much better at the minor league level, where he slashed .241/.313/.456 in over 800 games. He did have an .805 OPS at Triple-A Charlotte (Chicago White Sox) in 72 games last year, however.

In a matter of a week, the Twins move away from Willi Castro & Mickey Gasper, but replace them with utility man Tristan Gray

This is Gray’s 5th org change since 2023

MiLB Stats:
3275 PA
.241/.313/.456
136 HR (91 since 2022)
25.4% K
8.6% BB

This is good depth for the Twins pic.twitter.com/3iWz89lzB0

— Baseball Unstitched Podcast (@BaseUnstitched) January 21, 2026

What are the Twins doing with this roster?

Nate Baez was a 12th round pick by Minnesota in 2022 and is now 24 years old. He spent time at Double and Single-A last season. Losing Baez certainly isn’t the end of the world, but it’s worth noting that the Twins organization is not ripe with catching depth at the high minors.

That’s why Jhonny Pereda and Mickey Gasper had to play a bunch last year, down the stretch. However, the addition of Caratini and Alex Jackson this offseason should help push some depth back down all levels.

And it’s still possible the Twins are planning to trade Ryan Jeffers, who is on the final year of arbitration and is unlikely to sign an extension in 2026.

The Minnesota Twins are stacking a lot of lackluster infield options behind their questionable starters. Hopefully there is something brewing behind the scenes that will help all of these moves on the fringes make sense.