Teams are also going to come calling for some of the controllable assets. Any deal including Joe Ryan, Griffin Jax, or Jhoan Duran should generate a sizable haul.

One of the impending free agents, Christian Vazquez, could be had for a bucket of baseballs. Removing the remainder of his $10 million salary this season would be a plus. Someone still has to play the position though, and Minnesota just acquired more depth.

Jhonny Pereda takes over as catching depth for MN Twins

Most organizations are light on quality catchers due to the demands of the position. It’s also why it’s not unthinkable that Minnesota could find a taker for Christian Vazquez as a veteran backup. They need more depth on the 40-man though, and that’s where Jhonny Pereda comes in.

#MNTwins claimed C Jhonny Pereda off from the A's an optioned him to Triple-A. Jair Camargo has been DFA'd to make room on the 40-man roster.

— DanHayesMLB (@DanHayesMLB) July 22, 2025

Pereda made his major league debut last season for the Miami Marlins. Across 20 games he was 9-for-39 with 10 strikeouts and no walks. In 17 games for the Athletics this season Pereda is 7-for-40 with two doubles and a 13/6 K/BB.

If the Twins were looking for an offensive clone of Christian Vazquez, he may be it. That’s not what is at play here though. Jair Camargo was the only other catcher on the 40-man roster. Minnesota acquired Diego Cartaya prior to the season, but he has since been removed from the 40-man roster and has been terrible at Triple-A (20 games, 5-for-59, HR, 40/9 K/BB).

Related: MN Twins Reliever Trending at MLB Trade Deadline

Unfortunately for the MN Twins, Camargo is not an option either. He underwent Tommy John surgery last month and will be out into next season. Despite being DFA’d, that reality will likely keep him in the organization.

What’s next for the MN Twins catching situation?

What Pereda’s addition does is allow for Minnesota to try and move on from Vazquez, or swing a larger deal including Ryan Jeffers. In either case they’d need a backup catcher, and utilizing Mickey Gasper in that spot isn’t ideal either.

This is the definition of taking advantage of all your opportunities. @patrick_winkel didn't play in the first 13 games of the season despite being on the roster. He just hit his 7th homer in 87 AB's, an 8% HR clip. The catcher came in with an .818 OPS. Lead 5-3 going to the 4th pic.twitter.com/rmkwIt5i99

— St. Paul Saints (@StPaulSaints) July 9, 2025

Noah Cardenas has a .204/.291/.531 line in his first 17 Triple-A games, but he is a 25-year-old former 8th round pick. Patrick Winkel is another option, and is the same age taken in the 9th round of the same 2021 draft. He has just a .652 OPS in 78 games for St. Paul last year, but has hit .250/.294/.510 in 27 games this season.

Neither of the depth prospects are on the 40-man roster, but there is plenty of opportunity for the Minnesota Twins to do some maneuvering. With the likelihood that impending free agents are traded, there should be plenty of fresh faces getting a chance to prove themselves down the stretch for Rocco Baldelli.

In this bad dream, he finds out of a devastating spring injury to one of a few cornerstone pieces to this summer’s roster, and it costs a talented Twins team their season. If that nightmare becomes reality again in 2025, after injuries to Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa caused a momentum-crippling second half collapse in 2024, it could cost Rocco his job.

Related: 2025 Minnesota Twins Opening Day Roster Projection (2.0)

That’s why Sunday was nearly as difficult for the manager as it was the player, when once-blossoming star Royce Lewis suffered a hamstring injury vs the Red Sox that will reportedly keep him off the 26-man Opening Day roster.

Rocco Baldelli makes three more cuts for Minnesota Twins

Speaking of the Twins’ current roster, which needs to be cut down to 26 players by this coming Sunday, it got another haircut on Tuesday morning, a spring trim that included catcher Jair Camargo, along with pitchers Darren McCaughan and Huascar Ynoa.

Twins made another round of roster cuts today: catcher Jair Camargo and pitchers Darren McCaughan and Huascar Ynoa.

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) March 18, 2025

Today marks the fourth notable cutdown day of Spring Training, so far, and it puts the current Minnesota Twins camp roster at 37. Just a couple days ago, the most recent round of cuts prior to Tuesday’s brought the 2025 roster down from 45 to 40 and helped solidify the starting rotation.

Newly cut MN Twins include: (P) Ynoa, (P) McCaughan, (C) Camargo

Huascar Ynoa gave up three runs on four hits across 4 2/3 innings this spring. The 26-year-old Dominican right-hander struck out four and walked a pair. Ynoa allowed five runs on ten hits but had an impressive 7/1 K/BB.

McCaughan, a 29-year-old MLB tweener prospect with 17 career big league appearances — threw six innings of Grapefruit League action for the Twins down in Florida. The results — 7.50 ERA, 1.83 WHIP and 7 SO in 6 IP — were not all that impressive.

Related: Minnesota Twins Set Starting Rotation, Announce Third Round of Roster Cuts

The only big name out of today’s round of cuts is 25-year-old catcher prospect, Jair Camargo. The right-handed hitting Columbian made his MLB debut last season, where he wound up notching five games of MLB experience (0-for-6 in 7 PA).

Unfortunately, Camargo had a tough spring, going 2-for-18 with 8 strikeouts and 0 walks. Both of his hits came in one really great game last week, where he went 2-for-2 with a 2B, HR and a walk, putting on full display what he can do, when right, and why the MN Twins still believe in him.

Jair Camargo was ripping balls in some Spring Training action yesterday 🚀

He was 2-2 with a 2B, a HR, and a BB

First swing (2B): 105.5mph
Second swing (HR): 107.8mph, 416 feet

So far in the spring, he is batting .385/.429/.769 with a 1.198 OPS‼️#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/R5VuYB2oYO

— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) March 7, 2024

Despite the Twins trading for catching depth in the form of Diego Cartaya this offseason, Camargo still seems to be the next man up. Cartaya played in the Spring Breakout game, but was part of the second round of roster cuts. If both Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vazquez remain healthy and effective for Rocco Baldelli, the aforementioned tandem will remain at Triple-A St. Paul.

What is left to watch for down in Fort Myers?

The Minnesota Twins bullpen still has spots up for grabs but neither Darren McCaughan or Hauscar Ynoa were going to be an option. The latter re-signed with the organization that once dealt him for Jaime Garcia. Ynoa will head to Triple-A and look to work his way back.

Minnesota has just six Grapefruit League games left prior to kicking off the season in St. Louis against the Cardinals. They will need to trim another nine players from the roster. Both Royce Lewis and Michael Tonking remain in camp, but will start the year on the injured list.

The Twins will largely look the same from a roster standpoint in 2025. Rocco Baldelli will have different digits to work with when filling out his lineup card, though.

New numbers for multiple Minnesota Twins

We’re less than a month from pitchers and catchers reporting to Fort Myers for Spring Training. When the Minnesota Twins take the field, a couple of players will have new numbers. Six players will be changing the digits on their jersey.

New (jersey) number, who dis? pic.twitter.com/Ii8ptLTkdQ

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) January 15, 2025

It’s not new that rookies are assigned uniform numbers based on availability. Only Simeon Woods Richardson, of this group, wore his for more than one season. With appearances in both 2022 and 2023, 78 followed him for quite a bit.

Related: Minnesota Twins Sign Boatload of 2025 International Free Agents

Helman takes Nick Gordon’s number, and the hope is that he can be more productive than the former #1. Tsuyoshi Nishioka is probably the most infamous wearer of #1 in Twins franchise history, and we all know how that went.

Brooks Lee wearing #2 reminds me of this legend pic.twitter.com/tzaOqSvTma

— Ryan Linderholm (@LinderholmRyan) January 15, 2025

No one wore number two last year, but Lee will don it in 2025. There have been some very good second baseman in recent franchise history to use that digit. Both Luis Arraez and Brian Dozier come to mind, and its cool to see Lee now have it.

Both Martin and Keirsey Jr. leave their 80’s behind. Martin takes over 16, which was worn by newly hired Twins front office employee Ehire Adrianza. 21, which is Keirsey Jr.’s new number, has been worn by players such as Delmon Young, Eric Milton, and even Pat Mahomes.

There have been a bunch of players to wear 24 for just a single season. Woods Richardson should have it for longer than that. Maybe you can even repurpose an old Trevor Larnach uniform.

Related: “Full-Go” Brooks Lee Preparing for Unknown Role with Twins… but Back Injury Still Lingers

The last member of the group, Jair Camargo, opted to stay with a high number. He will rock 77, which has only previously been used by four players in franchise history.