The Twins have consistently had one of the better farm systems throughout the league over the past seven to 10 years. As they enter the 2026 season, it’s headlined by many talented young hitters, most of whom are expected to reach the majors soon, and the lower levels of the minors are filled with exciting young pitchers that have high ceilings for where their MLB careers can go.
The Top Tier
1) Walker Jenkins – OF, 21 YO
2025 Stats (A/AA/AAA): .286 AVG | .399 OBP | .451 SLG | 10 HR | 34 RBI | 17 SB | 14.6% K% | 13.5% BB%
Despite missing the first two months of 2025 due to a left ankle sprain, Walker Jenkins had a strong 2025 season, which helped make him the youngest player in the International League this season at just 20 years old when he got called up to the St. Paul Saints on August 25. Jenkins had a red-hot bat in 52 games with Double-A Wichita, hitting .309/.426/.487 with seven home runs and 34 RBI over 235 plate appearances. His performance at Triple-A was not quite the same, as he was ice-cold in the first week but ended the year hitting .242/.324/.396, two home runs, and 13 RBI over 102 plate appearances with the Saints.
Jenkins’ drop-off at Triple-A was a bit expected, considering he was the youngest player in the league to finish out 2025. He will likely still be the youngest player in the International League to start 2026, as the Twins have a crowded outfield to shuffle through at the major league level, and Jenkins will want to get consistent playing time with the Saints as the Twins figure out the rest of their outfield in the first month or two of the season. But dynasty owners should expect a healthy Jenkins to be a big contributor for the Twins whenever he gets the call-up. He has all the makings of a five-tool player, and the only question in his performance that still lingers over him is whether he will continue to develop more power in his swing as he grows. If Jenkins can combine to hit anywhere from 15-20 home runs between the majors and minors, then he will be a force to be reckoned with in the Twins lineup for years to come.
2) Kaelen Culpepper – SS, 23 YO
2025 Stats (A+/AA): .289 AVG | .375 OBP | .469 SLG | 20 HR | 77 RBI | 2 SB | 17.4% K% | 9.7% BB%
Kaelen Culpepper was one of the best hitters in the Twins farm system this year, and his strong performance from April through July helped earn him the 2025 Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year award. On July 31, Culpepper had a .315/.400/.506 slash line on the year with 15 home runs, 65 RBI, and his walk rate sitting at 10.5% and strikeout rate at 15.9%. The last two months of the Double-A season were a considerable drop off as Culpepper hit .223/.313/.377 with five home runs, 12 RBI, a 7.5% walk rate, and 21.1% strikeout rate.
Despite the bad stretch at the end of 2025, Culpepper will be starting the 2026 season at Triple-A as he will be in a similar boat alongside Jenkins, waiting for his call-up to the majors when ready. Culpepper has decent plate discipline, but if he wants to bring it to the next level, he will have to make adjustments from his end-of-season slump and bring his strikeout and numbers closer to what they were from April through July to ensure Triple-A/MLB pitchers don’t get the better of him.
3) Eduardo Tait – C, 19 YO
2025 Stats (A/A+/): .253 AVG | .311 OBP | .427 SLG | 14 HR | 71 RBI | 0 SB | 20.4% K% | 7.4% BB%
Arguably the best prospect the Twins got in return during their trade deadline fire sale, Eduardo Tait came over from the Phillies alongside Mick Abel for flamethrowing closer Jhoan Duran. Tait had a strong season between Low-A and High-A before the Twins acquired him on July 30. Tait had been hitting .255/.319/.434 with 11 home runs, 57 RBI, a 8.3% walk rate, and a 18.1% strikeout rate through 82 games.
Tait’s numbers took a bit of a hit post-acquisition as his walk numbers plummeted to just six in 126 plate appearances with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, bringing his walk rate to 4.8% to end the season. He still showed flashes of power that he had in Low-A, hitting 3 home runs and 14 RBI over the 30 games with the Kernels. Tait’s defense is limited to just catcher, as he is a solid defender who is still working on pitch blocking. His raw power is the best part of his game, and if he can develop that into more balls getting hit over the fence, he will make the case as one of the best hitting catcher prospects by season’s end.
4) Emmanuel Rodriguez – OF, 23 YO
2025 Stats (A/AAA): .269 AVG | .431 OBP | .409 SLG | 6 HR | 31 RBI | 10 SB | 14.6% K% | 12.2% BB%
Emmanuel Rodriguez’s pro ball career has been littered with injuries, and 2025 was no exception. He missed some time early in the year with a left thumb sprain, then had a right injury in early June, and finally an oblique strain in late July that had him returning for the final three weeks of the Triple-A season. The lost time resulted in some mixed numbers at the plate for 2025, hitting .269/.431/.409 with just six home runs, and 31 RBI, but despite all the setbacks, the one thing that separates Rodriguez from all the rest of the Twins prospects remained elite in 2025: his plate discipline.
Rodriguez has always had a scholar’s judgment of the strikezone, and has not had a season with his on-base percentage below .400 since he was in the Florida Complex League in 2021. Add that with decent contact, power, and some ability for speed, and Rodriguez has the ceiling to be an all-star outfielder in the majors. But all of this depends on his health, as he has never played over 99 games in a season since debuting in 2021. If Rodriguez can play 100 or more games between Triple-A and the majors in 2026, then he will be a must-have for any dynasty owners who value elite strikezone judgement. But all of it depends on whether or not Rodriguez can break through the injury bug and remain healthy for at least two-thirds or more of the season.
5) Connor Prielipp – LHP, 24 YO
2025 Stats (AA/AAA): 82.2 IP | 4.03 ERA | 27% K% | 8.5% BB%
Speaking of players with a lengthy injury history, Connor Prielipp finally had his healthiest season since he was a freshman at the University of Alabama in 2020. Prielipp missed out on his junior season at Alabama in 2022 due to Tommy John surgery and had to have a UCL repair in 2023, limiting him to just two starts that season. This year, Prielipp missed only one start in mid-June due to a blister on his left hand. Aside from that, he was on the mound once a week (with workload limits) all season.
Between Double-A and Triple-A, Prielipp set a career high in innings pitched with 82.2 over 23 starts and one relief appearance. He did struggle with allowing contact in the zone, with an opponent’s average of .288 on the season, but Prielipp does have effective strikeout stuff with his slider and sinker, as he struck out 98 batters and allowed 31 walks. Given the lengthy extent of his injury history, Prielipp will most likely be a full-time reliever once he reaches the big leagues. Relievers are always a dime a dozen in dynasty leagues, but Prielipp’s ceiling in the bullpen is equivalent to that of Billy Wagner in his prime. As long as he can generate more swing and miss stuff in the zone, then he’ll be one of the most sought-after rookie relievers in 2026.
6) Dasan Hill – LHP, 20 YO
2025 Stats (A/A+): 62 IP | 3.19 ERA | 31.1% K% | 15% BB%
The Twins comp round B pick from the 2024 MLB Draft, Dasan Hill, had lofty expectations for himself in 2025 as he made his pro debut in Low-A Fort Myers. Hill is a tall and lanky lefty who just turned 20 on Christmas Day. Standing at 6’5, 165 lbs, he still has plenty of room to grow, but has set a great floor for his talent, striking out 83 batters in just 62 innings over 19 starts in 2025.
But like most 19-year-olds going on 20, Hill still has plenty of room to work on his command as he walked nearly half as many batters as he struck out with 40 on the year. Hill is still many years away from the Majors, but his development will be fun to watch as his fastball tops out at 96 MPH with a low 80s sweeper and high 70s curveball to complement it. If Hill keeps improving on his command and builds velocity and sharp movement on his pitches, then he will be the best left-handed starter the Twins have drafted and developed since they took 1987 World Series MVP Frank Viola in the second round of the 1981 MLB Draft.
7) Marek Houston – SS, 21 YO
2025 Stats (A/A+): .270 AVG | .330 OBP | .350 SLG | 1 HR | 11 RBI | 7 SB | 19.1% K% | 7.3% BB%
Marek Houston was scouted as one of the best defensive shortstops in the 2025 MLB Draft class. Houston made his pro-ball debut in mid-August at Low-A Fort Myers, hitting .370/.424/.444 in 59 plate appearances over 12 games, but his numbers dropped drastically at High-A Cedar Rapids, hitting .152/.220/.239 in 51 plate appearances.
Houston did develop some power during his junior year at Wake Forest, hitting 15 home runs and 66 RBI over 298 plate appearances. Given he only had 12 total in his previous two collegiate seasons, it was an encouraging sign for Houston to even have one home run in his shortened 24 games to end the 2025 season. With Kaelen Culpepper on a clear path for the Twins’ starting shortstop job in 2026, Houston will take his time to develop his swing to be more major-league ready while showing off the leather at short.
8) Gabriel Gonzalez – OF, 22 YO
2025 Stats (A+/AA/AAA): .329 AVG | .395 OBP | .513 SLG | 15 HR | 66 RBI | 8 SB | 14.5% K% | 8.7% BB%
After a disappointing first season in the Twins organization, following their acquisition of Gabriel Gonzalez as part of the trade that sent Jorge Polanco to the Seattle Mariners, the young right-handed hitting corner outfielder was tearing up minor league pitching at every level he played at. Gonzalez had a meteoric rise through the Twins farm system, hitting at least .316 or better at High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A.
When Gonzalez was called up to fill one of the many open roster spots on the St. Paul Saints on August 1, there were many questions about whether he’d be able to maintain the hot hitting he had at Double-A for most of the summer. With the Wind Surge, Gonzalez put up a .344/.429/.509 slash line with 26 walks, 30 strikeouts, four home runs, and 15 RBI over 55 games. Gonzalez did hit well for St. Paul down the stretch with .319/.378/.529 with 13 walks, 22 strikeouts, five home runs, and 28 RBI over his last 34 games on the season. The Twins have been desperate for a right-handed hitting corner outfield bat that can provide production in the lineup for years, and if Gonzalez’s 2025 season doesn’t turn out to be a Linsanity run in the minors, then he will finally be their internal answer to their longtime lingering depth problem.
Prospects Dynasty Managers Should Know
9) Riley Quick – RHP, 21 YO
2025 Stats: Did not pitch
Coming off Tommy John surgery in 2024, Riley Quick had a decent junior year at the University of Alabama, and the Twins took a chance on him, drafting him as their Comp Round B pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Quick pitched to 3.92 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, walked 24 batters, and struckout 70 in 62 innings of work over 14 starts for the Crimson Tide, which are good enough numbers for any pitcher coming off TJ and pitching in the SEC.
Quick, a former four-star lineman in high school, is exactly what you’d expect a linebacker to look like on the mound, standing at 6’6″, 255 lbs. His fastball velocity averages between 96-97 MPH, with the occasional top out at 99 MPH. Mixed into his arsenal are his 95 MPH cutter, slider, and high 80s changeup, which will certainly give Florida State League hitters many problems to start 2026.
10) Kendry Rojas – LHP, 23 YO
2025 Stats (ROK/A/AA/AAA): 69 IP | 4.70 | 28.8% K% | 10.3% BB%
Kendry Rojas has been a strong strikeout pitcher in the lower levels of the minor leagues, but before he was sent back to the Twins as part of the Blue Jays’ acquisition for Louis Varland and Ty France, the Jays had rushed Rojas up through the system, giving him just four starts at Double-A, before moving him up to Triple-A Buffalo on July 30. Rojas allowed 26 earned runs in just 32.1 innings of work, while giving up 47 hits, 25 walks, and striking out 34 batters. Rojas complained that there was something with the feel of a Triple-A baseball compared to those in the lower levels of the Minors that attributed to his immediate drop in numbers.
While the Twins didn’t send Rojas back down to Double-A following his bad eight starts in Triple-A, they have added him to their 40-man roster as left-handed pitching depth for either the rotation or bullpen in 2026. Because of his impressive strikeout stuff, he will likely have a longer leash than Prielipp when it comes to opportunities as a starter due to less signifcant injuries in his career.
11) Hendry Mendez – OF, 22 YO
2025 Stats (AA): .299 AVG | .399 OBP | .439 SLG | 11 HR | 62 RBI | 10 SB | 13.2% K% | 13.6% BB%
Hendry Mendez was already having an impressive season at Double-A Reading before the Twins acquired him from the Phillies for Harrison Bader, but he saw an even more impressive stretch after joining the Wichita Wind Surge on August 2, hitting .324/.461/.450 with three home runs, 16 RBI, 27 walks, and just 21 strikeouts.
Mendez’s hot bat impressed many prospect enthusiasts in 2025, and he has a bright future for himself in 2026. The biggest question around him, though, is where his defensive home will be long-term. He has somewhat shaky defense in the corner outfield positions, and the Twins sent him to the Arizona Fall League to get more reps at first base, which seems to be where they’re most comfortable playing him for the rest of his career.
12) Ryan Gallagher – RHP, 23 YO
2025 Stats (A+/AA): 121.2 IP | 4.07 ERA| 26.1% K% | 5.9% BB%
One of the two pitchers the Cubs sent to the Twins in return for super utility man Willi Castro, Ryan Gallagher came with an impeccable command of the strikezone and the makings of a middle-of-the-rotation to backend starter. Gallagher pitched decently, starting the year at High-A, and had two brilliant starts in Double-A Tennessee, pitching to a 1.59 ERA, with four walks and 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings, before he was traded.
Things didn’t quite fare as well for Gallagher with Double-A Wichita, as he allowed a 5.50 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, seven home runs, 10 walks, and 37 strikeouts over 37.2 innings with the Wind Surge. Gallagher offers a low-to-mid 90s fastball along with a changeup, slider, and curveball in his arsenal. If he can generate more swings and misses on his stuff than he did in 2025, then he will be a a late season candidate to join the Twins if they need to rely more on their minor league depth.
13) Andrew Morris – RHP, 24 YO
2025 Stats (AAA): 94.2 IP | 4.09 ERA | 22.4% K% | 7% BB%
Andrew Morris’s 2025 season came with some setbacks, as he missed nearly two months due to a forearm injury that sprang up in mid-June. Before that, he had another issue that was causing inflation of his numbers on the mound; he was unknowingly tipping pitches with the way he chewed his gum. Forunately when he returned to the mound on August 9, things went well for him through the end of the season.
Morris pitched to a 3.45 ERA in 31.1 innings, allowing just four walks, 29 strikeouts, and 20 hits allowed over eight outings. Morris is one of the first starters the Twins will call up when they need to fill a spot for injury in the starting rotation, and with his pitch tipping issue solved, he will be a strong, back-end of the rotation candidate for any dynasty team.
14) Kyle DeBarge – SS/2B, 22 YO
2025 Stats (A+): .237 AVG | .347 OBP | .362 SLG | 8 HR | 65 RBI | 66 SB | 22.3% K% | 12.9% BB%
Kyle DeBarge was an incredible hitter throughout his collegiate career at Louisiana-Lafayette, but his numbers at the plate haven’t been quite the same since he was drafted by the Twins as their Comp Round A pick from the 2024 MLB Draft. DeBarge, spent his first full season in pro ball at High-A Cedar Rapids, and while his contact and power were not quite where they’re projected to be, he was an incredible threat on the base paths.
DeBarge stole 66 bases in 74 attempts in the 121 games he played in 2025. While the hit tools are underperforming so far, there’s no question that his speed is the catalyst for his game right now. If the hit tools can develop a bit better in 2026, then he will be an under-the-radar infield prospect for dynasty owners to pursue.
15) Quentin Young – SS, 18 YO
2025 Stats (A): .118 AVG | .227 OBP | .345 SLG | 0 HR | 3 RBI | 0 SB | 40.9% K% | 9.1% BB%
The nephew of former first-round draft pick Delmon Young and all-star Dimitri Young, Quentin Young is a hulking 6’6, 225 lbs third baseman from Westlake, California, who the Twins wanted as their second round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft. Even with his family connections to baseball, Young is a standout with his power hitting abilites at such a young age, and with more room to grow, he was someone the Twins could not pass up while he was still available in the draft.
Young only went 2-for-17 in his first five games of pro-ball with Fort Myers after the draft, but he should expect to play with the Mighty Mussels for all of 2026 in hopes of developing stronger defense and showcasing his power in a not-so-hitter-friendly Florida State League.
The Next Five
Although these prospects do not crack the top 15, dynasty managers should keep their eyes on these five players in 2026:
Brandon Winokur – IF, 21 YO – Winokur has great power, hitting 17 home runs and 68 RBI in 122 games in High-A this year, but he has not developed strong contact skills, hitting .226 in 529 plate appearances, or found a positional home in the minors. He splits time between center field, shortstop, and third base.
Charlee Soto – RHP, 20 YO – Made headways in the 2023 MLB Draft class as he could top out at 100 MPH at 17 years old. Missed most of the 2025 season due to a right tricep strain and surgery to remove a partially detached bone spur in his right arm. If Soto returns to his pre-surgery form in 2026, he will be the highest riser on this list.
C.J. Culpepper – RHP, 24 YO – C.J. Culpepper has impressive stuff with his slider and cutter that can be hard to hit pitches for opposing batters, but he has battled through injuries for most of his minor league career. He only pitched in 59.1 innings over 17 starts in 2025, missing nearly half the season. If injury issues persist, he’s likely to move to the bullpen in either Double-A or Triple-A in 2026.
James Ellwanger – RHP, 21 YO – The Twins 3rd round pick from this past year’s draft, Ellwanger offers a fastball topping out at 99 MPH, with a strong slider, curveball, and cutter to complement it. Has yet to make his pro-ball debut and will likely start 2026 in Low-A Fort Myers.
Billy Amick – 3B, 23 YO – Billy Amick has great bat speed and decent power, but missed significant time in 2025 due to an oblique strain in mid-May. Amick still hit well when healthy, putting up a .307/.417/.450 slash line with four home runs, and 31 RBI in 59 games.
