Some things change, and some things stay the same.
When the Twins went into "sell" mode at last year's Trade Deadline, the goal was to restock the system as much as they could. This year's Top 30 prospects list for the organization certainly reflects that. There are five members of the 30 who came over in/around last year's Trade Deadline.
That group is headlined by No. 3 prospect Eduardo Tait, who joined the Twins via the Jhoan Duran deal with the Phillies. Lefty Kendry Rojas (from the Blue Jays for Louis Varland and Ty France) and outfielder Hendry Mendez (from the Phillies for Harrison Bader) are two other trade acquisitions in the top half of this list.
What hasn't changed is the name at the top. This is the third straight year Walker Jenkins is the Twins' No. 1 prospect, which shouldn't sound all that surprising for a high school player taken No. 5 overall in the 2023 Draft. But if it hadn’t been for injuries, there's a good chance Jenkins would have graduated off of this list by now.
The good news is a healthy Jenkins will be in Triple-A, where he finished off last year, getting reps until that call comes. If he and also oft-injured outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez can stay in the lineup, they both could make the quick jaunt from St. Paul to Minneapolis to help start to turn things around in the AL Central.
COMPLETE TWINS PROSPECT COVERAGE
Here's a look at the Twins top prospects:
1. Walker Jenkins, OF (MLB No. 14)
2. Kaelen Culpepper, SS (MLB No. 52)
3. Eduardo Tait, C (MLB No. 65)
4. Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF (MLB No. 74)
5. Connor Prielipp, LHP
Complete Top 30 list »
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2025 preseason list to the 2026 preseason list:
Jump: Adrian Bohorquez, RHP (2025: 28 | 2026: 15)
Bohorquez actually started the 2025 season off really slowly because he was out of shape, but once he caught up, he was dominant, with a 2.47 ERA and .185 batting average against from July 1 on, and he was outstanding after a promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids. He had a 27.2 percent strikeout rate for the year.
Fall: Cory Lewis (2025: 11 | 2026: NR)
Lewis looked like he might be another of the Twins’ late-round college pitchability finds who makes it to the big leagues. But shoulder issues have really derailed his progress, and he managed just 73 innings with Triple-A St. Paul last year, finishing with a 7.27 ERA and a WHIP over 2.00.
More from MLB Pipeline:
• Top 100 prospects | Stats | Video | Podcast | Complete coverage
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools – 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is plus and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 60 - Walker Jenkins
Power: 60 - Walker Jenkins (Eduardo Tait, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Quentin Young)
Run: 60 - Kyle DeBarge (Brandon Winokur)
Arm: 65 - Quentin Young
Defense: 55 - Kyle DeBarge (Walker Jenkins)
Fastball: 60 - Charlee Soto (Dasan Hill, Riley Quick, James Ellwanger, Jose Olivares)
Curveball: 55 - Dasan Hill (James Ellwanger)
Slider: 60 - Connor Prielipp (Dasan Hill, Riley Quick, Marco Raya
Changeup: 60 - Connor Prielipp
Control: 60 - Andrew Morris
How they were built
Draft: 19 | International: 4 | Trade: 6 | NDFA: 1
Breakdown by ETA
2026: 11 | 2027: 7 | 2028: 7 | 2029: 4 | 2030: 1
Breakdown by position
C: 3 | 3B: 1 | SS: 6 | OF: 5 | RHP: 12 | LHP: 3