While the Twins tumbled out of playoff contention over the last two months of the season, three of their former players are still in range of a title, a trophy, and a ring. So for fans looking for a team to root for and discouraged by the choice between a heavy spender, a geographical rival, a division rival, and the Rays, you can always choose to root for these players:
Griffin Jax, RP
current team: Tampa Bay Rays
Twins tenure: 2021-25
Minnesota’s third-round pick in 2016, Jax worked his way up through
the minors and debuted on June 8, 2021, pitching the final inning and giving up three runs in a loss to the Yankees. He spent most of his rookie season as an unsuccessful starter, but a transition to the bullpen turned him into a key high-leverage reliever. After peaking in 2024 (2.03 ERA and 95 strikeouts across 71 innings with 10 saves), he struggled some during the first half of 2025 and was one of many traded at the deadline; the Twins sent him to Tampa Bay and got Taj Bradley, who has developed into a top-of-the-rotation starter, in return. The Rays moved Jax back into the rotation in May, but he has served exclusively as a reliever in the postseason.
Trevor Megill, RP
current team: Milwaukee Brewers
Twins tenure: 2022
Megill was a bad Cub in 2021 and a mediocre Twin in 2022, and after that season, the Twins traded him across the border to Milwaukee for minor league reliever Taylor Floyd. Floyd has bounced around various minor league systems, not yet making it past AA ball, but Megill has become a bullpen mainstay as a Brewer: he’s posted a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the past three seasons and was named an All-Star in 2025.
Gary Sánchez, C
current team: Milwaukee Brewers
Twins tenure: 2022
Having traded Mitch Garver to Texas the day before and with Ryan Jeffers not yet ready to take over top catching duties, the Twins acquired Sánchez (along with Gio Urshela) from the Yankees in the Josh Donaldson salary dump trade that later allowed them to sign Carlos Correa. A formerly hyped prospect, Rookie of the Year runner-up, and two-time All-Star, Sánchez had seen a drop in his offense, and that drop continued even as he served as Minnesota’s primary catcher all season: he hit just 16 home runs and ended the season with a .659 OPS. After a rebound with the Padres the following season (.792 OPS and 19 homers in 72 games), he’s settled in as Milwaukee’s backup, serving in that role in 2024 and (after an interruption in Baltimore) this season.
So if you haven’t yet picked a team to root for and want to pull for a former Twin, these are your options: two on the Brewers and one on the Rays. Of course, we hope that next season sees the active Twins roster make a deep push into October, but next year is next year; for now, we enjoy the baseball we have.
