According to Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune, the Twins acquired catcher Alex Jackson from the Orioles for AAA shortstop Payton Eeles. OF DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Additionally, they agreed to terms with reliever Justin Topa for the 2026 season
Jackson, 29, is a former top 100 prospect for the Seattle Mariners, ranking as high as 20th in Baseball America’s rankings in 2015. He lost most of his prospect shine after putting up a combined
.670 OPS in two seasons in Low A and has spent the rest of his career bouncing around organizations as a defensive-minded backup.
The former Oriole spent most of the 2025 season as the backup catcher for the Yankees’ AAA team where he put up a league average 101 wRC+ in 44 games. He made his way to Baltimore for the final few weeks of the season after injuries to Adley Rutschman and Gary Sanchez left them without a catcher. Jackson enjoyed a mini breakout as an Oriole, putting up a 111 wRC+ while accumulating 1.1 fWAR in just 37 games and 100 plate appearances.
That offensive production was carried heavily by the five homers he hit in his limited playing time, and his ghastly 37% strikeout rate makes Matt Wallner look like a contact hitter by comparison, but Jackson’s real value will come on the defensive end where his framing, pop time, and caught-stealing metrics all rank well above league average. With Ryan Jeffers in line to receive the lion’s share of playing time behind the dish, Jackson slots in as a good defensive option behind him with a bit more juice in the bat than Christian Vazquez provided. In the meantime, the Twins can keep working with Mickey Gasper and Jhonny Pereda at AAA to develop their work behind home plate.
In return, the Twins sent AAA infielder Payton Eeles to Baltimore. The 26-year-old was signed out of Indy ball in May 2024, alongside current Twin Carson McCusker, and exploded onto the scene after originally intending to just be a depth option. Eeles found himself thrust into AAA after injuries to Brooks Lee and others left the Twins without someone able to man short in St. Paul, and he simply never let go of the job, putting up a 141 wRC+ in 64 games after mere weeks in affiliated ball. 2025 was a different story as the 5’5” infielder struggled to show any semblance of the power he displayed in his 2024 breakout. Between his struggles and plenty of top prospects like Kaelen Culpepper above him in the organizational hierarchy, Eeles became expendable.
To make room for Jackson on the 40-man roster, the Twins designated outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. for assignment. Keirsey is an organizational stalwart for the Twins, but has been used sparingly when on the big league roster. He received just 88 plate appearances in 74 games for the Twins last season despite being on the active roster for over 75% of the season. Should Keirsey clear waivers, the Twins would likely want to keep him around as AAA depth, but with three top outfield prospects on the brink of their debuts (Emmanuel Rodriguez, Walker Jenkins, Gabriel Gonzalez) and a glut of MLB options already on the roster (Buxton, Wallner, Larnach, Roden, Martin, Outman), the path for him to return to the Twins is slim.
Finally, Justin Topa is the first Twins arbitration-eligible player to officially agree to a contract for the 2026 season, coming to terms on a one year, $1.225M pact. Combined with his previously declined $2M option buyout of $225K, that will bring Topa’s total 2026 earnings to $1.45M.
The Derek Falvey-led Twins traditionally don’t like to go to court with their arbitration players, so expect more agreements to be announced ahead of tonight’s 5 PM ET non-tender deadline. The aforementioned Larnach and Outman may find themselves on the chopping block due to the Twins’ outfield glut.
The Twins’ have 6 remaining arbitration eligible players: C Ryan Jeffers, RHP Bailey Ober, RHP Joe Ryan, OF/DH Trevor Larnach, 3B Royce Lewis, and RHP Cole Sands. Relievers Genesis Cabrera and Michael Tonkin were already non-tendered earlier this offseason.
