We’re counting down the days til the 2026 Minnesota Twins baseball season. We’re just 31 days away from the Minnesota Twins reporting for Spring Training!

Minnesota Twins Uniform Number History

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31 or Jim Perry Days until the Minnesota Twins report for Spring Training to begin another season of Minnesota Twins baseball.

RHP Jim Perry was acquired  by the Minnesota Twins from the Cleveland Indians for LHP Jack Kralick on May 2nd, 1963. He spent parts of 10 seasons in Minnesota and in only one of those seasons did he have an ERA* over 4. It’s difficult to compare modern baseball to baseball in the 60’s & 70’s. His stats show him being a starter most of the time but in his 2nd season with Minnesota, he was clearly a reliever. Why? Stronger rotation? Or did the bullpen need help.

He ended up being one of the best pitchers to put on a Minnesota Twins uniform as he was inducted into the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame in 2011:

Other Minnesota Twins to wear number 31: most recent 3B Jonah Bride (signed w/TEX), RHP Ronny Henriquez, LHP Devin Smeltzer, 1B Tyler Austin, RHP Lance Lynn, OF Oswaldo Arcia,* RHP Alex Burnett, RHP Rick Reed (acquired for OF Matt Lawton), 3B Scott Leius (’91 Champion), LHP Dan Schatzeder (‘87 Champion) and 12 more.

*Oswaldo’s brother Orlando Arcia signed a MiLB deal w/the Minnesota Twins on January 3rd. It includes an invitation to Spring Training.

Minnesota Twins vs Minnesota Gophers in 40 Days on February 20th

3rd Base Coach & former Twins player Tommy Watkins Hired as 3rd Base Coach of the Atlanta Braves. Good Luck to you, Tommy!

We’re 40 Days til the 1st game of Spring Training on February 20th. 18 players have donned jersey number 40. Of those 18, only 3 of them played more than 1 season with it: RHP Juan “Senór Smoke” Berenguer (‘87-’90; ‘87 Champion), OF Marty Cordova (‘95-’99) & OF John Barnes, (‘00-’01).

Who remembers John Barnes? He had a couple great seasons in AAA for the Salt Lake Buzz & the Edmonton Trappers but only played 20 games over 2 seasons with the Twins and never made it back to the Majors. He played 6 more seasons in the minors and played 1,000 games which is kind of cool. Injuries played a role in that, it appears. That’s sad.

There are large gaps where no players wore number 40. Part of that is because it was being worn by a coach. Most recent was 3rd base coach Tommy Watkins who is now a former coach of the Minnesota Twins because he’s been hired to be the 3rd base coach of the Atlanta Braves. Tommy was in the Minnesota Twins organization for 27 seasons so he’ll definitely be missed.

74 Days til Opening Day and a brand new Minnesota Twins baseball season!

Only 4 players have worn 74 for the Minnesota Twins: RHP Josh Winder (‘22-’24), RHP Joe Ryan (‘21), INF Travis Blankenhorn (‘20) & INF Ronald Torreyes (‘19). We’ll focus on Josh Winder because we thought he could turn into a very nice pitcher for the Twins. Unfortunately, shoulder injuries derailed his career since August of 2021. He chose free agency after the 2024 season and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks on January 22nd, 2025 but was released in March due to having Tommy John surgery. That typically requires a 12- to 18-month recovery period for pitchers. 

I’d sign Josh Winder to a minor-league deal with an invite to Spring Training especially if I was running the Twins because they know his history and there’s a need in the bullpen. Signing him would show him you believe he has something to offer. Can he be a reliever? Absolutely… because he has stuff and a history of control with a walks per 9  (BB9) of 2.7 and a strikeouts per 9 (SO9) of 6.9 in MLB but those are 2.4 & 9.6 in the minors. It’s also hard to know how much the injuries affected his results.

RHP Josh Winder College & Minor Leagues Statistics Baseball-Reference.com

Josh Winder – Stats – Pitch & Velo and Pitch Values – FanGraphs Baseball.png

82 Days til Minnesota Twins ⚾ Returns to Target Field on April 3rd!

Only two players have worn 82 and they’re still with the Minnesota Twins. RHP Bailey Ober & OF/2B Austin Martin wore 82 for their MLB Debuts and, coincidentally, they both changed to 16 as their second number. Bailey Ober chose 17 in March of 2022 then the Twins signed RHP Chris Archer so Bailey pivoted to 16 then changed to 17 the next season.

The 2026 MLB season should be huge for both players as Austin Martin looked great once he was healthy last season. 

The time is now and the sky is the limit for the soon-to-be 27-year-old (March 23rd) outfielder.

The Minnesota Twins Traded RHP José Berríos to the Toronto Blue Jays on July 30th, 2021

Thank You, José Berríos (for Austin Martin & Simeon Woods Richardson too). The Minnesota Twins basically replaced José Berríos with Bailey Ober &/or RHP Joe Ryan so… cheaper and arguably better. 

José Berríos signed a 7-year, $131M contract extension with the Toronto Blue Jays in mid-November of 2021. That’s $18M AAV (after the $5M signing bonus). He hasn’t been worth that much. He’s had 7.0 bWAR since the trade. Austin Martin (0.7) & Simeon Woods Richardson (4.0) have been worth 4.7 bWAR and they have played a lot less. Will José Berríos be in Toronto for the next 3 seasons when he reaches free agency in 2029. He can opt out after next season but would he get more than $18M as a free agent? He’ll have to have a great 2026 season and that doesn’t seem likely. 

It sounds like we’re ripping on José but no way… uhh… José! He was a great pitcher for the Twins. His ERA was over 4.00 only once (his rookie season) while he was a Twin. He was a top of the rotation pitcher who had ace-like stuff but could never get over the hump to be   but he wanted to break the bank when he reached free agency and the Twins didn’t want their bank broken so they traded him and it looks like the Twins were right.

Here’s how Bailey Ober compares to José Berríos:

Ironically, José Berríos has only pitched for or against Minnesota in the postseason. He’s never won a game and got the loss in the series-clinching game when the Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023 to break the playoff series winning drought. He allowed 1 run on a walk to Royce Lewis and was pulled with no outs in the 4th inning having thrown just 47 pitches and striking out 5 in 3 innings. The Twins scored their only 2 runs in that 4th inning in a 2-0 shutout victory. 

Sadly, he wasn’t able to play in that incredible Toronto playoff run last season because he had right elbow inflammation. We hope he’s healthy for and has a great 2026 against everyone but the Twins.

See other Countdown & Topic articles here:

32 Days & 33 Days

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See ya tomorrow, TwinsTakers!!!

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