The Minnesota Twins have not only missed the playoffs two straight years, but they haven't made the AL Championship Series since 2002. However, making the right moves this offseason would help make the franchise relevant again.

While the Twins have room for improvement on both sides of the ball, pitching is their primary issue. They finished 24th in baseball with a 4.55 team ERA and tied for 17th with a .707 OPS, per MLB.com. Adding bats wouldn't hurt, but they won't go anywhere without better hurlers.

Here are three moves that Minnesota can make to upgrade the roster this winter:

Sign Lucas Giolito

The bright side for the Twins is that their starting rotation is headlined by two reliable veterans in right-hander Pablo Lopez (5-4, 2.74 ERA across 14 starts in 2025) and right-hander Joe Ryan (13-10, 3.42 ERA in 31 outings). Otherwise, they need upgrades. 

Giolito is an ideal option for the middle of the rotation. The right-hander is on the open market after going 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA over 26 starts for the Boston Red Sox this past season. He bounced back after missing 2024 with an elbow injury.

Giolito has a market value of three years, $61.3 million ($20.4 million average annual salary), per Spotrac. 

Sign Zac Gallen

Gallen is a risky investment as another middle-of-the-rotation option, as he went 13-15 with a 4.83 ERA over 33 starts for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season. However, the right-hander had a sub-4.00 ERA in each year before that besides 2021. His rookie year was 2019.

There's no guarantee that Gallen will regain his pre-2025 form, but signing him isn't any riskier than depending on Bailey Ober, who went 6-9 with a 5.10 ERA over 27 starts for Minnesota this past season. Adding both Giolito and Gallen would give the Twins a promising front four of the rotation heading into spring training, with Simeon Woods Richardson (7-4, 4.04 ERA in 23 outings) as a fifth option.

Gallen has a market value of four years, $74.8 million ($18.7 million average annual salary), per Spotrac.

Extend Joe Ryan

Ryan's arbitration years extend through 2027, per Spotrac, but it would still behoove Minnesota to get him under contract beyond that. The 29-year-old has a career ERA of 3.79 and finished ninth in baseball with a 1.04 WHIP this past season.

The Twins could buy out Ryan's arbitration years and extend him through 2030, ensuring that they have mulitple reliable starting pitchers over the long haul if they executed all of these moves.