The Twins made a series of roster moves on Friday morning, hours before the deadline to tender arbitration-eligible players a contract for the 2026 season, first acquiring catcher Alex Jackson, who was a candidate to be non-tendered by the Baltimore Orioles, in exchange for minor league utilityman Payton Eeles.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Jackson, the Twins designated outfielder DaShawn Keirsey Jr. for assignment. Keirsey spent much of the 2025 season in the majors but played sparingly, primarily appearing in games as a defensive replacement or pinch runner.
Jackson, once the sixth overall pick in the 2014 draft, has played parts of six seasons in the majors for five different teams. Last year, he played in 36 games for the Orioles, hitting .220 with a .763 OPS with five home runs and eight RBIs.
The Twins have employed a catching split for the past three seasons between Ryan Jeffers and Christian Vázquez. But with Vázquez now a free agent, Jeffers is likely to step into a bigger role and Jackson serves as a potential backup. Eeles, 26, was signed out of independent ball and has yet to reach the majors after spending much of the past two seasons at Triple-A.
Additionally, the Twins agreed to terms with reliever Justin Topa, who was arbitration-eligible.
They have until 7 p.m. to tender contracts to the rest of their arb-eligible players or non-tender them, which would make them free agents. That list includes Jeffers, Bailey Ober, Joe Ryan, Cole Sands, Royce Lewis and Trevor Larnach. Larnach, who is due a projected $4.7 million per MLB Trade Rumors, is the biggest question mark of the group.
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