The Twins are not listening to the outside noise.
The Minnesota Twins head into the 2026 season with more questions than answers and a whole lot of people counting them out before they even take the field.
After finishing 70-92 last year and losing ace Pablo Lopez to Tommy John surgery on the first day of spring training, the outside world has written this team off as one of the worst in baseball, with betting odds having their over/under at just 72.5 wins.
Starting pitcher Bailey Ober could not care less about any of that.
A Strict Message
In a conversation with The Athletic, Ober, now the Twins' fourth-longest tenured player, offered a blunt take on how the clubhouse feels about all the outside chatter.
"I don't think our guys really give a s---," Ober said. "We're just going to go out there and go play. I don't think anyone is (worried about) what everyone is saying about us. Each person has a job and each person is going to try and execute to the best of their abilities. (Those) guys know what they need to do to be successful and they've done it. Now, it's being consistent and having confidence and playing hard."
That confidence carries weight when you consider just how much has gone wrong before the season has even started.
Lopez's UCL tear robbed Minnesota of its best arm, and David Festa followed with a shoulder injury that will keep him out through at least the early part of the season.
Joe Ryan dealt with back tightness that pulled him from his first spring start, and Royce Lewis was scratched from a game with right-side tightness, which sent a wave of anxiety through the fan base given his injury history.
Both of those scares turned out to be nothing serious, but the fact that the Twins were holding their breath that often in February and March tells you everything about the thin margin this team is operating on.
A New Voice at the Top
First-year manager Derek Shelton has been preaching a "hunt the good" mentality since he arrived, and the message has taken hold with a roster that is younger and hungrier than most people realize.
Shelton flew to meet Lewis personally after being hired to let him know how important he is to the franchise, and players throughout camp have talked openly about wanting to prove people wrong.
GM Jeremy Zoll pointed to the rotation depth behind Ryan and Ober and called it a real opportunity for someone to step up, even with Lopez gone.
The Twins open the regular season on March 26 in Baltimore, with Ryan expected to take the mound on Opening Day.
Ober slots in behind him as the No. 2 starter, and the rest of the rotation is rounded out by Taj Bradley, Simeon Woods Richardson, and Mick Abel, who has been the most impressive arm in camp with 17 strikeouts and just one walk across 13.1 spring innings.
Byron Buxton, fresh off an All-Star campaign and the World Baseball Classic, remains the cornerstone of this lineup, and second-year second baseman Luke Keaschall hit .377 this spring with legitimate power.
The Path Forward
Nobody expects the Twins to run away with anything.
But inside that clubhouse, the belief is real, and Ober's words show a group that has tuned out the projections and is focused on playing the game in front of them.
Whether that translates into wins remains to be seen, but Minnesota is not going quietly into this season.