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There’s not much left for Dallas Keuchel to prove: He’s a Cy Young winner, a World Series champion, a big leaguer for more than a decade. But he admitted that the fun had been missing for him in the clubhouse since the COVID year in 2020 -- nothing against his then-teammates, but more so an indication of his journey and experience with lingering injuries.

But when Keuchel first stepped foot into the clubhouse of the Triple-A St. Paul Saints in June, the fun came rushing back, and that’s how he knew he’d made the right decision -- and that he was in the right place.

Even before the Twins had an opportunity for Keuchel to join the starting rotation in place of the injured Joe Ryan, club president of baseball operations Derek Falvey had noted that Keuchel liked the fit in the organization and with the Twins, a sentiment echoed by the veteran left-hander when he finally got the chance to join the team.

“I'm not looking to take anybody's spot,” Keuchel shared with Falvey before that. “I said, ‘I'm looking to compete and win.’ And I said, 'If I have to opt out, it's no ill will on anybody. I wish you guys the best. I hope Kenta [Maeda] comes back and he does well. I hope Sonny [Gray], Pablo [López], everybody does their thing, still. But I just want to be part of a winning organization. That's why I'm coming back.’”

Why did Keuchel like the fit in Minnesota so much?

He had in mind that when he was first let go by the White Sox last season, the Twins had been one of the teams to approach him -- the fact that they wanted him at that point and still believed he had what it took, even after he’d posted a 7.88 ERA with Chicago.

He likes the transparency and respect in his interactions with Falvey and the Twins’ front office. He likes Target Field, where he has a 3.12 career ERA and started his Twins tenure with five innings of one-run ball on Sunday. He knows the American League Central well from his time with the White Sox.

As a divisional competitor, Keuchel said he always admired the Twins' talent and competitive ability. It helped that Carlos Correa, his teammate on the 2017 World Series champion Astros squad, locked down the left side of the infield, where Keuchel induces many of his ground balls. And finally, he saw a complete pitching staff in Minnesota that he was eager to join.

“Maybe until this year they didn't really put the pitching staff together, but just kind of having some respect and admiration for a lot of the starters here now this year was kind of another bonus,” Keuchel said. “You put a good staff together, it makes you want to be better.”

He knows the Twins will get Ryan back from injury at some point and that they’ll have six starters. But, as Keuchel said, it’s really hard to let go of the winning bug -- and he’s found both that and fun in Minnesota.

“I felt like I was blessed with kind of getting healthy at the right time with a few spots opening with different teams, but I just kind of stayed persistent with wanting to be with the Twins,” Keuchel said. “Like Derek [Falvey] mentioned when he said I was coming up, I told him this was where I wanted to be, and I was going to make plans elsewhere if it wasn’t going to happen.”