Even coming off a 103-loss season, the Minnesota Twins don’t have much in the way of position battles heading into 2017. Most of the team is filled with young players who are unproven but have high ceilings. They also have relatively low floors, as was seen with how the team played on the whole last year.
But even still, there are some interesting position battles to break down. Here’s how we handicap them a couple weeks into spring training:
- Backup Catcher
The Candidates: John Ryan Murphy, Chris Gimenez, Mitch Garver
The Breakdown: To be clear, Garver is probably a very, very distant third here and probably not in serious consideration for the spot. He’s drawn good marks for his continued progress behind the plate and did a nice job offensively (.815 OPS) in 22 games at Rochester last season, but he’ll probably draw the bulk of the starts behind the plate down there as he continues his development.
As of right now, it seems like the Twins really, really want to give the role to Gimenez to start the season. Murphy was dreadful last year at every level offensively — but did do a good job behind the plate, for what it’s worth — so it can be spun as justifiable that he needs to go down to Rochester. According to Jeremy Nygaard of Twins Daily, Murphy has one final option year. The Twins will just need to find room on the 40-man roster for Gimenez, which shouldn’t be hard once the bullpen shakes itself out. There are a few guys out there who could be run through waivers. Gimenez is just a career .218/.297/.335 hitter who has caught 24 percent of attempted base thieves, but he’s drawn rave reviews for his work behind the plate and in the clubhouse. He’s also played with both the Indians (twice) and Rangers, so he’s got the Falvey-Levine connection, too.
The Verdict: I’d give Gimenez about a 75 percent shot of cracking the Opening Day roster as the backup catcher.
- Starting Left Fielder
The Candidates: Eddie Rosario, Robbie Grossman
The Breakdown: This shouldn’t be a competition and who knows, maybe it isn’t? But there’s a very real chance that Grossman could put a dent in Rosario’s playing time if recent trends continue. Grossman absolutely throttled lefties last year (.994 OPS) and didn’t embarrass himself against righties (.367 OBP) either, while Rosario continued to exercise the lack of plate discipline that separates him from a real breakout. Pretty much anything could happen here. Grossman is just a career .254/.347/.375 hitter while Rosario was a very highly-regarded prospect, but their recent track records favor the former. Rosario doesn’t have much of a platoon split, so he might still play left against lefties with Grossman getting some DH work — especially in light of last season’s defensive issues — but it’s a fluid situation.
The Verdict: Rosario probably takes the long end of a 60/40 platoon split that doesn’t focus as much on handedness but rather effectiveness.
- Final Bench Player
The Candidates: Ehire Adrianza, Danny Santana, Byungho Park, J.B. Shuck, Drew Stubbs
The Breakdown: As of right now, a likely scenario with the bench is backup catcher, Eduardo Escobar, Grossman and then a fourth player. Each of these players offers something the existing bench doesn’t, so it might be difficult to know exactly how the brain trust is leaning at this point. Adrianza is an elite defender who can handle short but hasn’t hit much (.271 wOBA) in 331 big-league plate appearances. He has shown a little pop at times despite having just a 155-lb. frame. Santana can theoretically play virtually any position and still has his rookie season to fall back on, but that’s increasingly more in the rear-view mirror as time goes on. He’s still young and has plenty of physical talent, but the new guys in the organization aren’t nearly as married to him as Terry Ryan and co. were. Park isn’t on the 40-man anymore but that could be easily remedied, and he could add some serious pop to a bench that, as constructed, won’t have much. Shuck and Stubbs both could offer some defensive versatility in the outfield that Grossman doesn’t — namely, the ability to play center — but how much does that really matter when all three starting outfielders play a capable center field?
The Verdict: Adrianza probably makes the most sense, considering they’ll want to use a late-inning defensive replacement for Polanco or Escobar at short with late-inning groundball guys like Brandon Kintzler in the mix. In fact, don’t be surprised if Adrianza comes in at short and Escobar moves over to third to take over for Sano sometimes.
- No. 5 Starter
The Candidates: Trevor May, Tyler Duffey, Jose Berrios, Ryan Vogelsong, Justin Haley, Adalberto Mejia
The Breakdown: The first four are locked in with Ervin Santana, Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Hector Santiago, barring some sort of move or perhaps a setback in the recovery of Hughes from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. As Mike Berardino has said a few times on the Midwest Swing podcast, it might make sense to send May down to Rochester to make sure he’s entirely lengthened out before giving him one more crack at this thing. Duffey’s long-term future might be as a late-inning reliever unless he develops a changeup, and he could really carve out a role there at some point this year. The organization is obviously still high on Berrios — and for good reason — but sending him to Rochester buys him a bit more time to develop him. Haley probably is more of a fit as a long guy than as a starter. Mejia is basically a ready-made fourth or fifth starter whenever the Twins are ready to use him, but it doesn’t seem likely that’ll be right away. Vogelsong probably gets the nod here as the veteran bridge to someone like May or Berrios, though there’s always the possibility that injuries will pop up as well.
The Verdict: Leaning Vogelsong at this moment, as he’d also have the flexibility to work as a swingman if the team doesn’t need a fifth starter over the first few weeks of the season. The Twins will rightly value someone with that flexibility, as well as someone they can start in any game and any situation without having to worry about composure.
- Closer
The Candidates: Kintzler, Ryan Pressly, J.T. Chargois
The Breakdown: It would be quite a shock for this not to be Kintzler’s job from the jump, but he lacks the ideal stuff teams like in the ninth inning. However, he flat out got the job done last season. His September swoon coincided with Chargois coming on strong, though, and don’t sleep on either of these two other guys to wrangle the job from Kintzler before the season is too old. Kintzler makes a lot of sense putting out fires in the middle innings with his penchant for grounders.
The Verdict: Kintzler to start the year, but probably not to finish it. That’s not a knock on him, either.
- The Final Bullpen Spot(s)
The Candidates: Craig Breslow, Haley, Duffey, Buddy Boshers, Ryan O’Rourke, Taylor Rogers, Michael Tonkin, Mason Melotakis
The Breakdown: Outside of Kintzler, Pressly and Matt Belisle, there isn’t much in the way of ‘givens’ in this bullpen. Rogers should be based on how he pitched last year, but with a new front office and a player with options, these things can be thrown out the window. Boshers and O’Rourke could both be fabulous LOOGY options — the former better in a more expanded role — but a bullpen on the upswing doesn’t need to worry itself with specialists necessarily, either. If a righty can get left-handed hitters out, that’s all that should matter. Breslow has reinvented himself with a new arm slot, and with all the talk between him and Falvey about clubhouse culture, he seems to have the inside track on an Opening Day job. He’s one of the smartest players (people?) in baseball. Haley might get a crack based on being a Rule 5 pick the Red Sox would welcome back with open arms, while Duffey — as previously noted — could harness his high-energy, stewing angsty side in relief with his two-pitch mix that’d play up in smaller doses. Tonkin basically is who he is at this point, though he had extended runs last season where he threw hard and was one of the team’s better options in the pen. Melotakis should be in the bullpen before season’s end, and is an impressive lefty with really good stuff. He might be an option to get batters out from both sides before all is said and done.
The Verdict: A four-man bench would mean a seven-man bullpen. With Kintzler, Pressly and Belisle in, that means four guys from that list make it. Will Glen Perkins be ready? It seems unlikely. For now, we’ll guess….Breslow, Haley, Boshers and….Tonkin? Duffey? What we don’t know yet is how married the team is to certain guys — such as Tonkin — but that last spot will almost certainly be a righty.
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