Twins in 2025. Settling positions.

[stringer bell]

If 2024 showed anything, it proved that “you never know” rings true more often than not. José Miranda was largely forgotten when the Twins broke camp, Royce Lewis was thought to be on a superstar track and Edouard Julien and Alex Kirilloff were questions only because of health and defense. Add in Brooks Lee with a less-than-overwhelming debut and the infield is closer to “hot mess” than top notch.

The Twins need to sort out who plays first, second and third with Carlos Correa returning at shortstop. It should be noted that none of the infielders listed in this post even so much as 80 games started at a single position. Oh my.

Third base—Miranda played the most innings at third in 2024 mostly because Lewis missed almost the entire first half of the season. Miranda is not a gifted defender, but played defense well enough to be satisfacory. His bat has to be well above average to make him an asset.  Lewis missed a lot of time with injuries and really struggled down the stretch. His defense was so-so due to throwing problems. Lee came up and showed good skills and instincts at the hot corner. After a hot start, he slumped as a hitter. One of these guys needs to claim third base. My hope is that Lewis comes to camp ready to break out again and be a star in ‘25, claiming third base for the rest of the decade.

Second base—Lee could contend here as well. He showed enough range and instincts to project decent defense at second to project him as a regular second baseman  Julien had a dreadful sophomore year, flailing at the plate and showing little improvement in the field. It is way too early to write him off, but he might not start 2025 with the Twins. My pick for primary second baseman to start the season is Willi Castro, until and unless he is needed elsewhere.

First base—Miranda could move to first, more or less permanently if Carlos Santana (or someone else outside the organization) isn’t signed. There is little first base depth on the roster or in the high minors except for the oft-injured Alex Kirilloff. I’m hoping for a Miranda/Kirilloff job share with plenty of DH at-bats. Neither health or performance is a sure thing.

I am not counting on Lee breaking camp with the Twins. There aren’t many sure things in putting together an infield. Hopefully 2025 will provide some answers to the questions that come out of 2024  

 

[Linus]

I largely agree with your assessment- I have no idea who ends rising to the top. I see a very real possibility that Lee starts in AAA and Julien can’t hit enough so Castro is your second baseman. This is why you bring all back for ST - we are likely going to need options. Who know AK might wake up and be the best option at first.