We're Not Talking Enough About Second Base for the 2025 Minnesota Twins

[Linus]

Here is my theory: the Twins want Lee at third and Lewis at second.  Problem is they don’t know if Lee will hit enough to take that spot this year.  So they have Royce ready for both.

[Major League Ready]

5 minutes ago, Linus said:

Here is my theory: the Twins want Lee at third and Lewis at second.  Problem is they don’t know if Lee will hit enough to take that spot this year.  So they have Royce ready for both.

I think them preparing Lewis for 2nd has more to do with the possibility of acquiring a 1B and putting Miranda at 3B.  They have quite a few other options for 2B if Lee does not stick, starting with Castro, Julien, and even Martin with Eeles a possibility as well.

[Linus]

1 minute ago, Major League Ready said:

I think them preparing Lewis for 2nd has more to do with the possibility of acquiring a 1B and putting Miranda at 3B.  They have quite a few other options for 2B if Lee does not stick, starting with Castro, Julien, and even Martin with Eeles a possibility as well.

Disagree.  They tried their hardest not to play Miranda at third last but injuries forced them to.  Castro could play there of course but that takes away his versatility.  And good luck to you if you are handing second base to Julien Martin or Eeles.

[Jacksson]

The critical issues for the Twins for the 2025 season involve the construction and positions of 3/4 of the infield.  Based on the available players, there is a ripple effect on who mans the positions and if moves outside the organization are necessary.

That Stated:

Who's on First?

What's on Second?

I Don't Know is on Third.

[stringer bell]

1 hour ago, Linus said:

Here is my theory: the Twins want Lee at third and Lewis at second.  Problem is they don’t know if Lee will hit enough to take that spot this year.  So they have Royce ready for both.

I think you are right (and I happen to agree), but they probably want to find a permanent position for Lewis. I don’t see any third basemen in the system, so maybe they would leave him at third. 
 

If Lee has a good season, maybe both he and Lewis might be established and the moving parts would be elsewhere. 

[RpR]

9 hours ago, stringer bell said:

 He's smart enough and young enough to come out of it and be a good hitter again.

Then they should bring back Gordon, he is a - much better - fielder than Julien at 2nd base and hit just a well.

But the odds are Julien will follow Gordon's show of skills as time goes on.

That said, with lots of other options at second base, Julien might be moved elsewhere (DH or 1B) where the bar is higher for his offense, so he is really up against it. 

 

DH - more like DK - First Base - lead glove at first, oh my!

Moved -- there are a lots of other teams , hope they find the one that will tolerate him and Maybe he will do a Rooker..

 

[Linus]

24 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

I think you are right (and I happen to agree), but they probably want to find a permanent position for Lewis. I don’t see any third basemen in the system, so maybe they would leave him at third. 
 

If Lee has a good season, maybe both he and Lewis might be established and the moving parts would be elsewhere. 

Yep.  That would be an optimal outcome for this season and future years.

[tony&rodney]

2 hours ago, Linus said:

And good luck to you if you are handing second base to Julien Martin or Eeles.

If one looks at 2024, Eeles might be the most likely to succeed in 2025. If we  look at 2023, Julien is your guy. Julien and Lewis were pretty close to twin successes in 2023 and twin failures in 2024. Spin the wheel and see who you get in 2025. Martin? ..... uh,uh,uh.

Good luck.

[ddubbl1]

First trade Julien to anybody for free sunflower seeds for a year, the dude cost us 5 games in fielding errors last year, not to mention 47 strike 3s he stood and watched fly by. I dont wanna see him in a Twins uniform EVER AGAIN!!

Next. put Ford at first and hope he starts hitting dingers again.

keep Lee and Miranda for backup at 2B and 1B

Castro can be everyday 2B and leave Lewis at 3rd.

Martin can play CF on Buxton rest days hopefully only twice a week. 

find a spare leftie hitting outfielder for swapping with Larnach and Wallner. they can act as DH as well as Miranda. If Mirandas bat goes cold again send him to St Paul. 

Trade Vasqueź for Dylan Cease with Padres and make the catcher from Dodgers Cataya?? the backup for Jeffers. 

Was that so hard???????

still sickened they would not keep Santana- dude hit bombs and was a gold glove..idiots!

[ashbury]

12 hours ago, ddubbl1 said:

Was that so hard???????

Yes. 😀

Quote

still sickened they would not keep Santana- dude hit bombs and was a gold glove..idiots!

Not going to respond line by line, but on this one: the Twins got out-bid by Cleveland, who offered him $12M and he took it.  Would you have gone to $13M to try to retain Santana?  The player does have some say in the matter, once they earn rights to free-agency.

[twinstalker]

You hope we don't get to the point where we're playing Eeles at 2B?  That may not age well when he's making contact with everything and playing a good 2B.

Listen, when everyone was all excited about Julien in spring training in 2023, I was the one saying there are red flags.  Well, one red flag.  If minor league pitchers can strike you out at a high rate, what do you think MLB pitchers are going to do once there's a solid book on you?  And yet people still think he has a chance, even faced with a boatload of evidence otherwise.

There are things I don't know about Eeles.  But from studying his AAA EV charts, I think there's no reason to believe he can't hit the ball hard enough.  He takes a walk and doesn't strike out much.  Yes, he profiles as a utility guy, but I'd much rather have him at 2B than Julien, including his ABs.

[tony&rodney]

20 minutes ago, twinstalker said:

You hope we don't get to the point where we're playing Eeles at 2B?  That may not age well when he's making contact with everything and playing a good 2B.

Listen, when everyone was all excited about Julien in spring training in 2023, I was the one saying there are red flags.  Well, one red flag.  If minor league pitchers can strike you out at a high rate, what do you think MLB pitchers are going to do once there's a solid book on you?  And yet people still think he has a chance, even faced with a boatload of evidence otherwise.

There are things I don't know about Eeles.  But from studying his AAA EV charts, I think there's no reason to believe he can't hit the ball hard enough.  He takes a walk and doesn't strike out much.  Yes, he profiles as a utility guy, but I'd much rather have him at 2B than Julien, including his ABs.

I actually put Payton Eeles as my second baseman for the 2025 Twins on the TD Blueprint Roster. I did trade away Brooks Lee, which was not well received. We won't know whether Eeles can play at the MLB level until he gets a look. Why not Eeles? 

[stringer bell]

IMHO Eeles did what he could in 2024 to earn a shot this year in major league baseball. That doesn't mean he should be penciled in for a role, even less for a starting role. I think minor league production, especially at Triple A, is less of a predictor of major league success than it used to be. Does Eeles have the skills and abilities that translate to MLB? He'll probably get a good look in Spring Training, whether it is on the back fields or in exhibition games. 

Some of the other guys on the periphery like Helman, Keirsey, Gasper and Cartaya will also be watched to see what they have (and don't have). A couple of those guys will be playing for the Twins, perhaps on the Opening Day roster, and that is what makes Spring Training fun. 

Back to the OP, without additions to the roster, my starting second baseman is Brooks Lee, with Willi Castro in the outfield and Trevor Larnach the DH. If Lee is unimpressive this spring, the next shot goes to Julien and Castro is there too.