The Minnesota Twins' Lack of Depth at Shortstop Is Scary

[Nick Nelson]

 

If Carlos Correa goes down, the Twins could quickly find themselves in dire straits at one of the most critical positions on the field.

Image courtesy of Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

When the St. Paul Saints kicked off their season on Friday night, it was cool to look over their starting lineup and find a series of viable major-league contingency options, almost from top to bottom.

Leading off was Austin Martin, who spent plenty of time with the Twins last year and will almost certainly be called upon this year to help in the outfield or at second base. No. 2 hitter Luke Keaschall is also capable of playing those positions and offers much more offensive upside, coming off an eye-opening spring at the plate. Batting third was Emmanuel Rodriguez, who has a real chance to break into the Twins outfield this summer. From there the lineup went Armando Alvarez (3B), Mike Ford (1B/DH), Jair Camargo (C), Yunior Severino (1B/DH) and Jeferson Morales (2B/OF) – all players who could credibly be viewed as MLB options, if needed, offering ways mitigate a loss at almost any position on the MLB roster. Except for one. 

At the very bottom of the lineup, batting ninth: the Saints' starting shortstop, Ryan Fitzgerald. Ever heard of him? Well, he might currently be third on Minnesota's SS depth chart.

If Fitzgerald were to get the call at some point, it'd be a neat moment for him but an ominous sign for the Twins. He's a 30-year-old undrafted career minor-leaguer who is more of a utilityman than full-time shortstop. Last year, with Kansas City's Triple-A affiliate, he made more starts at both second and third than at short. 

Not the most compelling backup to an injury-prone star at a key position for a big-league team that's trying to contend, but that appears to be where we are at. How'd we get here? It's a combination of skimpy depth and some unfortunately grouped injuries. The Twins front office flirted with the idea of signing a veteran backup shortstop during the offseason, but elected not to, opting to use their available funds on a fourth outfielder, lefty reliever and scrap-heap first baseman. Meanwhile, their internal depth has been eroded by attrition:

• Brooks Lee, who would have been second on the shortstop depth chart behind Carlos Correa, is sidelined indefinitely with a back issue.
• Payton Eeles, who started 21 games at shortstop for the Saints last year in a sensational breakout minor-league season, underwent offseason knee surgery and will likely miss a sizable portion of this season.
• Will Holland, who made 20 starts at short for St. Paul in 2024, also opened the season on the injured list as he recovers from an ankle fracture suffered last year.

All of these players were perhaps stretches to be viewed as MLB shortstops, to some extent. Lee is certainly a capable defender but he flopped offensively as a rookie last year. Eeles and Holland, while both intriguing in their own rights, are not considered top prospects and neither has played much above Double-A. For now, all three are out of the picture, leaving a vacuum behind Correa and Willi Castro on the depth chart. Even Royce Lewis, who could theoretically be an option in a pinch given his background, is unavailable.

 

Castro himself is hardly an ideal safety net behind Correa, both because his functionality as a utilityman is quite valuable (as demonstrated by the fact he's currently starting elsewhere), and because the Twins have openly stated that they prefer not to use him at shortstop. The team says that's because they feel playing there wears him down, but also: Castro rates very poorly at the position defensively. 

And so, the Twins' entire shortstop situation teeters on the health and availability of Carlos Correa — a superstar whose presence is absolutely pivotal, and whose absence could send shockwaves through a team with no real contingency plan. He says he's healthy after being plagued by plantar fasciitis in both feet over the past two years, and he's looked fine in early action despite the early lack of results. Still I'll be wincing extra hard every time he takes an awkward step and grimaces, or jogs slowly down the baseline.

At $37 million, Correa is by far the highest-paid player on the roster, and rightly so. But that price tag also underscores the burden he bears: not just to perform like a franchise cornerstone, but to stay on the field like one. With virtually no reliable backup behind him and the fallback options ranging from untested to impractical, the Twins’ outlook at one of the most important positions in baseball is fragile at best. If Correa falters, so too might the foundation.

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[DJL44]

Danny DeAndrade should be in Double-A. Will Holland is expected to return this season. If there is a problem in the immediate near-term a trade is always a possibility (buy someone else's AAA shortstop for cash).

[Fire Dan Gladden]

Imagine that... A team has injuries to it's backup shortstop, it's 3rd string shortstop, it's probably 4th string shortstop, (not including Willie Castro here), and we are concerned about lack of depth.

Getting smacked by injuries is going to impact institutional health.  If the team is playing 3rd and 4th string guys due to injuries, I expect there to be problems and losses.

Brooks Lee doesn't get injured, there is no article here.  If something happens to Correa, I think finding a no-hit, defensive first SS would be pretty easy and cheap.

 

[bean5302]

5 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Danny DeAndrade should be in Double-A. Will Holland is expected to return this season. If there is a problem in the immediate near-term a trade is always a possibility (buy someone else's AAA shortstop for cash).

I don't even know what's going on with Holland. He played SS in ST, but then got shut down in early March. I'm assuming it was a sprain or something at this point.

Correa -> Castro -> Prato -> Martin is my guess as of today.

[bean5302]

I'm not sure how many viable starting shortstops Nick thinks the average MLB team actually has?

[rdehring]

Interesting, Nick.

Two concerns from your article and my watching, was it yesterday's game?  First concern is Lee.  Wasn't it known that he had back problems coming out of college?  Wasn't last year's absence caused by a back problem?  Love what I hear about this young man's talent and have zero concern with his hitting last year.  My concern is how often he will be injured and how short his career might be.

My second concern was watching Correa jog to first on that ball yesterday.  OK, he might not want to run flat out as fast as possible.  But he sure could have run moderately hard.  Seeing your star run like he doesn't care just doesn't look good.  And that's one of the reasons I was already asking myself if this year is already over?

Keep hearing great things about Winokur.  Can he possibly get here by the middle of next year?

[Danchat]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I'm not sure how many viable starting shortstops Nick thinks the average MLB team actually has?

There is a big difference between a starting shortstop and somebody who can handle the position defensively while likely being a black hole in the lineup. They currently don't have that.

[farmerguychris]

My first thought goes back 3-4 years when people kept complaining about us drafting all these shortstops.

Now we know why as very few ever develop into a pro SS at the MLB level.  

[jorgenswest]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I'm not sure how many viable starting shortstops Nick thinks the average MLB team actually has?

I just looked at the AL Central and I wouldn’t trade our next two in Lee and Castro for any of the other next two. The Royals would probably move over Garcia and after that it is career minor leaguer Cam Devaney  and another player that was rule 5 eligible. The Guardians would probably move over Arias and then it might be Schneeman. In AAA they have players that could have been taken in rule 5. The Tigers have Trey Sweeney and Javier Baez as a very expensive bench piece. They don’t have anything in AAA. The Guardians and Royals would also create a new hole by moving over a starter.

It will be scary to replace Correa. It is probably more scary to replace Witt. The Guardians can’t replace Rocchio’s glove. Teams don’t have two good shortstops. Some don’t have one.

 

[LambchoP]

It's too bad Eeles is hurt, this could have been his chance this year. Wonder what his return to timeline is, same with Keaschal playing the field. After watching the three pathetic offensive clunkers this weekend it sure looks like we're gonna need all the help we can get ...

[DJL44]

3 hours ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

We always can lean on Noah Mill... oh wait.  We could go to Kenoi Car... oh wait. ☹️

Noah Miller is easily obtainable. A few thousand dollars and the Dodgers will give him away.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

2 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Noah Miller is easily obtainable. A few thousand dollars and the Dodgers will give him away.

And, he still can't hit -- just like he couldn't hit when the Twins had him.  Unfortunately, even other-worldy defense (Ozzie Smith level) won't get you a roster spot if you can't hit. 

[saviking]

The way the Twins are playing is what's scary. 

[DocBauer]

While i appreciate the angst in the OP, Castro is not a black hole at SS. And when healthy again...hopefully soon...Lee is solid at SS as well.

How many teams have an All Star caliber SS and can replace him? Maybe the Rangers?

If and when Holland is healthy, he might be #4 on the list if needed in emergency. 

Looking beyond 2024...and I know that's not the point of the OP...DeAndrade will hopefully be ready to go for AA and continue to develop. I think there's a reasonable chance both Culpepper and DeBarge reach AA before seasons end.

But for now, Castro and Lee are the fits. It isn't the same for sure, but how many teams could possibly have a 2nd SS of Correa's caliber sitting in wait?

[Doctor Wu]

16 hours ago, LambchoP said:

It's too bad Eeles is hurt, this could have been his chance this year. Wonder what his return to timeline is,

I'm wondering the same thing. I missed the news that he was hurt and would miss a lot of this season. Bad luck for an interesting player. 

[Althebum82]

I see Julien had his first error of the regular season yesterday at 2B.......this made him the perfect candidate to move over the last inning to shortstop where he made no errors!  Talk about solving two problems with one move, eh?  Although he is so far hitless for the season.....sigh.

[Riverbrian]

The lack of depth at SS is no more scary than the lack of depth at C, 1B, 2B, 3B and CF. 

We may have a development issue. 

[Major League Ready]

36 minutes ago, Riverbrian said:

The lack of depth at SS is no more scary than the lack of depth at C, 1B, 2B, 3B and CF. 

We may have a development issue. 

CF depth looks pretty good to me.  Our back-up (Bader) is gold glove caliber.  Rodriguez is on the horizon and we have three other guys (Keirsey, Castro and Martin) that are decent back-ups in the context of them being a 4th or 5th or 6th option.  

[Riverbrian]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

CF depth looks pretty good to me.  Our back-up (Bader) is gold glove caliber.  Rodriguez is on the horizon and we have three other guys (Keirsey, Castro and Martin) that are decent back-ups in the context of them being a 4th or 5th or 6th option.  

Truth be told... I'm not that worried about depth anywhere and worried about it everywhere at the same time. 

Injuries are going to happen... the team will have to adjust, cover and keep playing through it. Depth will be needed... we will find out if we have it. 

[shimrod]

5 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

We may have a development issue. 

You think? We absolutely have a development issue.