Do the Twins Have Offensive Upgrades in the Minors?

[Cody Christie]

Minnesota’s offense struggled during the season’s early games. Let’s look into the minors to see if there are any offensive upgrades and explore how they could get on the roster.

Image courtesy of Rob Thompson, St. Paul Saints

 

The Twins have seen inconsistent performance in the team’s early games this season, which can be expected from many clubs trying to find their regular season rhythm. Last weekend, I reviewed the trend of Minnesota starting slow over the last three seasons with plenty of culprits to blame including cold weather, key injuries, and players being thrust into unfamiliar roles. Thankfully, the team’s offense has shown signs of life in recent games, but they are far from out of the woods. Down on the farm, multiple bats are expected to join the roster in the weeks ahead, but fitting them into the lineup might pose a challenge. 

Brooks Lee, INF
Lee was borderline to make the team’s Opening Day roster before a back injury sidelined him to start the year. Over the last week, he began a rehab assignment with the Saints with the plan for the team to reevaluate his progress at the week’s end. 

“He'll continue to progress as we go over the course of the week,” Twins president Derek Falvey said. “Usually with these, I think we have a better sense of what the next steps are after you have those three, four games under your belt, so we'll see how that tracks this week.”

Lee is no guarantee to be an offensive upgrade, as he struggled during his rookie season with a 64 OPS+ while battling through multiple injuries. His hit tool was touted throughout his amateur career, so many expect his bat to come around at the big-league level. It seems likely that the Twins will take things slow with his return to the field, and he may be optioned to the minors when his rehab stint is finished.  

Emmanuel Rodriguez, OF
Many Twins fans are eagerly anticipating Rodriguez’s debut. He is a consensus top-40 prospect, with Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus ranking him in their top 20 heading into the season. He had three hits in the team’s first game, including a double, but suffered a thumb injury that has slowed him down. He went 1-for-17 in his next 22 PA with five walks and eight strikeouts. Rodriguez has rediscovered his stroke over the last two games by going 4-for-8 with a double and two walks. The Twins will turn to Rodriguez at some point this season, but he will need to find more consistency at Triple-A before he gets the call.  

Luke Keaschall, INF
Outside of Rodriguez, Keaschall is the highest-ranking prospect at Triple-A and is returning from Tommy John surgery that he had last August. In the team’s first nine games, he has gone 7-for-29 (.241 BA) with a double, six walks, and a steal. The Saints have limited him to second base duties to start the year as he works to ensure his surgically repaired elbow is ready for more rigorous defensive positions. Many believe he is a strong candidate to play third base or outfield if his arm bounces back. Even with his strong offensive profile, the club seems more likely to keep him in the minors until he has more defensive flexibility. The Twins currently have other options at second base and DH, and the club would only want to call him up if he had a spot to play on a daily basis. He seems likely to be a call-up candidate in the second half, especially since he isn’t on the 40-man roster. 

Austin Martin, UTL
Martin was one of the surprise names left off the Opening Day roster. The 26-year-old is a former top prospect who played 93 games for the Twins last season with an 89 OPS+. He’s showcased some contact skills in the minors this season with 13 hits in his first 31 at-bats, but he’s been limited to one extra-base hit. On the plus side, he has collected seven walks to help him get on base over 50% of the time. Defensively, he has played in center and left field along with second base. Martin left a game on Thursday after crashing into the outfield wall, which could cause him to miss time.

Jair Camargo, C
Camargo has been an intriguing prospect in recent seasons because of his strong bat and experience as a catcher. Last season, he got a cup of coffee at the big-league level, but the Twins seemed hesitant to use him as a backstop. He’s been an offensive force for St. Paul, starting the year with a team-leading three doubles and seven RBI. The Saints have used him as a catcher in five of his first six games, so there is hope he will continue improving. He seems unlikely to get called up unless one of the regular catchers is banged up.

Overall, Lee will likely be the first player to be called up when his rehab time is over. The Twins need an offensive spark, and his contact skills might help the team to get back on track. Rodriguez and Keaschall are exciting players but likely won’t be called upon until closer to the middle of the season. Martin and Camargo can add major-league depth but aren’t considered offensive upgrades at this point. 

Which player will be the first player called up? Who can help the offense the most? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

 

 

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[bean5302]

The short answer is probably not. There's talent in St. Paul, but finding the right roster moves to get them PA where they could add value is tough at the moment.

[tony&rodney]

2 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

The short answer is probably not. There's talent in St. Paul, but finding the right roster moves to get them PA where they could add value is tough at the moment.

This is the correct answer. The Twins will not plug any of the names from the article in the lineup for 2-4 months of regular (i.e. - every day) plate appearances and live with the results because they believe in the player. That has not been a practice of this front office. Thus they need to figure things out with the current roster for the next couple of months.

[TwinsDr2021]

IMO, quite a few of the teams would give EROD or Keaschall a chance to see what they have, but the Twins are still trying to figure out what the have with Larnach, Juien, Miranda and Lee.

I would put EROD in Left and see what they have but that moves Larnach to the bench and he only has three positions (LF, RF and DH)

[IndianaTwin]

I predict Lee will be the first called up. 😀

[LambchoP]

Mccusker and Morales have also looked good at the plate. Martin was getting on base a lot before getting hurt. I know he doesn't have power, but a high OBP guy with some stolen base speed could be a good table setter at the top of our lineup if he continues to hit well once he's activated. Plus, he's a RH OF which is important to Rocco for some reason lol :)

[Muppet]

Every upgrade waiting in the minors since Buxton and Sano were supposed to be the duo that would lead the Twins for a decade has ultimately been a disappointment. I wouldn't count on this years SPS team to be any different. Something else is broken deep in this system that has led to a decade of next generation talent to flop (yes, even including Buxton, and so far Lewis, though the latter still has a chance to be a difference maker).

[High heat]

Boy this new approach for Larnach looks terrible!  No power and just slapping balls the other way.  Does he think he is Joe Mauer now?

 

Wallner takes big cuts atleast before he gets to 2 strikes and the he appears to adopt that philosophy.  
 

Im not sure Keachell or ERod will be ready before June and usually rookies struggle early.  At this pace we might be out of it by June tho.

 

I would really like to see Camargo get a shot behind the plate.  The Vazquez at bats have gone on to long.

[jkcarew]

I mean…there’s zero chance they are going to commit to any prospect at this time, with the possible exception of Lee, and maybe Keaschall if both Miranda and Lewis continue to flame out.

Nothing’s happening to the veterans on the active roster. There’s a SLIM chance of a fire sale at the trade deadline. We can hope.

The only other chance is an early cleaning of house…which would need to include Falvey.

[TwinsDr2021]

Lets be honest, the Twins only have a couple (hitting) prospects in AA or higher. Jenkins, Erod, Keaschall and maybe Rosario if you believe in him. Everybody else are just minor league filler type guys and not guys that are going to help turn around a team.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

2 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

IMO, quite a few of the teams would give EROD or Keaschall a chance to see what they have, but the Twins are still trying to figure out what the have with Larnach, Juien, Miranda and Lee.

I would put EROD in Left and see what they have but that moves Larnach to the bench and he only has three positions (LF, RF and DH)

Maybe, but probably not a lot of teams who think they are playoff teams.  Rookies usually get a lot of run and make an impact either because they are superstars in the making or because the team has nowhere else to turn.  We’re not there on either front yet.  

[bean5302]

3 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

IMO, quite a few of the teams would give EROD or Keaschall a chance to see what they have, but the Twins are still trying to figure out what the have with Larnach, Juien, Miranda and Lee.

I would put EROD in Left and see what they have but that moves Larnach to the bench and he only has three positions (LF, RF and DH)

Emma is struggling to hold his own in AAA. No power, 40% K rate. Keaschall is at wRC+ 120ish territory, which is about league average if pushed up to MLB, plus he's still proving his UCL is ready for consistent game action. Keaschall isn't considered a plus defender by any stretch, either.

Larnach's expected results are quite a bit better than actual, but it's clear he's not seeing the ball too well. We're talking about April 13th, here. Like 12 games worth of plate appearances. Anything under 80-100 PA is just noise. When guys aren't making stupid mistakes like Miranda made, it's all knee jerk reactions at this point.

[LA Vikes Fan]

Look, I understand we are only 16 games into the season and it's far too early to panic. Having said that, I do think it's becoming increasingly obvious that the current Twins roster has enough pitching to succeed but simply does not have enough hitting or a versatile enough offensive approach to score enough runs competitive. Adding Lewis will help (how much depends on whether we get the first half 2024 or the second half Lewis), but we don't really see much else on the horizon. Lee helps on the defensive side but not so much on the offensive side at least based on his performance last year.

I think were about two weeks away from making what seems to be fairly inevitable decision: this is a retooling/rebuilding year with an outside shot at a playoff spot, not a championship contention year. Seems to me that certain decisions become obvious once you cross that bridge. You need to find a place to play the two real prospects we have in the minors, Keschall and Erod, at the expense of guys like Larnach, Miranda, and Castro. I personally think Julien can hit well enough and you need to keep playing him but it might be as a primary DH with only a couple of days a week in the field. You need to make a decision about whether you want to try to keep Ty France long term and, if not, start to reduce his playing time in the field so that Julien can transition to 1B. Maybe those two are the primary 1B/DH tandem. You need to pitch the starters likely to be here for the long haul, Festa and Matthews, at the expense of Paddack, who is traded or sent to the bullpen. 

In short, it's rapidly becoming time to treat this as a transition year where the only long-term fixtures are Buxton, Correa, Wallner, and Jeffers in the field, Lopez, Ryan, and Ober in the starting rotation, and Jax and Duran ( and maybe Sands) in the bullpen. Let's see if we have some replacements in the system over the next couple of months so we can decide how to handle the trading deadline. The old saw is the first two months the baseball season is to see what you have, the second is to try to fix your holes, and the third to just play. I do think keeping Festa up after his last MLB start and giving Matthews the start tonight is a good first step, particularly if we keep both of them in the rotation while Lopez is out. I think we need to start doing that on the position player side with Keaschall and ERod, and maybe even McCusker and some playing time for Keirsey. Let's see what we have now before we get too far behind to have any hope.

[Karbo]

2 hours ago, LA VIkes Fan said:

Look, I understand we are only 16 games into the season and it's far too early to panic. Having said that, I do think it's becoming increasingly obvious that the current Twins roster has enough pitching to succeed but simply does not have enough hitting or a versatile enough offensive approach to score enough runs competitive. Adding Lewis will help (how much depends on whether we get the first half 2024 or the second half Lewis), but we don't really see much else on the horizon. Lee helps on the defensive side but not so much on the offensive side at least based on his performance last year.

I think were about two weeks away from making what seems to be fairly inevitable decision: this is a retooling/rebuilding year with an outside shot at a playoff spot, not a championship contention year. Seems to me that certain decisions become obvious once you cross that bridge. You need to find a place to play the two real prospects we have in the minors, Keschall and Erod, at the expense of guys like Larnach, Miranda, and Castro. I personally think Julien can hit well enough and you need to keep playing him but it might be as a primary DH with only a couple of days a week in the field. You need to make a decision about whether you want to try to keep Ty France long term and, if not, start to reduce his playing time in the field so that Julien can transition to 1B. Maybe those two are the primary 1B/DH tandem. You need to pitch the starters likely to be here for the long haul, Festa and Matthews, at the expense of Paddack, who is traded or sent to the bullpen. 

In short, it's rapidly becoming time to treat this as a transition year where the only long-term fixtures are Buxton, Correa, Wallner, and Jeffers in the field, Lopez, Ryan, and Ober in the starting rotation, and Jax and Duran ( and maybe Sands) in the bullpen. Let's see if we have some replacements in the system over the next couple of months so we can decide how to handle the trading deadline. The old saw is the first two months the baseball season is to see what you have, the second is to try to fix your holes, and the third to just play. I do think keeping Festa up after his last MLB start and giving Matthews the start tonight is a good first step, particularly if we keep both of them in the rotation while Lopez is out. I think we need to start doing that on the position player side with Keaschall and ERod, and maybe even McCusker and some playing time for Keirsey. Let's see what we have now before we get too far behind to have any hope.

I've got Ryan starting tonight

[1985Fan]

I don’t think Jeffers is a keeper at catcher. I watch him miss foul pop-ups 20 ft from home plate, miss balls in the dirt, and he doesn’t have success throwing out runners. On top of all that, he positions himself with his throwing hand exposed and tried to catch a ball with it instead of blocking it, and now he has a thumb injury again. I was taught in little league to keep your throwing hand behind your back and not to reach for the ball with it. Use your body to block pitches in the dirt. Jeffers is not a major league catcher. He’s not hitting the ball either, so it’s time to move on from him. Give Camargo a chance. Can’t be worse than Jeffers. Wait, the player development in this organization has been sending players to the majors with serious defensive flaws. The system is broken. What a far cry from the past when pitching and defense were the hallmark of the Twins. Not anymore with Falvey in charge. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

1 hour ago, Karbo said:

I've got Ryan starting tonight

You're right. It looks like they kept Festa up and did not call up Matthews, at least not yet. Matthews hasn't pitched in St. Paul for a week since their earlier plan was to call him up for tonight. Wonder if he will go for the Saints tomorrow. If not, there may be a plan afoot to get him up to the MLB level soon. 

[Danchat]

26 minutes ago, 1985Fan said:

Give Camargo a chance. Can’t be worse than Jeffers.

Can't be worse than Vazquez at the plate!

[RpR]

41 minutes ago, Danchat said:

Can't be worse than Vazquez at the plate!

With a bat , maybe, squatting behind , black hole, although, Vazquez is not what he was either.

[DocBauer]

Lee is up and I can understand if he's limited for the first week or so to back to back games but not 3 in a row. But he needs to be in the lineup daily as soon as they feel comfortable doing so. And as I stated in a different OP, play him daily, bat him low in the order, and let him figure it out over time. He doesn't have anything to prove at AAA and thr basic eye and hit tool are there. It's time to give him a long run.

With all due respect to those who wanted Rodriguez to get an opening day spot and just run with him...similar to my mention of Lee above...he still missed a lot of time last season and had his ST interrupted. I think he's a pretty special talent, but he's still young and figuring some things out. He's probably never going to be a GREAT hitter, but a decent one, with a lot of BB and 30 Dbl and 20/20 HR/SB ability with good defense. He's just not ready YET. As young as he is, that's not a bad thing. 

Keaschall is a very good athlete and a primary 2B by trade. He's athletic enough to play some OF as well. The fact that he's been used some at 1B to save his arm is not a bad thing. His bat should absolutely play at the ML level, and possibly fairly soon. But the organization is taking it a little slow to build up his arm. Meanwhile he's off to a solid start.

Again, it's OK to give Lee a long run at this point, enjoying his glove while he adapts and "figures it out" with the bat. And it's if Rodriguez and Keaschall need a little more time. There's enough bats at the ML level that need to get untracked right now. But it sure is nice to see Julien start to make strides. Considering his bat in college, MILB, and his rookie 2023 season, it would be crazy to give up on him after a bad 2024.

It's POSSIBLE Rodriguez and Keaschall do what Wallner, and Julien did in 2023 and raise the offense in the 2nd half of 2025. But again, there's enough talent on the current Twins to be a hell of a lot better than they have been so far.

Camargo is looking early much more like the good and powerful bat he was for St Paul in 2023. He's got a strong arm for CS%. If he was truly SO BAD calling games, or defensively, then why has he been protected? With all due respect to Vazquez, a quality person, teammate, and experienced backstop, it would probably be hard for Camargo to be so bad that he couldn't match Vazquez, or improve upon, offensively. But there has been a stubbornness in not letting him get a chance that I don't understand. 

But I'm going to take this 2 steps further.

Unbeknownst to us until fairly recently, Eeles had a knee surgery that I believed involved a cartilage repair. Still have no clue how serious this was. But it does explain him not being invited to ST. (Why are the Twins so tight lipped about injuries?). IF what he had was a major surgery, his season is somewhat in doubt. But IF it was a much more mild orthoscopic procedure, he might be rehabbing even now and be ready by the 2nd half to be a sparkplug option.

It really stinks for Martin that he got off to a strong start only to be injured. I really hope he's not out for an extended time. Because he really NEEDS time to provide at least SOME kind of pop/power in his game, along with improved defense, because he can't survive at the ML level just stroking a few singles and hoping for the occasional BB.

But I think McCusker should also be mentioned. Simply put, he was a drafted player who washed out, went to Independent Ball, and was signed by the Twins. I fully understand he's almost 27yo. But in 2 seasons with the Twins in his "rebirth" he reached AAA. And in 24 games and 98PA, he had an .820 OPS. It's a SSS to be true. And he might just be an older player who got his game together late but still isn't a ML caliber ballplayer. And it's ONLY 10 games in the 2025 season, but his quad slash line so far is .265/ .375/ .529/ .904. He is probably only an interesting AAAA player. Despite a reportedly good arm, he's considered average at best defensively. He K's too much, but does take some BB, and he has power that rivals Wallner. But if he keeps improving and raking at the AAA level, shouldn't he be considered as a RH power bat at some point? A late blooming 5th OF/DH with his potential offensive contributions shouldn't be ignored, IMO. I'd rather see Rosario take that part a year or so from now, but I don't think you should just ignore a late blooming power bat who might be a good role player.

Yes, the Twins have some bats at St Paul who MIGHT make a difference yet this season. But there's a couple others that shouldn't be ignored.

But right now, it's getting the bats on hand to start playing up to their abilities before it's too late!

[twinstalker]

Keaschall is the only guy ready who's an upgrade.  Period.

[dxpavelka]

20 hours ago, TwinsDr2021 said:

IMO, quite a few of the teams would give EROD or Keaschall a chance to see what they have, but the Twins are still trying to figure out what the have with Larnach, Juien, Miranda and Lee.

I would put EROD in Left and see what they have but that moves Larnach to the bench and he only has three positions (LF, RF and DH)

They have no DH so that is fine. 

[saviking]

20 hours ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

Maybe, but probably not a lot of teams who think they are playoff teams.  Rookies usually get a lot of run and make an impact either because they are superstars in the making or because the team has nowhere else to turn.  We’re not there on either front yet.  

Yet

[Twins63]

"McCusker, McCusker, he's our man. If he can't do it, no one can!"📣📣

[tony&rodney]

17 hours ago, DocBauer said:

But I think McCusker should also be mentioned. Simply put, he was a drafted player who washed out, went to Independent Ball, and was signed by the Twins. I fully understand he's almost 27yo. But in 2 seasons with the Twins in his "rebirth" he reached AAA. And in 24 games and 98PA, he had an .820 OPS. It's a SSS to be true. And he might just be an older player who got his game together late but still isn't a ML caliber ballplayer. And it's ONLY 10 games in the 2025 season, but his quad slash line so far is .265/ .375/ .529/ .904. He is probably only an interesting AAAA player. Despite a reportedly good arm, he's considered average at best defensively. He K's too much, but does take some BB, and he has power that rivals Wallner.

I think I have seen every plate appearance this season of McCusker's. He still has some work to do on pitches  out of the strike zone. He hits the ball as hard or harder than Wallner. He is a decent base runner as well for his size. Defensively he gets relatively fair jumps and covers ground. I would say he is better than Larnach and maybe. better than Wallner in the outfield, so close to average. No doubt McCusker is worth paying attention to but he is not ready yet.