The Twins Infield Now and 2026

[strumdatjag]

       Now.                   2026

1B  Clemons.              Jenkins, Latnach, FA

2B. Keaschall.            Keaschall 

SS.   Lee.                     Lee

3B.   Lewis.                  Lewis

Ut.    Julien, Gaspar                  ?????  
 

I expect better ideas than this. 

[lecroy24fan]

Jenkins not a 1B. Sabato should get a callup now to see what he can do.

[IndyTwinsFan]

1 minute ago, lecroy24fan said:

Jenkins not a 1B. Sabato should get a callup now to see what he can do.

Agreed.  After this fire sale, why not give him a shot?

[RIP BYTO]

We witnessed the Minnesota Twins burned to the ground today, and who’s left standing? …..the guy that lit the match……Baldelli

[Richie the Rally Goat]

13 minutes ago, RIP BYTO said:

We witnessed the Minnesota Twins burned to the ground today, and who’s left standing? …..the guy that lit the match……Baldelli

I don’t really get this. Do you think Baldelli had a significant decision in this?

because this to me ensures Baldelli is getting fired on October 1

[DocBauer]

They HAVE to find a solid, competent 1B who's bat is ML quality. Clemens has the POTENTIAL to be a decent utility player if he can possibly replicate what he's done this season. A blurb? Or did he find a home the way Castro did?

Unless someone is moved to 1B, it will have to be via trade or FA.

One of the issues the team has is depth considering Schobel was having a great turnaround season and then got hurt. Unless you want to rush him...which I don't want to do...Culpepper is probably a couple months of AAA time away from helping. And there's a couple others to name that aren't ready yet. 

IF the turnaround Julien has had at AAA this season is remotely real, he could be a LH PH/DH/2B. He's certainly going to get a chance over the next 2 months to see if he can be an actualy contributor, or, was he just a flash in the pan?

Still on the 40 man are Fitzgerald and Miranda. Fitzgerald is a nice AAAA player to have around, but he's no answer. Miranda MIGHT get another shot ONLY DUE to the past and being on the 40 man. But if we're cleaning house, it's the perfect opportunity to get Eeles some ML time! He's still relatively young, had a tremendous 2024, and while the power/pop hasn't really shown up yet, he's rebounded nicely from his knee surgery to put up good numbers this season.

The KEY for the INF is SOMEONE to be a solid 1B with a quality, productive BAT. Again, Clemens MIGHT be a solid bench option. And FA should allow some decent, solid veteran addition for a couple $2-4M to fill an additional role on a 1yr deal.

The SECOND KEY is Lee. He's an OK, functional SS who makes the basic plays. Not close to Correa quality, but acceptable until a more athletic player like Culpepper is ready. But how does his BAT play? He's still got the POTENTIAL to be a very solid ML bat with XB and some HR power. Can he stop swinging for weak contact? Can he take a few more BB? These next 2 months are VERY important for his development getting ready for 2026.

Losing Correa...which is a whole different discussion...doesn't mean the 2026 INF has to be poor. If the younger than Buxton Lewis can finally have some good health, 3B is fine and the offense gets a major jolt. Keaschall will be a work in progress defensively with all the time he's missed, but he has the potential to be very good offensively. But they need Lee to take a step forward, and they need to find someone at 1B who can be an actuall offensive contributor somewhere in the middle of the lineup.

[DocBauer]

39 minutes ago, lecroy24fan said:

Jenkins not a 1B. Sabato should get a callup now to see what he can do.

He once again has to be added to the 40 man or made available for the rule 5 draft. It was an easy call to not protect him after last season. He's not exactly destroying AAA at this point, but is doing OK. Not as good as he was doing at AA, but OK. Honestly, he might be safe to leave off the 40 man yet again.

But at this point, with France gone, I agree that he should at least get a shot. As poor and disappointing as Miranda has been, why not give a former 1st round pick a shot to see if you get lucky?

I'm just out on Miranda at this point. He should be dominating AAA, or at least good. And he's not even close to good at this point. Just so disappointing. 

[RIP BYTO]

42 minutes ago, Richie the Rally Goat said:

I don’t really get this. Do you think Baldelli had a significant decision in this?

because this to me ensures Baldelli is getting fired on October 1

I'm not saying he had a decision in this.  I'm saying his incompetent managerial skills is what led the Twins to burn it all down 

 

[Vanimal46]

1 minute ago, RIP BYTO said:

I'm not saying he had a decision in this.  I'm saying his incompetent managerial skills is what led the Twins to burn it all down 

 

Not sure that’s fair to him. I would have never brought him back for 2025 after last season’s epic collapse for the record. But the players did this to themselves. They’re professional athletes and played lifeless baseball from the get go this season. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

5 minutes ago, RIP BYTO said:

I'm not saying he had a decision in this.  I'm saying his incompetent managerial skills is what led the Twins to burn it all down 

 

It’s a factor, sure. Probably not the decider though.

[Vanimal46]

As far as the topic at hand… Here’s my rough guess at a lineup for the next week or two…

C - Jeffers 1B - Sabato 2B - Clemens SS - Lee 3B - Lewis LF - Larnach CF - Buxton RF - Wallner DH - Keaschall

By Sept 1…

Jeffers - Clemens - Julien - Lee - Lewis - Rodriguez - Buxton - Larnach - Keaschall 

I assume Keaschall will be extremely limited throwing and play mostly DH. 

[DJL44]

Julien should be up immediately.

[Blyleven2011]

3 hours ago, strumdatjag said:

       Now.                   2026

1B  Clemons.              Jenkins, Latnach, FA

2B. Keaschall.            Keaschall 

SS.   Lee.                     Lee

3B.   Lewis.                  Lewis

Ut.    Julien, Gaspar                  ?????  
 

I expect better ideas than this. 

I can't give you better ideas right now , the roster only has 14 players listed ,,,

Before game time tomorrow they have to come up with 12 more players for 26 man roster ...

[Recognize]

1 hour ago, IndyTwinsFan said:

Agreed.  After this fire sale, why not give him a shot?

Whoever is moderator just 86d me from a real conversations. Why

[strumdatjag]

Sabato was the only thing I didn’t think about.  I split a season ticket and will go to a few more games with blinders on. 

[BiggestRoccoFan]

4 hours ago, RIP BYTO said:

I'm not saying he had a decision in this.  I'm saying his incompetent managerial skills is what led the Twins to burn it all down 

 

That and the younger Pohlads all being terrible businessmen in their other ventures.

[BiggestRoccoFan]

Just now, BiggestRoccoFan said:

That and the younger Pohlads all being terrible businessmen in their other ventures.

And letting Joe touch the team. That is the biggest mistake out of all of this mess.

That dude could screw up the Dodgers if they would let him.