It's Back to the Drawing Board at Shortstop for the Minnesota Twins

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Minnesota Twins spent years and years trying to find a starting shortstop they could trust. A glance through their Opening Day starters over the past couple of decades reveals an endless folly of trial-and-error at one of the sport's most critical positions.

The Twins cycled through players who could field but not hit (Pedro Florimón, Nick Punto). Players who could hit but were clearly stretched defensively at short (Jorge Polanco, Eduardo Escobar). Players who were once-elite defenders but plainly just washed up (Andrelton Simmons, Adam Everett). Players who were ... Jamey Carroll?! We can add "shortstop prospects" like Brian Dozier and Trevor Plouffe to this list as well.

Throughout all these years, fans persistently commented about the over-abundance of shortstops in the system and the team's unflinching tendency to keep drafting them with high picks in spite of it. In retrospect, it's a good lesson on the nature of the shortstop position, and the culling of talent as prospects advance and get pushed to other places by ever-heightening defensive standards.

Since Target Field opened in 2010, the Twins have used eight of their 24 first-round or supplemental first-round draft picks on players who were classified as shortstops: Levi Michael, Nick Gordon, Royce Lewis, Keoni Cavaco, Noah Miller, Brooks Lee, Kaelen Culpepper and now Marek Houston. Some of their biggest international free agency investments over these years have been at the shortstop position: Miguel Sanó, Wander Javier and Danny Andrade to name a few. 

And yet, not until the Twins made their biggest free agent signing in franchise history — by far — to bring in an established star did they finally manage to field a legit two-way shortstop. Despite his four-year stay in Minnesota featuring two half-seasons and much of the worst performance in his career, Carlos Correa still produced the most WAR of any Twins shortstop in the past three decades.

After being salary-dumped to Houston in a shameful roster dismantling at the trade deadline, Correa made an interesting comment to reporters: “I’ve been wanting to play third base for the past couple of years, but it wasn’t happening in Minnesota. We were waiting for a shortstop to come in and now that I get to play third base it would be great for me at this stage of my career.”

It's a silent but damning indictment of Lee, who was once the subject of Correa's immense praise during his first spring camp. No one can deny how promising the former top-10 draft pick looked then, and no one can deny how greatly his outlook has dampened in the two years since. 

With Correa out of the picture, Lee is first to get a crack at the starting shortstop position. Is he up to the task? Right now it looks like the answer is a resounding no. Lee has played about one full season's worth of major-league games (145) and hasn't been bad. He's been awful. Among 280 players with 500-plus PAs the past two years, Lee's .277 wOBA is tied for 22nd-worst and his negative-0.2 fWAR is 16th-worst. 

More disturbing than the poor performance is the lack of any standout skill or trait to build on. Lee can put the bat on the ball with consistency but that is about it, and has no value on its own. He swings at everything. He has no real power, outside of running into a mistake pitch for the occasional home run. He is SHOCKINGLY slow, with a sprint speed on par with Ryan Jeffers. 

Even defense, formerly his most reliable floor-setting skill, has failed him this year: Lee's negative-4 DRS is better than only Edouard Julien and Trevor Larnach among current Twins. Granted, much of that poor glovework came at second and third, but it's not exactly an endorsement of his capability to handle short, where his arm is pretty borderline.

I still believe Lee has some talent, along with a pretty good pedigree and track record prior to 2024. No such player should be written off at age 24 with a mere 500 big-league at-bats under his belt. But as he continues to falter and show the opposite of improvement, the idea of Lee tapping into some perceived upside from his minor-league days has all but vanished. 

My expectation is that Lee will get the rest of this season as regular shortstop to try and give us some reason to believe. It's the right move, and also, they really have no other options. If Lee doesn't show significant improvement, especially with some of his underlying issues, in the final two months I don't see how you could pencil him in as the 2026 starting shortstop, regardless of contention hopes. 

Right now he is not a major-league player. Yes he's young. Yes he was a high draft pick and a good prospect. Yes, the (current) manager seems oddly obsessed with him. These are not reasons to give Lee a free pass to indefinite playing time while he puts forth an offensive profile offering no chance at sustained success. There isn't a path to production when you can't control the strike zone, can't run, and can't hit for any kind of consistent power. With a deteriorating plate approach and a sub-70 MPH bat speed, there's no tangible reason to envision these weaknesses going away.

If Lee is not the starting shortstop in 2026, it's anyone's guess who it might be. The bright side of this whole situation is that the Twins have a pair of intriguing shortstop prospects now rising through the minors in Culpepper and Houston. But, folks, we just went through a litany of once-promising shortstop prospects who all fell by the wayside. I get that Culpepper is red-hot in Double-A and Houston has the freshness factor, but let's take a step back and look at the reality of what it takes to develop a true, MLB-caliber starting shortstop. 

Back the start of the season, I wrote an article raising alarm about the Twins' lack of organizational shortstop depth. "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."

Thankfully, this outlook has improved somewhat with the breakthrough from Culpepper and the drafting of Houston. But there seems to be a widespread overconfidence that one of those two will pan out as an MLB-caliber starting shortstop (of which there are maybe 25 in the world?) and the problem will solve itself. History proves this to be wishful thinking. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but after saying goodbye to arguably their most talented shortstop ever, in return for absolutely nothing, the Minnesota Twins are back to wandering the desert at this position of paramount importance. It's a storyline that will be as central as any other in their efforts to retool and return to contention while steering clear of another prolonged drought.

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[Cory Engelhardt]

Correa even views himself more as a 3b now. Playing SS is hard. 

[Patzky]

Lee is scads better at SS than 2B where many of his gaffes have occured.

[jorgenswest]

Shortstops are expensive. There are few free agent options. It might take a Christian Vazquez type multiyear contract to land Isiah Kiner-Falefa. I would prefer Lee at SS to begin the 2026 season holding the space for Culpepper.

I wish the return for Brock Stewart had been Noah Miller. He would have been a much better fit. They really need a defense first glove behind Lee.

[NYCTK]

The Carlos Correa Twins were a huge flop. It was appropriate to turn the page to the next chapter. 

Eeles is playing a fair amount of SS in the minors, but he's not any better a bet than Lee but could be giving him competition. I imagine they'll bring in a vet capable of playing the position, perhaps a reunion with Farmer or Miguel Rojas, and basically hold a proper try-out in Spring Training. 

I am optimistic about Culpepper and come midseason he'll be in that mix as well. I'm sure there will be a AAAA player like Fitzgerald in that competition as well. But regardless, this is a transition period. 

If the next crop of prospects (Jenkins, Rodriguez, Keaschall, Culpepper, and SP galore) don't figure it out, then nothing was going to make the Twins a contender. For better or worse, the fate of the organization is firmly in that class's hands. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

I agree that it's too early in Lee's career to make final judgments but I think your piece is spot on. I did an Ai search on Lee as a fielder and the consensus was good instincts, strong arm but too slow and not enough agility to become more than a tick above average. That matches what I see. 

Still, he could be a MLB SS if he could hit. That's the real disappointment for me. I thought he would be a better hitter. Right now, he's looking like the UTL replacement for Castro with a better glove and lesser bat. maybe he improves and that changes, but that's my view of what he is right now after 500 MLB ABs.  My hoped for IF next year is  Clemens/FA 1B, Keaschall 2B, Culpepper SS, Lewis 3B, Lee UTL. 

[jorgenswest]

5 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

I imagine they'll bring in a vet capable of playing the position, perhaps a reunion with Farmer or Miguel Rojas, and basically hold a proper try-out in Spring Training. 

I fear that it won’t be a try out if they bring in a vet. I think it will be that vet’s position regardless of how they perform. With Lee, Eeles or Culpepper I am more confident they would use an option and go to one of the other three. They need to bet on the upside of young players next year and risk the downside.

[Mike Sixel]

20 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

Shortstops are expensive. There are few free agent options. It might take a Christian Vazquez type multiyear contract to land Isiah Kiner-Falefa. I would prefer Lee at SS to begin the 2026 season holding the space for Culpepper.

I wish the return for Brock Stewart had been Noah Miller. He would have been a much better fit. They really need a defense first glove behind Lee.

Noah Miller won't hit. At all..

[Mike Sixel]

9 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I fear that it won’t be a try out if they bring in a vet. I think it will be that vet’s position regardless of how they perform. With Lee, Eeles or Culpepper I am more confident they would use an option and go to one of the other three. They need to bet on the upside of young players next year and risk the downside.

Agreed! Stop with veterans that aren't actually good. 

[jorgenswest]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Noah Miller won't hit. At all..

Still would prefer him to Outman.

[NYCTK]

3 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

I fear that it won’t be a try out if they bring in a vet. I think it will be that vet’s position regardless of how they perform. With Lee, Eeles or Culpepper I am more confident they would use an option and go to one of the other three. They need to bet on the upside of young players next year and risk the downside.

Well, those two I named are basically only part time players as it is. I really think Twins fans need to get over this fear that any vet brought in will block young players more deserving. It's a really long season with a lot of playing time to go around. 

Ty France was losing playing time to Kody Clemens of all people, and rightfully so. If Julien or Miranda proved they were worthy of playing time there's no doubt in my mind that France would have lost his job even earlier.

And need I remind everyone how in 2023 the Twins allowed a batch of rookies and second year players to come in, take control of their jobs in the second half and go on a run? 

[Mike Sixel]

Definitely not looking great for Lee so far, but he's much more comfortable on the left side.....

No idea if Culpeper will be good or not, but that's the nature of anyone without years in the majors. He's the most promising SS prospect they've had in years, outside Lee.... I'm just not going to panic yet. 

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, jorgenswest said:

Still would prefer him to Outman.

Fair. I'll never understand that trade. 

[NYCTK]

18 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Agreed! Stop with veterans that aren't actually good. 

I remember people here saying that about Bader...

I don't think the Twins should fully punt the season, and the simple fact is they have some holes. They're better patched with cheap vets than by throwing young players into the fire if they're not ready.

Unless you're ready to just give up on the season, cheap veterans can be very important role players. 

[Linus]

Being an above average SS in the bigs is really hard. Most of the guys that get drafted as a SS never have a chance to truly make it there and their teams know it - they just want the athleticism. Scouts accurately judged Lee from draft day on - he doesn’t have the speed quickness nor throwing arm to be more than passable. He does have the have soft hands and instincts so he would be a good third baseman if he hits. So we are dreaming and hoping on Culpepper but buyer beware he still has to prove it at AAA and the bigs so no guarantees. I want to be excited about Houston because a slick fielding SS is fun to watch and cements a good infield. He’s hitting a little now but that is in low A and he is an older college guy so I think his bat will be in question. 

[USAFChief]

3 hours ago, Patzky said:

Lee is scads better at SS than 2B where many of his gaffes have occured.

Scads better at SS than 2nd?

I'm not sure such a player exists.

SS is harder than 2B.

[Patzky]

3 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

Scads better at SS than 2nd?

I'm not sure such a player exists.

Cole Scads? He's a thing, right?

[Mike Sixel]

9 minutes ago, Linus said:

Being an above average SS in the bigs is really hard. Most of the guys that get drafted as a SS never have a chance to truly make it there and their teams know it - they just want the athleticism. Scouts accurately judged Lee from draft day on - he doesn’t have the speed quickness nor throwing arm to be more than passable. He doesn’t have the have soft hands and instincts so he would be a good third baseman if he hits. So we are dreaming and hoping on Culpepper but buyer beware he still has to prove it at AAA and the bigs so no guarantees. I want to be excited about Houston because a slick fielding SS is fun to watch and cements a good infield. He’s hitting a little now but that is in low A and he is an older college guy so I think his bat will be in question. 

Ya. Houston is playing against less talent than he did in college, so we know nothing about his bat at this point. He should be in high A. 

[Melissa]

Hello? TD admins??

Persistent problem. So, recently on my iPad, there are windows showing ads and another showing a podcast (the Show, I believe) that cover up about a third of the text of one or more paragraphs on the right hand side of Twins Daily articles.

i can’t seem to close or move these blocking windows. Any suggestions?

Also, I thought we Caretakers were supposed to be free of ads.

[Craig Arko]

22 minutes ago, Melissa said:

Hello? TD admins??

Persistent problem. So, recently on my iPad, there are windows showing ads and another showing a podcast (the Show, I believe) that cover up about a third of the text of one or more paragraphs on the right hand side of Twins Daily articles.

i can’t seem to close or move these blocking windows. Any suggestions?

Also, I thought we Caretakers were supposed to be free of ads.

Probably PM Brock.

[Nick Nelson]

29 minutes ago, Melissa said:

Hello? TD admins??

Persistent problem. So, recently on my iPad, there are windows showing ads and another showing a podcast (the Show, I believe) that cover up about a third of the text of one or more paragraphs on the right hand side of Twins Daily articles.

i can’t seem to close or move these blocking windows. Any suggestions?

Also, I thought we Caretakers were supposed to be free of ads.

Looking into this! Sorry Melissa

[Nick Nelson]

The free agents at shortstop this offseason, FYI 

Shortstops

Tim Anderson (33)
Orlando Arcia (31) – $2MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Bo Bichette (28)
Willi Castro (29)
Ha-Seong Kim (30) – can opt out of remaining one year and $16MM
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (31)
Dylan Moore (33)
Kevin Newman (32) – $2.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Miguel Rojas (37)
Trevor Story (33) – can opt out of remaining two years and $55MM

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

The Correa signing in 2023 was the first little domino that brought down the Twins and the Pohlad era. A happy few warned about this back at the time. So, yeah. There were other things, but this was the big one.

[OvertheHill]

10 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

The free agents at shortstop this offseason, FYI 

Shortstops

Tim Anderson (33)
Orlando Arcia (31) – $2MM club option with a $1MM buyout
Bo Bichette (28)
Willi Castro (29)
Ha-Seong Kim (30) – can opt out of remaining one year and $16MM
Isiah Kiner-Falefa (31)
Dylan Moore (33)
Kevin Newman (32) – $2.5MM club option with a $250K buyout
Miguel Rojas (37)
Trevor Story (33) – can opt out of remaining two years and $55MM

DOWN GOES ANDERSON! One of my favorite calls……

[Cris E]

And this problem means this juncture was a particularly rough time to lose Castro.  He was at least a credible stopgap SS in ways that the rest of the roster is not. 

[Old Twins Cap]

I disagree with the premise of this article.

Lee has not played much SS with the Twins because of Carlos Correa, and sorry, it's not like he lit up the baseball world over his three years with the Twins

To my eyes, Lee looks very good at SS, with solid footwork, a good glove and crisp throws.

If he can make it at SS, his BA and power stroke actually stacks up pretty well with the rest of the league.   And he switch hits, so bonus credibility should be applied.

Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater on this one.  Culpepper looks like the future for sure, but the present is all we have and I am hopeful it will be surprisingly skillful.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

Lee’s MLB batting splits are significantly better when he’s at third base, as opposed to second base or shortstop. He only ever played shortstop in the minors, so there’s nothing to compare to there. Small sample, but there’s that. 

[DocBauer]

I guess my opinion is somewhat contrary to Nick's. When Lee was drafted didn't we all sort of know he was questionable as a ML SS and would take all his bat potential and good hands and instincts to 3B or 2B?

Now. I've hardly watched a full game for a couple weeks now...various reasons...and while I recognize Lee's defense seems to have slipped some recently, I've actually thought he's played a much better SS this season than what I was expecting. Unless he improves with BOTH the glove and bat, he's only the temporary SS before moving elsewhere, or to that utility role. It's his bat that has actually disappointed me, not so much his defense. (Despite some bad plays). 

At 24yo and only 500 AB vs what he did in college and MILB, I'm not panicking or giving up yet. It would be a shame if he ends up as "only" a utility player, but he could be a really good one. And there's still value in that. But I think we all know he's the fill-in SS.

How good is Culpepper at SS? What's his ceiling? Does anybody know? But he's absolutely a better athlete than Lee and we have yet to hear anything bad about him. Can he be one of those 25 best in the world? Let's hope so. His skill set is tantalizing. 

Houston might have been as much a need pick as well add BPA. If defense is as good as advertised, he doesn't have to be a Silver Slugger to be an every day SS. 

Yes, it's very hard to find a high quality ML SS who can also provide good offense. I'm just glad we have a pair of young, athletic guys who should be ready in their attempt to secure the position in 2026, Culpepper, and 2027-28 in Houston's case. 

What's going to be most important is not that either performs like a STAR when they arrive, but do they look like they can honestly do the job and then improve over time.

[Dman]

17 minutes ago, Old Twins Cap said:

I disagree with the premise of this article.

Lee has not played much SS with the Twins because of Carlos Correa, and sorry, it's not like he lit up the baseball world over his three years with the Twins

To my eyes, Lee looks very good at SS, with solid footwork, a good glove and crisp throws.

If he can make it at SS, his BA and power stroke actually stacks up pretty well with the rest of the league.   And he switch hits, so bonus credibility should be applied.

Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater on this one.  Culpepper looks like the future for sure, but the present is all we have and I am hopeful it will be surprisingly skillful.

I agree with you.  I think the article is a bit doomy and gloomy.  While I think Lee is OK defensively at short I do agree with the article that Lee's offense doesn't look MLB worthy unless he can tap into more power.  He looks best suited in a utility role at best right now. We'll see if that outlook improves as the season moves on.  Still I think he is a solid option there for now.

I do think Culpepper is the future though. While I don't disagree the jump to MLB from the minors is a huge one, Culpepper does exhibit some traits that bode well for success.  One he can hit balls low in the zone.  Two he can hit for power, three he can steal bases and four he is going to move all the way from High A to AAA in his first pro season so he will be young when he joins the team next year.  Despite the difficulty I wouldn't sell Culpepper short especially after what we have seen from Keaschall who followed a similar track.

 Culpepper's defense will be fine at short maybe not elite, but should be very good non the less.  I think this team has enough at short to stick with the young guys.  The only way this works with a lower payroll is if the kids make it anyway.  Give them a shot and run with it.

[Patzky]

41 minutes ago, OvertheHill said:

DOWN GOES ANDERSON! One of my favorite calls……