3 Position Players Minnesota Twins Could Select in Rule 5 Draft

[Cody Schoenmann]

Image courtesy of © Rick Cinclair/Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

 

Late Tuesday afternoon, organizations had to set their 40-man rosters, forcing club decision-makers to decide which prospects to protect from Rule 5 Draft eligibility. The Minnesota Twins protected six players, bringing their 40-man reserve list to its capacity.

All six players could impact the major-league club in some capacity next season. Yet, Minnesota could add more young, high-upside reinforcements to its roster during the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 10, with hopes of them becoming immediate contributors with the parent club. Minnesota is more likely to select a young pitcher, since the easiest path to the Opening Day roster for a newcomer would be in the bullpen. However, that doesn't mean they won't target a position player. Which could they select, if the right chance arises?

Andrew Pintar
One of the many talking points new Twins manager Derek Shelton emphasized in his introductory press conference was that the Twins will prioritize speed and defense. Miami Marlins prospect Andrew Pintar embodies those traits. He's an above-average defensive center fielder with near-elite speed. The 24-year-old was serviceable at the plate in Triple A last season, hitting .269/.338/.384 (good for a 99 wRC+) over 384 plate appearances. He also has some pop in his bat, with a 105.4-MPH 90th-percentile exit velocity. Pintar lacks in-game power, however, as he hit only four home runs last season. His hard-hit balls had an average launch angle of 7°, much lower than the league average, so not all of his exit velocity translated into concrete value. Still, the right-handed hitting prospect is an intriguing gadget outfielder who could provide plus value in the field and on the bases. 

Blaze Jordan
Surprisingly, the St. Louis Cardinals elected to leave first base prospect Blaze Jordan unprotected. Jordan has received more accolades and attention than he deserves during his minor-league career, thanks to his cool-sounding name. Still, the former top Boston Red Sox prospect could develop into an above-average major leaguer, making him an intriguing candidate for the first base-deficient Twins.

Traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for left-handed pitcher Steven Matz at last season's trade deadline, the 22-year-old failed to impress his new organization, hitting .198/.242/.366 with a 53 wRC+ over 186 plate appearances with Triple-A Memphis. On the other hand, the right-handed bat generated a strong first half with Boston's Triple-A affiliate, hitting .298/.341/.480 with a 115 wRC+ over 182 plate appearances. Jordan is a solid hitter for contact with superb zone control, who also hits the ball hard. That being the case, Minnesota could be tempted to poach the right-handed hitter, with intentions of turning him into the long-term solution at the position.

T.J. Rumfield
Spending the better part of the past two seasons with the New York Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, Rumfield has ascended into one of the best pure hitters in the high minors, slashing .289/.372/.454 with a 120 wRC+ over a combined 1,061 plate appearances. He sported an above-average 11.9% strikeout rate last season. The 25-year-old hits for contact and power, with an above-average maximum exit velocity and near-elite zone swing rates.

The left-handed hitting first baseman pulls the ball in the air a lot, a skillset understandably preached by the Yankees' hitting development staff. Still, given how often he makes hard contact, his extreme pull profile would translate well to Target Field. Minnesota is in dire need of young hitting talent. Rumfield is arguably the most talented hitter Minnesota could add to its 40-man roster, while playing a position of need. The Twins haven't selected a position player in the Rule 5 Draft since Alejandro Machado in 2006. Yet, Rumfield possesses an intriguing enough skill set that the front office should consider breaking the 19-year trend.

 

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[DJL44]

I am surprised the Yankees didn’t trade some of the players they have left unprotected.

[stringer bell]

Interesting profiles. The bulk of the Twins’ projected best hitters are RH (Buxton, Keaschall, Jeffers Lewis), but the best prospects hit lefty (Jenkins, Rodriguez). Adding a solid hitter to play first would improve the offense measurably.

Pintar sounds a lot like Austin Martin, but maybe with a better glove. 

[old nurse]

Yup, the Twins need more OF prospects because these are so much better than the 7 they have. 

Can’t argue with looking at a 1B. It would have been nice if Cody could have raved about Jordan’s defense. I suppose having 2 gold glove 1B  shows the Twins know how to coach up defense 

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

“Rumfield is arguably the most talented hitter Minnesota could add to its 40-man roster, while playing a position of need.”

The blurb doesn’t say anywhere what position he plays…

[Jeff K]

Pintar is a definite no as we already have prospects that might be better.  Jordan and Rumfield look very interesting and I think it would make sense to try and grab one of them.  The twins situation at first base in frankly  in dire need of help.  Julien is not a major league player and Clemens is best as a twice a week utility player.

[jorgenswest]

Alan Roden was a much better hitter than any of these three in the minors. He has played all three spots in the outfield and first base. He is the same age as Rumsfeld. He wasn’t very successful after 40 plate appearances with the Twins. Maybe we should move on. 

The best fits for a rule 5 pick up is a utility player with speed that can play shortstop or a catcher to compete with Jackson. If there is a first basemen out there with a minor league wRC+ in the Roden range (151, 138, 150 the last three years) they should give him a look. 

[Cody Schoenmann]

12 minutes ago, whosafraidofluigirussolo said:

“Rumfield is arguably the most talented hitter Minnesota could add to its 40-man roster, while playing a position of need.”

The blurb doesn’t say anywhere what position he plays…

i was planning to hide his position from the masses but you caught me :( 

no, i’m just playing, that’s my bad. he’s a left-handed hitting first baseman. i just added that into the piece. thanks for catching that. 

[Rufus]

The 40 man is full, I don't think they will be picking anyone

[thelanges5]

3 minutes ago, Rufus said:

The 40 man is full, I don't think they will be picking anyone

Gasper, McCrusher, Pereda, Julien, Kreidler, Fitz - they have DFA options if they need the room. 

[Nashvilletwin]

57 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

Interesting profiles. The bulk of the Twins’ projected best hitters are RH (Buxton, Keaschall, Jeffers Lewis), but the best prospects hit lefty (Jenkins, Rodriguez). Adding a solid hitter to play first would improve the offense measurably.

Pintar sounds a lot like Austin Martin, but maybe with a better glove. 

Except Pintar hasn’t spent a couple of years being screwed up by his coaches trying to change his launch angle. 

[LambchoP]

Twins need first base depth, I'd take a chance on Blaze or the Yankees guy. Gasper, Kreidler, Mccusker, Julien....any of these guys are easy DFA candidates to open up a couple roster spots. We're going to need a couple openings at least for our bullpen.

[High heat]

Andrew Pintar is most interesting but you already have Outman and Martin and Roden who are all out of options and likely better today.

 

I was hoping for Creed Willems, a LH hitting catcher with big power and a big arm behind the plate.  With the addition of Jackson I think they would only take Willems if they knew Jeffers was gone.

[FlyingFinn]

The Twins won't pick any position players. They will pick a pitcher and I like the Larnach for Steer type of trade with Steer playing 1b.

[sweetmusicviola16]

I'd prefer taking two guys in the Rule 5. A RP in round 1 and one of these guys in round 2. This is what teams in the Twins position do.

[jjswol]

Why not? high reward for a low risk. Twins would be fools not to take a shot at Rule 5.

[DocBauer]

No. 

I'd be somewhat interested in Rumfield, but the odds of getting an above average starting player from the rule 5 is very remote.

But if there was a SS/Utility option that actually had a chance to stick, that would be of interest. No offense to him, but Fitzgerald is the best option for that role right now?

Otherwise, if they want to use the rule 5, a strong armed pen option would make more sense than the options listed here.

[twinstalker]

There must be something wrong with Blaze Jordan.

His slash, age, and K rate project well.   He struggled at AAA after the trade, but he'd hit well AAA for Boston.  He was 22 with a .928 ops and 11% K rate at AA and Bos AAA was .820 and 10.5%.  His K rate after the trade AAA was 12% with a low BABIP.  Nothing says star or anything, but he should be a legit player, unless...

...there are other issues we don't know about.  It could be as simple as defense, it could be extracurricular stuff, I suppose.  

Pintar strikes out way too much for his age and level.  Rumfield simply hasn't hit well enough for age/level in those Yankee bandboxes.

Blaze is interesting but a Rule V has to start and end in the majors.  He's not ready, so we'll see if the Twins have totally given in to the mockery of what they've become.

[mikelink45]

Take them all - its not like we have HOF players at any position.  Take them, try them, cut them. Who cares - its low price for the budget basement Twins.

[Mike Sixel]

Nope. Certainly not any OF. No way. 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

This has less to do with talent and more to do with money. The penny-pinching Twins won't spend the $100k to risk on a player that most likely they will not keep.

[LyleCole]

I would take TJ Rumfield and just pencil him in as the starting 1B to begin the 2026 season.  Why not.  What other 1B options do we have?  I understand he isn't a platoon guy to use with Kody Clemens, but Kody can get ABs at other positions too, and both can be DHs.

Give Rumfield 80-110 games to preview what he has.   The downside is $50,000.   The upside is a player that can contribute.   

 

[Mike Sixel]

1 minute ago, LyleCole said:

I would take TJ Rumfield and just pencil him in as the starting 1B to begin the 2026 season.  Why not.  What other 1B options do we have?  I understand he isn't a platoon guy to use with Kody Clemens, but Kody can get ABs at other positions too, and both can be DHs.

Give Rumfield 80-110 games to preview what he has.   The downside is $50,000.   The upside is a player that can contribute.   

 

Roden. He's played some first. But I wouldn't be too disappointed if they did what you suggest. 

[LyleCole]

1 minute ago, Mike Sixel said:

Roden. He's played some first. But I wouldn't be too disappointed if they did what you suggest. 

In Roden's professional baseball career he has played exactly 1 inning as a first baseman, in 2023, at A+ level.

I am going to give Roden about the same type of run as hypothetical Rule V pick Rumfield, about 80-100 games.   20 in left.  20 in right.  40 as the LH DH.  I am not going to platoon him to start because we need to see how he handles major league left handed pitching except as the DH.  That will give Roden about a full season of MLB experience under his belt.  

These are the types of prospects you try to expose fast, rather than piddling along for years up and down the minors.  But you have to be willing to lose games, which the Twins should be in 2026 and you have to be willing to accept failure.  Failure just means NEXT GUY UP.

 

[Major League Ready]

If there was ever a year that the Twins should take a shot at a rule 5 RP, this would be it.  Give Roden or Fedko a shot at 1B.  They have as good or better chance of sticking than anyone they could get in rule 5.

[Mike Sixel]

2 minutes ago, LyleCole said:

In Roden's professional baseball career he has played exactly 1 inning as a first baseman, in 2023, at A+ level.

I am going to give Roden about the same type of run as hypothetical Rule V pick Rumfield, about 80-100 games.   20 in left.  20 in right.  40 as the LH DH.  I am not going to platoon him to start because we need to see how he handles major league left handed pitching except as the DH.  That will give Roden about a full season of MLB experience under his belt.  

These are the types of prospects you try to expose fast, rather than piddling along for years up and down the minors.  But you have to be willing to lose games, which the Twins should be in 2026 and you have to be willing to accept failure.  Failure just means NEXT GUY UP.

 

Huh. I was led to believe he had experience there! My bad. 

[DJL44]

26 minutes ago, LyleCole said:

I would take TJ Rumfield and just pencil him in as the starting 1B to begin the 2026 season.  Why not.  What other 1B options do we have? 

There are like 30 free agent first basemen looking for work.

[LyleCole]

17 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

There are like 30 free agent first basemen looking for work.

Proven mediocrities with limited upside at best that will cost a lot more money.

Lets go with a guy who hasn't proven their limitations, yet.

 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

9 hours ago, whosafraidofluigirussolo said:

“Rumfield is arguably the most talented hitter Minnesota could add to its 40-man roster, while playing a position of need.”

The blurb doesn’t say anywhere what position he plays…

The blurb cited him as a left-handed hitting first baseman. Maybe it was changed after you saw the omission.

[Riverbrian]

I'm not a fan of the Rule 5 pickups because managers spend the entire season trying to hide them and if the manager has to expend energy trying to keep them out of view... just don't do it. 

However... Like MLR said... "If there ever was a year".

There are usually a few young 100 MPH arms that lack control available. Watch some video... find that hard thrower that you think you can straighten out and give him a bullpen spot until you think it's hopeless. This is the year to try it. 

I also agree with LyleCole. Quick Exposure... Don't try to hide them. You let them feel what it's like to face major league competition. Collect your real time data. If he isn't showing progress... send him back but get some decently sampled actual impressions before you do. 

I don't have any names... the front office does.

I'll bet there is a pretty talented dice roll out there. We need a bullpen and we pick early... if ever there was a year.