The Scariest Spot on the Twins’ Depth Chart

[Cody Christie]

Image courtesy of © Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Twins have entered recent  winters with plenty of questions, but this winter brings a particularly uneasy one. After last summer’s shocking decision to trade Carlos Correa at the deadline, Minnesota suddenly went from having a franchise cornerstone at shortstop to hoping a former top prospect can carry one of the most demanding positions in baseball. That is a dramatic shift for a team on the fringes of contention, even while operating under the tightest budget constraints of the Derek Falvey era.

Minnesota can’t afford a superstar to steady the position. It simply needs more certainty. Right now, shortstop is the thinnest spot on the organizational depth chart, and that is a dangerous way to start the winter.

A Depth Chart Built on Hope
Brooks Lee sits atop the depth chart after being thrust into the starting job after the Correa trade. In 139 games, he hit .236/.285/.370 (.654) with a 79 OPS+. The front office believes in his tools and maturity, but even talented young players rarely sprint through their early big-league career without bumps. Depending solely on Lee to handle 162 games is the definition of risky roster construction.

Behind him, the depth gets frightening in a hurry. Ryan Kreidler arrived as a waiver claim earlier this offseason, and while he brings defensive value, his major league track record does not suggest everyday reliability. Last season, he played most of the year at Triple-A and posted a .751 OPS in 99 games. Ryan Fitzgerald could crack the team’s Opening Day roster as a backup infielder after combining for an .837 OPS with the Saints last year. Few inside or outside the organization view him as a long-term solution as a starting option, but he's earned an opportunity to fill a role. 

In the minor leagues, Kaelen Culpepper flew up prospect rankings in 2025, but he is yet to sniff Triple-A. He might be ready at some point in 2026, but that is far from a guarantee. Last year's first round pick Marek Houston could reach the high minors this year, but he likely won't crack the big leagues for multiple seasons. Both players are part of the team's long-term plan. Neither can be counted on for significant time in 2026. 

Minnesota also needs a strong defense behind a rotation expected to include multiple young pitchers. Lee showed improvements at shortstop in the second half but is still considered a below-average defender. For a team on the outside of contention, that is a razor-thin safety net behind Lee. 

The Bargain Bin Reality
Since ownership’s maddening decision to slash payroll after the 2023 season, the Twins have spent just eighteen million dollars on free agents across two full winters. Six players. All one-year deals. None above $6.25 million. It is not a shopping strategy; it is an economic philosophy, and it has left the front office combing the discount bin for meaningful upgrades.

That reality shapes their shortstop search. The free-agent class is barren, making the problem even harder to solve. Minnesota does not have the financial flexibility to target even the middle tier of the market.

That scarcity is precisely why a player like Orlando Arcia becomes relevant in conversations he never would have entered a few years ago. Arcia, now 32 years old, hit free agency after a rough stint in Colorado and has been one of the worst hitters in baseball over the last two seasons by nearly every advanced measure. In fact, he has been the worst hitter in baseball by both wRC+ and xwOBA with 800+ PAs over the past two seasons. As a right-handed hitter, his OPS was 50 points higher against lefties, so there may be a role for him to platoon. His glove keeps him employable, but only in a limited role, and only on a team willing to accept the offensive tradeoff.

He is the type of player the Twins might be forced to consider. Not because he solves anything, but because the market offers so few alternatives. He could be signed to a minor league deal to offer organizational depth, because he is the sort of player who fills roster spots rather than stabilizes them.

A Problem Minnesota Cannot Ignore
The Twins have to add more protection behind Lee, even if that means a smaller move that brings competence rather than upside. A veteran shortstop who can defend, handle 40 to 60 starts, and keep Lee fresh is not a luxury for this roster. It is a requirement.

Minnesota can get by with creativity at several positions, but shortstop is not one of them. The front office saw what happened when injuries piled up in 2024 and 2025, and this roster cannot survive another season where the infield defense erodes because the club ran out of viable options.

With budget limits and a barren market, the Twins may need to get uncomfortable or get creative. What they cannot do is stand still. Shortstop is too essential, and the depth chart is too thin. The Twins need to act before this winter gets away from them.

How should the Twins upgrade their shortstop depth? Is Arcia an option? Leave a comment and start the discussion. 

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[Cory Engelhardt]

Lee has a chance to hold it down. Hopefully he gets to spring training and isn't feeling any back issues like he did during spring training 2025. 

Also, Culpepper played 54 games at high A and 59 games at AA last year. Guaranteed he starts at AAA. It will be interesting to see how many games he actually does play at AAA. IF he really truly kills it in spring training, does he NEED a lot of AAA time?

[DJL44]

I posted a list of minor league free agent SS options in another thread. The Phillies already grabbed one of those guys. The Twins need to grab at least one of them, especially after trading Eeles.

[ziggy]

If the choice is sign the worst hitting free agent shortstop available or play Fitzgerald that's an easy choice to me. Fitzgerald it is. 

I don't think a team on the verge of contention is for a minute contemplating signing the worst hitting shortstop unless his name is Ozzy Smith.

[Doctor Gast]

I have my doubts at SS. I hope Lee will be respectable & I expect Fritzgerald will help. Castro isn't the greatest SS but he is an option that can deepen the position where we are thin. Can we trade for Lawlar (AZ) or different options with NYM?

[Nashvilletwin]

“after the shocking decision to trade Carlos Correa”?  Don’t you mean “after the Twins’ smartest trade decision in years”?

[DJL44]

Minor league free agent SS OPS in AAA last season and age

Yordys Valdes 526 23

Luis Verdugo 494 24

Dalvy Rosario 508 24

Eddys Leonard 739 24

Liover Peguero 688 24

Raynel Delgado 741 25
Jonathan Ornelas 574 25

Livan Soto 571 26

Jordan Groshans 660 26

Chad Stevens 855 26

Rodolfo Castro 745 26

Andrew Navigato 649 27

Diego Castillo 737 27

Connor Kaiser 751 28

Will Holland 637 28 

Riley Unroe 806 29
Alan Trejo 789 29

Jackson Cluff 771 29

Andrew Velazquez 649 30

Dixon Machado 646 33

Jack Lopez 623 32

I bolded the best candidates and crossed out guys who I know have already signed a contract

[mnfireman]

1B is a way bigger question mark, and not just for '26....

[DJL44]

20 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

1B is a way bigger question mark, and not just for '26....

First base actually has a lot of free agent options who fit in the budget and would improve the team. SS has two: Ha-Seong Kim and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa.

Based on supply and demand, it is harder to find a shortstop.

[Riverbrian]

30 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

1B is a way bigger question mark, and not just for '26....

From a depth standpoint. 

1B is indeed scarier because the Twins don't have a Culpepper at least to man 1B down the road.  

However, 1B can be addressed through transition while SS can't. Players transition away from SS and they tend to transition toward 1B.  

If the season started tomorrow. Thank God it doesn't. If the season started tomorrow. Clemens, Julien and Fitzgerald (or Kriedler) are on the 26 man roster. 

So... as badly as I want a young 1B. IMO... SS is probably the bigger priority because it takes Fitzgerald (Or Kriedler) off the 26 man. Maybe even off the 40 man. I really really want both positions addressed but I may have to choose,

If I have to choose. It's SS. Culpepper can still arrive on schedule... if he performs decently in AAA. When Culpepper arrives. We will be able to see what Clemens and Julien have been doing... What Lee, Lewis and Keaschall have been doing and if Culpepper hits the ground running. He will make his own room based upon the performance of his competition.     

The main problem is: To get the type of player I want...  a highly ranked young prospect whoever that might be.

It'll cost us Joe Ryan.   

 

[tony&rodney]

Which player improves the team enough to avoid 100 losses?

[PatPfund]

Yeah, they probably need another SS for depth; pretty tough to start the year with an underperforming guy with a history of back problems, and a guy with very limited MLB time. It does pave a fast track for Culpepper if he hits, but SS is way worse than 1B.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Which player improves the team enough to avoid 100 losses?

Santana back at first base; still a dinger hitter and still a Very Good glove.

Lee is not bad at SS within his very small range, but that tiny range is the problem.

[farmerguychris]

I see no reason to even consider someone like Arcia.  He's been one of the worst hitters for 2 year?

I would expect we can't see anyone like Culpepper, or even Houston hitting any worse than Arcia would for us - and save the few valuable dollars for different roster spots.

[old nurse]

A player has 2 serviceable years out of 10 in the league and this is what the writer wants to bring in?  Shouldn’t a writer have a little bit better idea or is it all now just clickbait?  

[Road trip]

Huh, a week ago we had Eels, not really a backup shortstop, but capable there in a pinch and ready to provide depth at AAA.  Twins traded away middle infield depth for more catcher depth... and now have an even larger problem with middle infield depth.  And now they are supposed to sign Arcia, after already overpaying for a subpar 31 yo catcher?  

Look, the Twins aren't going to have adequate depth next year.  Depth is thin everywhere except corner outfield.  Yes, even the "great" depth of starting pitching will probably fail, as it seems to take 10 - 12 starters to get through a season these days. They might lose 80 games, or they might lose 100.  That'll be the case with Fitzgerald as the backup SS, or conceivably any other player the Twins may pick up.  Just roll with Fitzgerald to keep the seat warm for Culpepper in '27.  It's going to be a development year, not a contending year.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

My bet is Kriedel was brought in to compete with Fitzgerald for that backup SS spot. With Eeles gone, I assume Culpepper will start at AAA. If he continues to perform well, he could find his name called up if Lee falters again. 

Also, I thought I read somewhere that Marek Houstons glove was MLBready, its his bat that isn't. If thats the case, no need to sign the worst hitter in baseball. Just bring him up for his glove and get help from MLB coaches. 

[sweetmusicviola16]

Take the hit in 2026. Roll with what you already have in house. You have a better chance of finding a diamond in the rough within the organization than you do in taking on retreads. What's the difference if you're a 102 loss team with who we have or a 99 loss team using a retread or two? Carlos Santana was mentioned. I would consider him for the team. For the main reason of that you've just hired another coach for mentoring these guys and helping to develop them. Our future though can't be signing a bunch of vets trying to bounce back. It has to be in developing the players we already have here. Also, they just scaled the payroll back to 95mil or whatever it is, they're not going to go out and spend 45mil this off season and go back to those levels. They just aren't. 

[DJL44]

9 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

Take the hit in 2026. Roll with what you already have in house. 

"Take the hit" means trade Ryan, Lopez, Ober and Jeffers this winter. They can't compete with what they already have in house.

[Major League Ready]

10 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

"Take the hit" means trade Ryan, Lopez, Ober and Jeffers this winter. They can't compete with what they already have in house.

That would be the go big or go home version of a rebuild,

[sweetmusicviola16]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

"Take the hit" means trade Ryan, Lopez, Ober and Jeffers this winter. They can't compete with what they already have in house.

Trading Ryan, Lopez and Jeffers is what I would do. I know the idea isn't popular. This team as constructed isn't competing. Even if they played far above their heads they aren't. The veterans I would sign would be guys who are known for assisting in the growth of younger guys. I see no point in losing the value of the guys you mentioned. Though I would be tempted to hang onto Lopez for just a bit to possibly elevate his value. But this is all just my opinion which isn't worth much.

[RpR]

2 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

Take the hit in 2026. Roll with what you already have in house. You have a better chance of finding a diamond in the rough within the organization than you do in taking on retreads. What's the difference if you're a 102 loss team with who we have or a 99 loss team using a retread or two? Carlos Santana was mentioned. I would consider him for the team. For the main reason of that you've just hired another coach for mentoring these guys and helping to develop them. Our future though can't be signing a bunch of vets trying to bounce back. It has to be in developing the players we already have here. Also, they just scaled the payroll back to 95mil or whatever it is, they're not going to go out and spend 45mil this off season and go back to those levels. They just aren't. 

Well, experienced has-beens , are better than ignorant , never-will-be youths.

[DocBauer]

The odds of Eeles breaking through at the ML level are pretty remote. But at least there is some talent and potential there, and a "break glass" option if nothing else. Absolutely nothing against Alex Jackson...assuming he can even hit in the .190-.200 range with some power and quality defense...but signing Rortvedt and keeping Eeles might have been the smarter move. (Assuming they didn't spend a little more for someone like McCann, which was my preference.

I'm hoping and kind of expecting Will Holland to come back to the Saints. He might just end up being that "break glass option".

But let's get to the heart of the issue. Lee, IIRC, was about league average at SS once he became the primary starter. I can live with that for now, especially if we see improvement with the bat. There's also room to improve at least a little with the glove. And I will again remind everyone he came in to 2025 as a 24yo with only about 180 ML AB. He was barely above rookie qualification. So it would be a mistake to dismiss potential and growth at this point, even if he eventually moves to a different spot, or becomes a super utility 4 spot INF.

Culpepper, based on 2025 and all his talent, should begin 2026 at St Paul. I believe there's a good chance he's ready by July 1st. But that doesn't help to start the season.

I know nothing about Kreidler except he's supposed have a quality glove, and simply can't hit. Pretty much at all.

I'm 100% in agreement with @DJL44on an add. The Twins NEED options for the INF in 2026, and St Paul needs infield talent/depth as well. I'm not saying the lighting will strike twice and they'll find the second coming of Castro, but they've simply got to find another option for depth, competition, and maybe get lucky and find a Castro-lite somewhere.

While Fitzgerald is only a journeyman, and nothing special, the guy has been around. He's experienced. He can run at least a little, pop some XB hits, and probably won't embarrass himself at the plate. And I can live with that for the opening day roster. But I'd sure like some competition and depth.

In an ideal world, Lee improves in all phases and K-Pepper is ready by mid season. But with all due respect, you need not only depth, but you should be TRYING to replace both Kreidler and Fitzgerald instead of being content with them.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, DocBauer said:

 

But let's get to the heart of the issue. Lee, IIRC, was about league average at SS once he became the primary starter. I can live with that for now, especially if we see improvement with the bat. There's also room to improve at least a little with the glove. And I will again remind everyone he came in to 2025 as a 24yo with only about 180 ML AB. He was barely above rookie qualification. So it would be a mistake to dismiss potential and growth at this point, even if he eventually moves to a different spot, or becomes a super utility 4 spot INF.

 

I said in another post, Lee was not Bad at SS, using Polanco at Short as a comparison but his very small range is why his stats look like this:

He is Not Good enough to be average. Time to put him at 3rd where he was pretty good last year and leave SS to some one who is better than not real bad but not good either.

[stringer bell]

In a season where contending is a real long shot, I'm okay with giving Lee a full season (at age 25) to show whether he can cut it both offensively and defensively. Both Fitzgerald and Kreidler figure as backups. Much like the catcher position for most major league positions, I would want a good defender as the backup, so I think the edge there is for Kreidler.

If Lee again flounders on either side of the game, I would hope for Culpepper to get a chance if he performs well in the minors.

I didn't see a lot of St. Paul Saints games, but I saw a couple with Eeles playing shortstop and I don't think he'd ever be considered more than an emergency replacement there. Just about every throw he made was short and they didn't appear to have much zip on them.  

[sweetmusicviola16]

3 hours ago, RpR said:

Well, experienced has-beens , are better than ignorant , never-will-be youths.

Yep, guys like Lopez, Ryan, Buxton, Jeffers, etc should have never debuted until they were at least 37-38. Wouldn't want to risk running any never-will-be-youths out there. 

[Western SD Fan]

9 hours ago, RpR said:

He is Not Good enough to be average. Time to put him at 3rd where he was pretty good last year and leave SS to some one who is better than not real bad but not good either.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I think the point of the article is that there is no one better than Lee currently in the organization at or near the big-league level.  The other consideration is where to put Lewis if you move Lee to 3rd.  Lewis has to play somewhere as trading him at his lowest trade value makes no sense.  One of the big discussions near the end of the season was potentially moving Lee to a Willi Castro type INF if or when Culpepper would be ready to be brought up to the majors, but that will still take time.

One more consideration is all of this off-season discussion will be monitoring the negotiations on the new CBA.  Would you want to rush some of these players to the majors with the possibility that they will be locked out after the season with no chance of further development.

[TopGunn#22]

Cody has made a great point with SS being our biggest weakness.  None of us expects Brooks Lee to ever be anything more than an average MLB SS.  No organization should be willing to accept a situation like this.  In fact, many people are already speculating that Lee will move off of SS in the very near future.  

True, we have young prospects like Culpepper and Houston and an excellent chance to end up with the prize of the amateur draft next year in Roch Cholowsky, the SS from UCLA.  But the goal should be improving the position for the short term and let the long term solutions (Culpepper, Houston, maybe Cholowsky) sort themselves out in a year or two.

My plan would be to offer the D-Backs Bailey Ober (20.4 value in BBTV) for Jordan Lawler (19.4 value).  Lawler was once the top rated player in the D-Backs system.  He's a SS who can also play 3B and 2B.  He's hit extremely well in AAA but has not when given a chance at the major league level.  But he has less than 100 AB's in the last 2 seasons.

Quite simply, his star has fallen in Arizona and he's buried behind Geraldo Perdomo at SS.  Perdomo is just 26 years old and last year posted an .851 OPS to go along with a stellar glove.  Perdomo isn't moving aside for anyone.  The other player blocking Lawler is All Star 2B Ketel Marte.  The D-Backs need pitching, and now they will be losing Zac Gallen from their rotation on top of being deficient in SP in 2025.  They may be open to an Ober for Lawler trade.

Lawler is 23 years old (Lee is 24).  Their fielding percentages at SS are very close (Lawler .977  Lee .974) but Lawler has much greater range.  In my opinion, Lawler would be an excellent gamble to take.  He's shown all he can at AAA and hit the heck out of the ball.  He's more athletic than Lee but has positional flexibility at 2B & 3B for when Culpepper, Houston and hopefully Roch Cholowsky would play their way into the mix.

 

[bean5302]

21 hours ago, DJL44 said:

First base actually has a lot of free agent options who fit in the budget and would improve the team. SS has two: Ha-Seong Kim and Isaiah Kiner-Falefa.

Based on supply and demand, it is harder to find a shortstop.

We could just take a defensively limited player with no bat and put them at SS. They need to be a really hyped prospect to be accepted by the fan base, though. Also helps if their dad is a coach, I hear.

[Whitey333]

Not much changes with the Twins.  People are already penicillin in Culpepper at short as a fixture and star player.  Walker Jenkins as well.  Im learning maybe a little slow at my old age to not get excited at can't miss prospects.  A vast majority do miss.  Twins sell the hype of great farm systems but very few of these prospects ever pan out.  Let's face the fact that this is going to be a very down year.  I like Ryan and Lopez but I think they should be traded this off season and hopefully get a good return.  The "shocking" trade of Correa was long overdue.  He was a luxury the team couldn't afford.  We already have enough underperforming players on the team.  And the financial restraints on Falvey is essentially more recent in the last year or two.  He has consistently had the highest or near highest payroll in the Central division.  He has done a terrible job of allocating the slightly below overall payroll budget he has been given.  Yet he not only isn't held accountable  the Pohlads promoted him.  What a mixed up organization this has become.