Inside the Twins Shortstop Pipeline

[Cory Moen]

Image courtesy of © Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Depth is something every organization tries to create, and it goes well beyond what we see at Target Field or in St. Paul. I'm researching the Twins' depth beyond the 40-man roster, and have already taken a look at catcher, first base, second base, and third base.

Many prospects are drafted or signed as shortstops, but most move to other positions. Being able to field the position at a high level is key to a prospect's journey to sticking as a shortstop at the major league level.

Here is a list of shortstop prospects not on the Twins' 40-man roster. I’ve included how and when they were acquired, along with the highest level they played this past season.

Orlando Arcia

Acquired: Free Agent, 2026
Highest Level in 2025: MLB
You may recognize the last name, as Orlando is the younger brother of former Twin Oswaldo Arcia. He is, however, a very different player.  Arcia will be playing his age-31 season in 2026 and has had his ups and downs since his call-up by the Brewers in 2016. He was an all-star in 2023 with the Braves and had his best overall year in 2017, accruing 2.2 bWAR in his first full season with Milwaukee.

He is a glove-first shortstop and was signed to a minor league contract this offseason. He will be a non-roster invitee to spring training and will be competing with the likes of Ryan Kreidler and Tristan Gray for a utility infield spot. There is no question that Arcia can handle multiple defensive positions; the big question will be whether he can show enough offensively to be a solid option off the bench for Derek Shelton and Co.

Ben Ross

Acquired: 5th round, 2022
Highest Level in 2025: Double-A
A fifth-round pick in 2022 out of Notre Dame College (not University), Ross hit for a slash line of .405/.471/.758 over three college seasons. While he didn’t take many walks in college, the soon-to-be 25-year-old has walked at an above-average rate as a professional. In 2025, he walked in 11.2% of his at-bats and struck out in 22.7% of his at-bats, which are not bad numbers on their own. The big question is whether he can adjust to the upper minors, as he has posted OPSs of .626 and .671 in 2024 and 2025 with Wichita. In the field, he has mostly played shortstop but has also been tried in the outfield, most specifically center field, and he has held his own out there as well. He’s athletic enough to handle most positions, but the big question will be if he can hit enough to carve out a role for the Twins going forward.

Kaelen Culpepper

Acquired: 1st round, 2024
Highest Level in 2025: Double-A
Culpepper cemented himself as a first-round pick during the 2021 college baseball season for Kansas State, where he hit .328/.419/.574 with 11 home runs and 17 stolen bases. After being selected, he made his professional debut and worked his way up to High-A Cedar Rapids. He started the 2025 season with Cedar Rapids but was then called up to Double-A, where he finished the year.

Between the two levels, he hit for an .844 OPS and a 138 wRC+, and has shown the potential of sticking at shortstop defensively long term. He could also move to third base, depending on the team's need as well. Culpepper is a top-100 prospect on most rankings and currently ranks #2 on Twins Daily’s prospect rankings. The 23-year-old is in for a big year, and as long as he is able to continue to develop, it won’t be long until you see him at Target Field.

Marek Houston

Acquired: 1st round, 2025
Highest Level in 2025: High-A
Houston was not a high-end recruit, but won the shortstop job at Wake Forest and played there for three years. The 21-year-old is already one of, if not the best, defensive shortstop in the entire Twins system, so how he develops offensively will be key in when and how big of an impact he is able to make. Like Culpepper, he started professionally in Single-A and was called up to High-A, where he struggled more offensively.

Expect him to start the year with High-A Cedar Rapids, and as long as he makes the adjustments, he could be playing in Wichita soon. He was ranked as the Twins Daily #11 prospect, but could easily climb up that list with either other players graduating from prospect status, or just by passing them from his own performance. Still early in his professional career, Houston will be a prospect a lot of Twins fans have an eye on due to being a first-round selection.

Bryan Acuna

Acquired: International Free Agency, 2022
Highest Level in 2025: Single-A
The younger brother of Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. and new White Sox infielder Luisangel Acuna, Bryan was signed in 2022 and has slowly progressed in the minor leagues since signing. He will be playing his age-20 season this coming year and will likely start the year where he finished 2025, at Single-A Fort Myers. In 2025, across the Complex League and Single-A, he posted a .637 OPS and played shortstop primarily, but also appeared at second base, third base, and in the corner outfield.

In his professional career, he has demonstrated solid plate discipline but limited power to date. Still just 20 years old, he isn’t going to make an immediate impact, but he has the potential to carve out a role for himself, either as a shortstop or at another position.

Bruin Agbayani

Acquired: 6th round, 2025
Highest Level in 2025: Single-A
A sixth-round selection in this past year’s draft, Agbayani is the son of former Mets infielder Benny Agbayani. A left-handed hitter, the soon-to-be 19-year-old was committed to play college at the University of Michigan but chose to forego college and sign with the Twins.

Like many young players, he has room to grow into more power, as he stands 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 185 pounds. He is very athletic, but he may move off of shortstop, and some evaluators think he will be a better fit at second base or in left field long term. He got a small taste of professional ball, playing in five games for Single-A Fort Myers in 2025, so 2026 will be a big first step to see if he can follow in his father’s footsteps and create his own story as a big leaguer.

Shai Robinson

Acquired: 10th round, 2025
Highest Level in 2025: Single-A
Another 2025 draft selection, Robinson was not a prep bat like Agbayani or Quentin Young, as he was drafted out of Illinois State, where he hit .813 with an OPS over three collegiate seasons with the Red Birds. He will turn 22 in May, and 2026 will be his first full year in professional baseball with the Twins. Like Agbayani, he got into a handful of games, four specifically, to get his feet wet, but this coming year will be the first step in seeing if he can develop into an impact player for the Twins. Robinson has a solid glove at shortstop, and his offense will be the big test to see. In his final two collegiate seasons, he walked more than he struck out, which shows a good approach at the plate. Keep an eye on whether he can hit enough to start climbing the prospect rankings.

Haritzon Castillo

Acquired: International Free Agency, 2025
Highest Level in 2025: DSL
Signed out of Venezuela, Castillo is a switch-hitter and has upside offensively from both sides of the plate. He was a top-50 international prospect in the 2025 international class. The soon-to-be 18-year-old looked the part in his time in the Dominican Summer League, hitting .283/.395/.428 over 39 games. He also showed off some speed, stealing 12 bases in 15 attempts over that same time.

Still early in his professional career, Castillo isn’t going to make an immediate impact at Target Field, but he has the potential to do so in a few short years, so keep an eye on him if he continues to impress early on in his career.

Daiber De Los Santos

Acquired: International Free Agency, 2024
Highest Level in 2025: Florida Complex League
Signed out of the Dominican Republic as the No. 8-ranked prospect in the 2024 international class, the 19-year-old played in the Florida Complex League this past season.

In the Complex League, he struck out at a jarring 47.8% rate, but also walked at a solid rate as well. The strikeout rate isn’t anything to be too worried about, as young players often are adjusting their swings and trying different things in lower-pressure environments. The hope is that he can cut down on those strikeouts and continue to develop offensively, since his tools show plenty of potential.

Santiago Leon

Acquired: International Free Agency, 2025
Highest Level in 2025: DSL
Leon was the other top international signing for the Twins in the 2025 international class, signing out of Venezuela. He will be playing his age-18 season in 2026; he is seen as a sure thing to stick as an infielder long term. He played this past season in the Dominican Summer League, where he walked as much as he struck out, which is a sign of a good approach at the plate. Like many young prospects, he has some things to work on, but he has plenty of things to be excited about as well if you like keeping an eye on prospects.

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Which of these prospects are you most excited about?

View full article

[High heat]

Upper minors and majors looks very rough.  Wish we would have rule 5 drafted someone like Noah Miller who can atleast player good major league defense at SS. 

[Galen]

Probably will add one to the top end after the draft

[dxpavelka]

I get so confused.  I read one article that says we don't have a shortstop.  So the kid who three short years ago was Twins Daily's # 1 rated Twins prospect can't play.  But, lucky for us the next article i read says we have a shortstop "pipeline."  Yay.  The sky is not falling,

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

For the love of all that's holy, please stop with the 'pipeline'. Just rebrand these articles to say, Overview of Shortstop Prospects, or some such thing.

[50Ways]

If we had the time and resources to try to find the top trillion things to worry about on the planet Earth, Twins Daily using the word “pipeline” would have no chance to make the list.  Probably would not make a top quadrillion list either.

Plus, the word “pipeline” is used correctly.   The question is whether the Twins have a pretty full pipeline at a position or a pipeline that is almost empty, slow-moving and leaky.  Creating a pipeline of players to become big-leaguers is literally the only reason a MLB has a farm system.

Although, maybe being bothered by semantics on a baseball website is sign of a pretty good life.  If your mind is so unfettered by real problems that the word “pipeline” can bother so many of you, you must have a pretty decent life!

So, that is something to be thankful for!

 

 

 

[Old Twins Hat]

The only thing the Twins really lack at this point is a positive fan base, especially online.

Quote

 

 

[GNess]

3 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

I get so confused.  I read one article that says we don't have a shortstop.  So the kid who three short years ago was Twins Daily's # 1 rated Twins prospect can't play.  But, lucky for us the next article i read says we have a shortstop "pipeline."  Yay.  The sky is not falling,

Agree the sky is not falling. I will point out that having a pipeline is only of value if good things flow through it.

[NYCTK]

3 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

For the love of all that's holy, please stop with the 'pipeline'. Just rebrand these articles to say, Overview of Shortstop Prospects, or some such thing.

The Pipeline article pipeline has already been established. The Pipeline pipeline will remain until morale improves. 

[NYCTK]

2 hours ago, Old Twins Hat said:

The only thing the Twins really lack at this point is a positive fan base, especially online.

 

Why should fans be blindly positive towards a team that doesn't warrant it? 

An inability to criticize something is not fandom or loyalty. That's sycophancy. 

35 minutes ago, GNess said:

Agree the sky is not falling. I will point out that having a pipeline is only of value if good things flow through it.

I see someone hasn't ever had to deal with a busted sewage pipe.

[jmlease1]

3 hours ago, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

For the love of all that's holy, please stop with the 'pipeline'. Just rebrand these articles to say, Overview of Shortstop Prospects, or some such thing.

Nah, keep trolling people by using "pipeline". The outrage is amusing.

Twins have struggled to fill SS on a long-term basis; since Greg Gagne held down the starting job for 8 seasons, we've had only 2 SS with 5+ seasons (Meares, who did it for 5 years, but was only a decent starter like twice and was never a league average hitter; Guzman who got 6 seasons as the starter, despite being shockingly bad getting the job on scholarship as a rookie, having a fluky '01 all-star campaign, but mostly being a below average starter). From 2009 through 2021 we had 8 different starters at SS and only 1 season where they were an average starter by bWAR. (Thanks, Jorge Polanco for that 2019 season)

If Culpepper can't make it, we might be looking at the revolving door for another generation. (Houston can do it defensively, but...yikes, I dunno about that bat)

[Major League Ready]

On 2/9/2026 at 7:06 AM, Twins_Fan_in_NJ said:

For the love of all that's holy, please stop with the 'pipeline'. Just rebrand these articles to say, Overview of Shortstop Prospects, or some such thing.

Why should TD writers stop using a word appropriately because some people don't understand the definition?  A pipeline is a channel of supply, not a measure of quantity or quality.  One could accurately say that there is nothing in the pipeline but to say there is no pipeline is to not understand the definition of the word.  Every single team has a pipeline.  Some just have better players in their pipeline.