Minnesota Twins 2026 Position Analysis: First Base

[Nick Nelson]

Image courtesy of Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

When you look at the names on the depth chart listed below, one thing sticks out: none of the players who are expected to get significant playing time at first base are internally developed. And that's nothing new. Last year, Minnesota's primary first baseman was free agent acquisition Ty France. In 2024, it was free agent acquisition Carlos Santana. In 2023, it was free agent acquisition Donovan Solano.

This year, top free agent acquisitions Josh Bell and Victor Caratini figure to mix in with Kody Clemens and Eric Wagaman, who were more or less waiver wire pickups. I suppose this reflects an organizational philosophy that first base is a position easily supplemented by low-cost external plugs — thus development efforts and resources should be focused elsewhere.

There's a validity to this mindset, but it hasn't always paid dividends for Minnesota in the past — e.g. last year, when the Twins ranked 22nd in fWAR at first base despite having a Gold Glover on hand for the first four months. How will this year's patchwork solutions work out?

TWINS FIRST BASEMEN AT A GLANCE

Starter: Kody Clemens
Backup: Josh Bell
Depth: Victor Caratini, Eric Wagaman, Aaron Sabato
Prospects: Hendry Mendez, Billy Amick

Twins fWAR Ranking Last Year: 22nd out of 30
Twins fWAR Projection This Year: 24th out of 30

THE GOOD
In a lineup that is loaded with question marks, the Twins needed to add a dependable bat this offseason, and they got just that in Bell. He has posted an above-average OPS in every season, sans the abbreviated 2020 campaign, and has a career 114 OPS+ over a decade in the big leagues. He's a switch-hitter who takes quality at-bats, puts the ball in play and reliably delivers good-not-great power production. A fine fit at first base.

Except, it's not clear Bell will play first base all that often, nor that he should. With the Twins placing an emphasis on improved defense, they'd be doing themselves no favors by using Bell in the field regularly. His defensive shortcomings have persistently dragged down his overall value, and in 2025 with Washington he saw far more time at designated hitter (98 starts) than first base (33 starts). I'm not sure the split will be quite so extreme with Minnesota, but I'd bet they're planning — or at least hoping — to use Bell more at DH than first.

That would leave a sizable share of playing time for Clemens and Caratini, as well as Wagaman if he's on the roster. It's a group that provides some matchup functionality and a few intriguing skillsets, albeit not a ton of upside. 

Clemens seemed to be in line for the starting first base job at the start of the offseason. That was based on remarks from Derek Falvey — "We want to give Kody a lot of runway there," he said at the GM Meetings — and before the Twins signed Bell and Caratini. Part of me is kind of curious to see Clemens get that runway to show what he can do, because he flashed real power last year and he does offer relatively good speed and defense at first base on a team that needs all it can get of both.

 

I've still got him penciled in atop the depth chart but the position is very fluid and, as things stand, I would expect a somewhat even distribution of starts. Bell and Caratini are going to play a lot, and there will only be so many ABs available for them at DH. Collectively, these three along with Wagaman as a RH platoon option give the Twins a decent amount of depth at first, even if it's not the highest-quality depth.

THE BAD
If the Twins could combine Bell, Caratini and Clemens into one player, it'd be the full package at first base: experience, proven production, solid athleticism and defense. Unfortunately, they can only use one of them at a time, and on their own, each of these players brings major limitations when they're manning the position. 

Bell is the best hitter of the bunch, but a major defensive liability. Caratini hits well for a catcher, enabling him to command $14 million in free agency, but his average-ish offense is much less impactful at first. Clemens runs and fields better than those two, but he's got a career OPS+ of 81 and finished at 94 in last year's "breakout." 

These factors dampen the upside offered by each when at first base, and unfortunately, I'm not sure how much upside there is to detract from. Clemens and Caratini are both substantially below-average hitters in their careers, and Bell hasn't been a great hitter since 2022. Wagaman played the most first base of the bunch last year, in Miami, but was one of the worst regulars in all of baseball. 

It feels like the best you're hoping for at first base is competent offense and non-disastrous defense. Which is more or less the same blueprint as last year when the Twins went with Ty France. It wasn't good enough then, and if the 24th-out-of-30 projection from FanGraphs is at all accurate, it won't be good enough now. 

The lack of short-term vision would be more palatable if there were a promising pipeline in place on the other side, but right now it's anyone's guess who might step in at first base down the line. The Twins have talked about working in outfield prospect Hendry Mendez, acquired in the Harrison Bader trade last year, but that experiment is only beginning. No other prospects in the system's upper tier currently play first base primarily. 

Which can change, of course — the nature of a position near the bottom of the defensive spectrum — but as we've seen, the Twins have not shown much ability to develop impact big-leaguers at the position. The Billy Beane-esque "anyone can play first base" mentality has not proven out practically for Minnesota, at least not since the days of Luis Arraez and Miguel Sanó.

THE BOTTOM LINE
Maybe the worst and most rudderless position on the roster as we size up the Twins in their current state. I do see things to like about each of the main candidates for playing time, but first base doesn't bring out the best in any of them. Bell is best suited for DH, Caratini for catcher, Clemens and Wagaman for roving platoon bench roles. There's no great first baseman on this team or readily available in the minors.

I'm interested to see how the usage patterns take shape under Derek Shelton, but not terribly optimistic about the sum result. 

Catch up on the rest of our roster preview series:

• Twins 2026 Position Analysis: Catcher

View full article

[Cory Engelhardt]

Barring health obviously, I'm still curious if Clemens truly has a firm grasp on the position on opening day. Is his glove truly good enough to hold off and keep Bell has the primary dh and Caratini solely as the backup catcher? I have my doubts there. If Bell and Caratini are kind of your primary 1b that keeps DH as rotating and allows for more bats in the lineup?

I mean, am I missing something? Clemens' baseball savant page certainly has more red it in than I would have expected, but is he truly still a starter on this team?

[JBK]

The Billy Beane-esque "anyone can play first base" mentality has not proven out practically for Minnesota, at least not since the days of Luis Arraez and Miguel Sanó.

Even the Twins can't get this position right.  Unbelievable.  How many corner outfielders or 3B or catchers have transitioned to 1B and were great?  Wallner is still in RF and they bag on him for his defense.  Put the 6'4 guy over at 1B this Spring.  Give him a shot.  That opens up the outfield for one of those rookies everyone is raving about.  Kody Clemens is a 6'0 target.  He should be a 2B or as a UT.  I'm glad Falvey is gone.  A team made up of backups is going to get you a record that reflects it.

[mluebker]

Give it to Kody, Josh at DH, and the others when/if needed. That way there’ll at least be two guys out there regularly doing things they’ve been moderately successful at.

[bean5302]

We do not have a viable first baseman. End of story. Btw, Rhys Hoskins was just signed on a MiLB contract. Good thing the Twins have Bell at $7MM

Bell is not a 1B, he's a DH who can technically stand where a 1B stands.

Clemens can play 1B, but he can't hit.

Wagaman projects as probably bad at both.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

When Culpepper and/or slick fielding Houston are/is ready, put Lee at 1B, if he can hit with more power.   "When" and "if"...two key words.

[CRF]

They should have given both Larnach and Wallner some 1B reps years ago. Never could understand why they didn't. It made a helluva lot more sense to me than playing musical 1st baseman every season. 

[Over The Hill Again]

Yeah I struggle to understand why this organization has treated the position as an apparent afterthought in recent years. Occasionally find some FA that holds it down, but we have this logjam of slow, lanky, left handers playing average to subpar outfield, and no one thinks to work them out at 1st? 

[mikelink45]

A dismal outlook. Where are the days of Killebrew, Morneau, Mientkiewicz and Hrbek.  Sure anyone can play 1B, but should they?  With Lewis and Lee still question marks on the left side, it is sad to see this position seen as a filler instead of a positive.  

If we trade Jeffers we can have below average production at both catcher and 1B and I can't wait for Nick to analyze 3b, SS.

Like another post I would put either Larnach or Wallner at 1B and improve the OF at the same time. 

[Coach Wheels]

1 hour ago, mluebker said:

Give it to Kody, Josh at DH, and the others when/if needed. That way there’ll at least be two guys out there regularly doing things they’ve been moderately successful at.

Our goal is now to be "moderately successful" at 2 positions that require HR and RBI's on successful teams 🙂

This is not meant as a rip but it certainly validates the mediocrity of this organization right now.

[MGX]

The signing of Bell just doesn't make any sense. We already had players to play 1B vs RHP & a FT DH. All they needed was a utility IF who could hit LHP & cover 1B. Clemens should start vs RHP & maybe Caratini vs LHP, unless they can fit Wagaman on the team. This roster is a mess. We had two holes that needed to be filled - bullpen & SS & yet we spend, what 14 million on a DH & a backup C.

[thelanges5]

15 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Like another post I would put either Larnach or Wallner at 1B and improve the OF at the same time. 

Piling on here. Not sure why the brass have been so reluctant to do this, they’ve had plenty of opportunities.

[DJL44]

If Kody Clemens is starting and Bell is the DH, does that mean Larnach is sitting on the bench? I think I'd rather have Clemens on the bench, Larnach at DH and Austin Martin in the outfield.

[AceWrigley]

You would think they could find one guy that can't do all the things this group can't.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

52 minutes ago, MGX said:

The signing of Bell just doesn't make any sense. We already had players to play 1B vs RHP & a FT DH. All they needed was a utility IF who could hit LHP & cover 1B. Clemens should start vs RHP & maybe Caratini vs LHP, unless they can fit Wagaman on the team. This roster is a mess. We had two holes that needed to be filled - bullpen & SS & yet we spend, what 14 million on a DH & a backup C.

Well said.

[Parfigliano]

It's really going to be 3 roster spots used to provide bottom tier play at 1B?

What a mess.

[LambchoP]

As others have said already, the roster construction on this team is an absolute mess:(

[USAFChief]

I cant understand the love for Clemens on this site.

I have to believe Bell was signed to play 1st base and will, most days.

 

[The Great Hambino]

3 hours ago, Nick Nelson said:

Maybe the worst and most rudderless position on the roster as we size up the Twins in their current state.

 

That's a pretty damning indictment considering the bulk of their offseason spending - Bell and whatever portion of Caratini you'd like to allocate to 1B - was made with this position in mind 

[TheLeviathan]

The Twins have been really, really good at being really, really "meh" at 1B since Morneau.

"Meh" is the upside of this group.

[Nshore]

It'll be interesting to see what Zoll does with some of these messy situations that amount to baseball malpractice.  There are multiple players - Outman is another one - who shouldn't be anywhere near the ML roster.  Is Zoll part of the problem or part of the solution?

[hitterscount]

Was holding out some hope that we could be competitive until mid August. Even with the Lopez injury I still believe that the SP is going to be good enough to compete. 

Here's my issue and why I think 75 wins is probably the ceiling. An emphasis is being placed on defense, yet we have Lee at SS, Wallner and Larnach in the OF. We seem to think 1st is irrelevant defensively... it's not. It's certainly a position you can put someone with limited range,, however it's critical for scooping bad throws from the IF, accurate throws to start DP's, throws to the plate, you just don't throw a extra body there.... especially one that isn't a above average hitter. We will once again leave outs on the field, giving up runs that should end innings and will be actually extending them leading to higher pitch counts in high leverage situations. 

Throw in the catcher position that is average at best defensively and just how did we improve on this new emphasis placed on defense and speed.. It's looking like a month to month subscription to MLBTV. 

 

[Linus]

The amazing thing is that the few sheckles the Twins were willing to spend solved so little. Signing Caratini gave us good catching depth. First base, we might be a little better but not much. 

[Nick Nelson]

3 hours ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

Barring health obviously, I'm still curious if Clemens truly has a firm grasp on the position on opening day. Is his glove truly good enough to hold off and keep Bell has the primary dh and Caratini solely as the backup catcher? I have my doubts there. If Bell and Caratini are kind of your primary 1b that keeps DH as rotating and allows for more bats in the lineup?

I mean, am I missing something? Clemens' baseball savant page certainly has more red it in than I would have expected, but is he truly still a starter on this team?

I'll be honest: I just don't know. I spent a lot of time trying to work through this in my head. If Clemens is on the roster they will probably want him starting often against RHP. And if he's in the lineup with Bell, you want Clemens and his glove at 1B. But then, I guess Larnach is in LF, which also doesn't help the defense. And where is Caratini if Jeffers is catching? 

My best guess with the current personnel is a heavy rotation at 1B, with no single player getting more than like 70 starts. I don't know that Clemens will be there Opening Day, but as of now I think he'll end up with the most, mainly because he's not useful to start at any other position.

Looking at all these pieces together, I kinda feel like Clemens has been squeezed out by the free agent additions but no one's talking about that as of yet.

[DJL44]

3 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

I'll be honest: I just don't know. I spent a lot of time trying to work through this in my head. If Clemens is on the roster they will probably want him starting often against RHP. And if he's in the lineup with Bell, you want Clemens and his glove at 1B. But then, I guess Larnach is in LF, which also doesn't help the defense. And where is Caratini if Jeffers is catching? 

My best guess with the current personnel is a heavy rotation at 1B, with no single player getting more than like 70 starts. I don't know that Clemens will be there Opening Day, but as of now I think he'll end up with the most, mainly because he's not useful to start at any other position.

Looking at all these pieces together, I kinda feel like Clemens has been squeezed out by the free agent additions but no one's talking about that as of yet.

One injury anywhere except SS or C opens up an everyday spot for Clemens.

[Cory Engelhardt]

5 minutes ago, Nick Nelson said:

I'll be honest: I just don't know. I spent a lot of time trying to work through this in my head. If Clemens is on the roster they will probably want him starting often against RHP. And if he's in the lineup with Bell, you want Clemens and his glove at 1B. But then, I guess Larnach is in LF, which also doesn't help the defense. And where is Caratini if Jeffers is catching? 

My best guess with the current personnel is a heavy rotation at 1B, with no single player getting more than like 70 starts. I don't know that Clemens will be there Opening Day, but as of now I think he'll end up with the most, mainly because he's not useful to start at any other position.

Looking at all these pieces together, I kinda feel like Clemens has been squeezed out by the free agent additions but no one's talking about that as of yet.

That's definitely the inkling I have too in many ways. It FEELS like Donovan Solano again, where we didn't see a fit at the start of the year and then he played a LOT. 

If Clemens stays and earns his spot all year, and keeps it with the younger guys coming up, well that means he is probably performing well right? 

I still think there are other moves to come. I can't imagine Larnach and Wallner and Clemens all make the opening day roster. I suppose I could be wrong here.

[Cory Engelhardt]

Just now, DJL44 said:

One injury anywhere except SS or C opens up an everyday spot for Clemens.

I don't think an OF opening necessarily does that either.

 

[stringer bell]

I can't disagree with a single word of Nick's analysis and the key thing here is the lack of upside. Among the primary guys it would appear the best we can hope for is average-ish. In a vacuum signing Bell is fine. He should stretch the lineup and he's durable, but the WAR numbers show he doesn't move the needle much at all by himself. Clemens was a good pickup, but last year may very well be his peak and he still was a below-average hitter overall. Wagaman wasn't very good last year and he's a DFA pickup. Caratini has been a pretty good hitter the last two years, but he's never played more than 23 games at first and that was seven years ago.

For several years, I've been waiting for the Twins to have a guy who starts 120 or more games at first for 3-5 years, hits well above average and handles the position defensively. I thought it was Alex Kirilloff, who is next? Mendez? Instead we get 30 somethings who struggle to be average hitters but are surprisingly good fielders on one year deals.

[Nick Nelson]

54 minutes ago, USAFChief said:

I cant understand the love for Clemens on this site.

I have to believe Bell was signed to play 1st base and will, most days.

You might be right, it's possible I'm just trying to talk myself out of this reality. But, the Twins are just deeply unserious about improving their defense if they're going to have Bell out there regularly in an infield that already has big question marks up the middle. He's been replacement-level over the past two seasons because of his glove. Like, even the last-place Nationals could see he should not be in the field. 

[stringer bell]

19 minutes ago, Linus said:

The amazing thing is that the few sheckles the Twins were willing to spend solved so little. Signing Caratini gave us good catching depth. First base, we might be a little better but not much. 

I think the Caratini signing makes sense for the duration of the deal. Behind Jeffers, there was no proven catching depth if Jeffers were traded or injured. Jackson seems more a projection (at age 30) instead of proven commodity and everyone else is the system wasn't a major leaguer. Next year would be a crisis without Jeffers. I expect Ryan to be on his way unless the Twins (stunningly) are relevant at the deadline and maybe before that.