Twins Trim 9 from Roster Including Multiple Top Prospects

[Cody Christie]

As spring training enters its final stretch, roster decisions accelerate. For the Minnesota Twins, Monday brought further clarity as the club trimmed nine players from big-league camp.

The group included several names with at least some path to the Opening Day roster, as well as a few prospects whose strong springs made the timing a little surprising. With less than three weeks until the regular season begins, the Twins are now narrowing their focus to the players who will make the final push.

Among the pitchers sent out of camp, Connor Prielipp and Marco Raya were probably the closest to legitimate Opening Day roster consideration. Both pitchers have already reached Triple-A and could have potentially filled bullpen roles if the Twins wanted to bring a young arm north.

Prielipp, however, is still being stretched out as a starter and did not do enough this spring to earn more time in camp. Across three Grapefruit League appearances, he pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, including two home runs. He also finished with six strikeouts and six walks. The raw stuff is still intriguing, but the command will need to sharpen as he continues building innings.

Raya’s outing this spring was even more difficult. Last season was already a challenging one as he posted a 6.02 ERA across 98 2/3 innings at Triple A. Now transitioning into a relief role, Raya allowed five runs in just 2 1/3 innings this spring while issuing five walks and striking out only two.

Both pitchers still appear likely to factor into the major league picture at some point during the season. For now, though, they will head back to the minor leagues to continue refining their roles and consistency before Minnesota calls again.

The same can be said for Andrew Morris and John Klein. Morris struggled during Grapefruit League action, giving up four runs on seven hits across 6 2/3 innings. He currently sits as the seventh or eighth starter on the organizational depth chart, so he will be in Minnesota at some point this year. Klein appeared in only a single game during camp, limiting his evaluation. However, the Twins added him to the 40-man roster this winter, making him a call-up candidate when the need arises. 

The most surprising move from Monday’s cuts was the demotion of top outfield prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez. There was never a strong expectation that Rodriguez would break camp with the Twins, but the timing still stands out considering how well he performed during exhibition play. In 11 Grapefruit League games, Rodriguez slashed an impressive .421/.476/.789 (1.265). He collected a double and two home runs while drawing two walks and striking out nine times.

Rodriguez already has experience at Triple-A after posting an .853 OPS in 52 games there last season. Capable of playing center field, he continues to look like one of the organization’s most dynamic offensive talents. The next step in his development remains familiar. Rodriguez does an excellent job commanding the strike zone and has often produced walk rates north of 20 percent. The issue is that the strikeouts remain high as well, with the outfielder still striking out close to one-third of the time. If he can trim that rate while staying healthy, the Twins may not be able to keep him in St. Paul for very long.

Another hitter sent out at the same time was Gabriel Gonzalez, who also enjoyed an impressive spring. Gonzalez homered on Monday and finished camp 9-for-18 (.500 BA) with three doubles and a home run. If he can carry that momentum into the regular season, he could quickly put himself into the conversation for a corner outfield role. Hendry Mendez remains a bit further from the big league picture, while catcher Patrick Winkel profiles primarily as organizational depth behind the plate.

Kendry Rojas, however, is a name that could become important again this season. The left-hander is expected to serve as part of the starting pitching depth at Triple-A, a role the Twins leaned on heavily a year ago. Rojas was part of the reason Minnesota felt comfortable moving Louie Varland at last year’s trade deadline. A fringe Top 100 prospect at the time, the young left-hander flashed impressive velocity and the type of strikeout ability that caught the organization’s attention.

This spring, Rojas allowed seven runs on seven hits in Grapefruit League action, but the underlying numbers were encouraging. He recorded seven strikeouts compared to just one walk, continuing to show the swing-and-miss ability that has long made him intriguing. A strong start at Triple-A St. Paul could quickly put him back on the radar as a promotion candidate.

For the Twins, these latest cuts help finalize the Opening Day roster and strengthen organizational depth. Players sent down Monday are still key for 2026, and could return if there are injuries or new opportunities, making them important to follow in the coming months.

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[Fire Dan Gladden]

One has to wonder if Outman and Roden had poor ST instead of strong ones if E-Rod would have had a chance to make the opening day roster.

The closest thing to a surprise here is probably Raya, but his poor ST made the decision easier.

[Dman]

I would have liked to see more of Morris and Klein.  Klein didn't walk anyone and gave up no runs.  Would have been nice to see a few more K's, but he made me curious as to what he might be able to do against better competition. Looks like he won't get that chance at least this spring.

Rodriguez and Gonzalez were doing their thing but mainly as subs against lessor competition.  Future still looks bright for those guys and they'll get more at bats at AAA as the Twins figure out the logjam in the outfield.

No real surprises just would have liked to see what some of these guys could do or not do against tougher competition.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Seems like the Twins' 'prospects' take forever to make impact if at all.

[stringer bell]

The Grapefruit League stats are a super small sample size. I believe Rojas, Morris and Raya were hit hard in one appearance, but otherwise acquitted themselves well. Preliepp didn't have a really good performance IIRC, although one was scoreless.

Sending prospects out who are on the 40-man at this time gives them more chance to get reps and protects the club from service time issues if they were to get injured in the coming two plus weeks.

It may well be that Emma's fate was sealed by the good play of both Outman and Roden. I'm guessing this is a real competition for a roster spot and that both guys will get significant PAs in the coming days to sort it out. 

[AceWrigley]

1 hour ago, stringer bell said:

It may well be that Emma's fate was sealed by the good play of both Outman and Roden. I'm guessing this is a real competition for a roster spot and that both guys will get significant PAs in the coming days to sort it out. 

This more than anything, probably. Clears the track for more running room.

[jorgenswest]

Teams across the MLB are doing the same.

I think it is part procedural and happens every spring at this time. I am not fully sure of the reason for the timing. One piece is that if a player on the 40 man that hasn’t been optioned gets injured now they would need to be on the major league IL earning service time. Speculation on my part is that it is close enough now that if they were put on the opening day roster an option would not be used.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

7 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

One has to wonder if Outman and Roden had poor ST instead of strong ones if E-Rod would have had a chance to make the opening day roster.

The closest thing to a surprise here is probably Raya, but his poor ST made the decision easier.

This tells me that Emma was never going to make the Twins opening day roster. He had a good spring training. It's OK. He'll be up soon. 

[twinstalker]

7 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

One has to wonder if Outman and Roden had poor ST instead of strong ones if E-Rod would have had a chance to make the opening day roster.

The closest thing to a surprise here is probably Raya, but his poor ST made the decision easier.

45% K rate vs guys not prioritizing striking him out.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

54 minutes ago, twinstalker said:

45% K rate vs guys not prioritizing striking him out.

If the pitcher stats don’t matter, do the hitter stats?

you don’t fine tune your mechanics with the bat on your shoulder

[Riverbrian]

I tend to not worry about spring training stats. I certainly don't look at them as any indicator of pending 26 man roster selection or pending 26 man roster unselection. 

I don't recommend reacting to small samples period and I certainly don't recommend reacting to small samples facing pitchers or hitters wearing 94 or 86 on their uniform. 

 

 

[Vanimal46]

11 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

One has to wonder if Outman and Roden had poor ST instead of strong ones if E-Rod would have had a chance to make the opening day roster.

First year as a Twins fan? E-Rod burning a full year of eligibility on this year's team? 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

12 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

First year as a Twins fan? E-Rod burning a full year of eligibility on this year's team? 

Point taken...

But don't forget about the brand new approach the Twins are taking! New voice from ownership! Change in executive leadership! Tom has said they are trying to win! I mean c'mon!!! 

[jorgenswest]

13 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

I tend to not worry about spring training stats. I certainly don't look at them as any indicator of pending 26 man roster selection or pending 26 man roster unselection. 

I don't recommend reacting to small samples period and I certainly don't recommend reacting to small samples facing pitchers or hitters wearing 94 or 86 on their uniform. 

 

 

I wouldn’t react to traditional stats in spring. I wouldn’t react to traditional regular season stats until June either and then it would be walk and strikeout rates.

I do think there are pitch level stats that don’t need large samples and can be considered. With that data you can also compare to previous AAA data and wonder if there has been an approach, pitch recognition or swing change. Comparing with AAA and looking for change might eliminate some concern about the 94 or 86.

[Cris E]

19 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

This tells me that Emma was never going to make the Twins opening day roster. He had a good spring training. It's OK. He'll be up soon. 

This org has been watching service time since before many of this generation of 30-something GMs was born. He'll be up in June when the Super Two date passes. 

[amjgt]

I think the Super 2 has been toned down a ton in the last decade or so, to the point that it rarely gets talked about any more.

The mid-April deadline, however, is definitely still a thing. But it's a thing for like 28 of the 30 teams. It's disingenuous to pretend that the Twins are in some minority here. The cost-benefit of stashing a player at AAA for 1/12th of the season vs calling him up is just too large. They've tried to provide some incentives to soften that cost benefit (PPI for example), but that benefit is just too small and unlikely to be worth it. And the types of players who might get you a PPI draft pick are exactly the types of players where that 7th year has the most value. 

[old nurse]

On 3/10/2026 at 3:59 PM, tarheeltwinsfan said:

This tells me that Emma was never going to make the Twins opening day roster. He had a good spring training. It's OK. He'll be up soon. 

Roden and Outman started games, Rodriguez., not so much. That should be the indication that there was no plan to have him start the season in the majors.