Twins Cut Two Former First-Round Picks from Spring Roster

[Cody Christie]

The calendar is inching closer to Opening Day for the Minnesota Twins. In just over two weeks, the club will begin the 2026 season on March 26 in Baltimore. Until then, the focus remains on getting through the final stretch of spring training in Fort Myers.

As the big league roster begins to take shape, the Twins have continued trimming their camp roster. Earlier this week, Minnesota made another round of roster moves, bringing the total number of players in camp down to 49. With minor league games beginning on the back fields, those teams need players as well, especially prospects who need regular at-bats and innings.

After Wednesday’s 2-1 Grapefruit League win over the Detroit Tigers, the Twins made another pair of cuts. Kaelen Culpepper and Aaron Sabato were both reassigned from big league camp, bringing the camp roster down to 47 players. Both players entered camp as non-roster invitees, but they arrived in very different spots in their development.

Culpepper, 23, was Minnesota’s first-round pick in the 2024 draft and has quickly become one of the organization’s most exciting prospects. The shortstop is already a consensus top 100 prospect across the industry, and his first experience in a major league camp offered an encouraging glimpse of what could be ahead.

He made the most of his opportunities this spring. Culpepper finished camp batting .316 with a .749 OPS across limited action, collecting six hits in 19 at-bats. He added a double, drove in two runs, walked once, and struck out five times. His final appearance was also his most productive. Culpepper went 2-for-2 on Wednesday with a walk-off hit. However, the Twins announced his reassignment shortly after the game.

The decision to send him down was never much of a surprise. Culpepper has not yet played at Triple-A, and the organization would prefer he get everyday reps rather than sporadic appearances late in Grapefruit League games.

Still, his performance reinforced the belief that he may not be far away. Last season, he played 113 games between High- and Double-A, producing an .844 OPS that came with a blend of contact ability, emerging power, and the defensive profile to remain in the middle of the infield.

He will open the 2026 season with Triple-A St. Paul, where the next step will be proving that his bat can handle upper-level pitching. If that happens, it would not be surprising to see Culpepper enter the conversation for a big league opportunity sometime this summer.

Sabato’s path has been much different. The first baseman was the 27th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, selected largely for the offensive upside he showed in college. The Twins hoped his power bat could eventually anchor the middle of a lineup.

While there have been flashes, the production has not fully materialized. Sabato reached Triple- A last season and finished the year on a strong stretch, but his overall numbers still left questions. Across the season, he hit .245 with a .741 OPS.

This spring, he appeared in 12 games and hit .231 with a .718 OPS. The power potential remains intriguing, but he has yet to consistently show the type of offensive impact that would force the Twins to clear a spot for him at the big league level.

For Culpepper, the assignment to St. Paul feels more like a step along the path rather than a setback. The Twins wanted to see how one of their most promising young players handled his first big league camp. The answer was encouraging.

Now the next challenge begins in Triple A, where Culpepper will try to prove that his impressive spring was just a preview of what is still to come. If that happens, the conversation about when he reaches Minnesota could arrive sooner than later.

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[JD-TWINS]

Hope Culpepper can get 2-3 months in the Show this year …….. really need more athleticism at SS!

[Doctor Wu]

41 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Hope Culpepper can get 2-3 months in the Show this year …….. really need more athleticism at SS!

Yeah, barring an injury, or some unexpected regression, I would hope/expect that Culpepper makes his MLB debut sometime this summer. 

[LambchoP]

K pepper is a real exciting player. I hope we get to see some of him in the bigs this year along with Gonzalez, Jenkins and Rodriguez.

[stringer bell]

Are we sold that Culpepper will be a better SS than Lee? Yes, he is the faster runner, but hands and accuracy enter in as well. Gleeman and the Geek seem to think it is an open question as to whether he better suited at third or second than shortstop and they have access to the Twins' brain trust and have been at spring training this year. 

If Culpepper isn't a shortstop, there still isn't anyone to push Lee off the position. The report on Lee yesterday said that his defense was pretty close to average at shortstop (I believe it was from the time Correa was traded) and average is acceptable if he's a plus hitter. Also, it would explain the playing of Keaschall in left field if Culpepper is viewed as a possible second baseman. 

[Linus]

6 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Are we sold that Culpepper will be a better SS than Lee? Yes, he is the faster runner, but hands and accuracy enter in as well. Gleeman and the Geek seem to think it is an open question as to whether he better suited at third or second than shortstop and they have access to the Twins' brain trust and have been at spring training this year. 

If Culpepper isn't a shortstop, there still isn't anyone to push Lee off the position. The report on Lee yesterday said that his defense was pretty close to average at shortstop (I believe it was from the time Correa was traded) and average is acceptable if he's a plus hitter. Also, it would explain the playing of Keaschall in left field if Culpepper is viewed as a possible second baseman. 

We will eventually find out through their performance. If I had to guess I would say yes in the field. Kpepper has the stronger arm and greater speed and athleticism. I’m not high on Lee as a SS but I give him credit for having good hands and turning routine plays into outs reliably. Anyone’s guess on who ends up being the better hitter. Both could succeed or fail but I look forward to finding out a lot more this year. 

[Fred]

On 3/12/2026 at 12:47 PM, stringer bell said:

Are we sold that Culpepper will be a better SS than Lee? Yes, he is the faster runner, but hands and accuracy enter in as well. Gleeman and the Geek seem to think it is an open question as to whether he better suited at third or second than shortstop and they have access to the Twins' brain trust and have been at spring training this year. 

If Culpepper isn't a shortstop, there still isn't anyone to push Lee off the position. The report on Lee yesterday said that his defense was pretty close to average at shortstop (I believe it was from the time Correa was traded) and average is acceptable if he's a plus hitter. Also, it would explain the playing of Keaschall in left field if Culpepper is viewed as a possible second baseman. 

Unfortunately, so far, Lee has not shown us anything like "a plus hitter". He's got a long way to go before they can justify playing him for his bat. I haven't given up on him yet, but it seems to me that he only has this year to show that he can be more than an acceptable utility guy. I think he can play better defense at 2nd than Keaschall, but so can Clemens. For now, I want Culpepper to take a shot at SS with Lee at 2nd (I think we've seen the best from Clemens and, while he did have one good month, is that enough?) At least Lee is a switch hitter.