Alan Roden is a Victim of Minnesota Twins' Poor Roster-Building

[Cody Pirkl]

Image courtesy of © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Acquired at last year's historic trade deadline sell-off, Alan Roden was an athletic 25-year-old outfielder whom the Twins chose to target in the Louis Varland trade. With a .917 OPS across over 100 games in Triple-A, Roden has little to prove in the minor leagues. That, paired with his age, means the next step in his career is proving he can produce in the majors, where he's struggled in 153 plate appearances. Unfortunately, the Twins aren't providing him that opportunity.

In a vacuum, Roden should be a lock to make the Opening Day roster of a team projected to finish well below .500. He's likely the second-best defensive outfielder they have, after a strong showing in the field in 2025 by Outs Above Average. Despite his small sample of offensive struggles, he's shown significant upside in his Triple-A performance and could contribute to an MLB roster in several ways. He's a logical answer for a team looking to get faster and better on defense, while also having a chance to bloom offensively.

 

Unfortunately, Roden had a minor-league option remaining, which led to his demotion on Sunday. His strong spring performance was not enough to beat out the Twins’ insatiable urge to hoard left-handed-hitting outfielders. Trevor Larnach and James Outman would have to be exposed to waivers if they don't make the roster. Now, the team can stash the 26-year-old Roden in Triple-A for his third stint at a level he has already dominated. Meanwhile, the 40-man roster remains overstocked with left-handed outfielders, with Walker Jenkins set to add to that group later this season.

Of course, this could have been avoided at several junctures. It's worth asking why Roden was targeted by the Twins at all, as opposed to a player at literally any other position. The timeline of his career doesn't align with what the Twins need or what they can offer him in terms of opportunity. They also acquired Outman at the deadline, knowing his out-of-options status would contribute to a logjam in short order.

 

Perhaps they saw good value and disregarded the fits. It all could have been solved this offseason by non-tendering Larnach, or trading him for just about anything. Instead, they chose to pay him $4.475 million, despite health concerns and the fact that he's little more than a DH with a career OPS of just .726. It's a baffling decision, in hindsight, considering the team's surfeit of this player type and need for as much payroll space as possible.

Roden may not be a strong bet to be a big part of the next great Twins’ team, but he's an interesting player who deserves a real chance. His window of opportunity will be incredibly small—potentially limited to the time between whenever he's called up and when Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jenkins debut.

 

This is an example of how the Twins simply cannot do a thorough job of sorting through these types of players, given how many of them they continue to collect and retain. Almost 1,700 plate appearances into Larnach's career, they're either still chasing some kind of undiscovered upside or see his career 103 wRC+ as too good to risk trying to improve upon. Alan Roden will be fortunate to get a quarter as many plate appearances to prove himself.

 

Today, Roden is the loser in the Twins’ philosophy regarding left-handed-hitting outfielders. The team ultimately loses out, as well. They declined to take steps toward their goals of getting faster, more athletic, and better defensively. Their roster is extremely left-handed as a whole, and is certain to see that weakness attacked regularly. They're choosing not to pursue upside for a roster that is in desperate need of it if they want to contend in 2026. It's just bad roster construction. And the lack of opportunity they're creating by holding onto every player of this type will have lasting effects on players in future seasons.

Roden will likely appear in 2026, but the current roster structure gave him no chance to earn a job this spring. His already limited window has likely shrunk further. The Twins could have avoided this, but their pursuit of left-handed hitters comes at a cost. Do you agree?

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[DJL44]

If they aren’t going to play him they should trade him. There are plenty of needs at other positions. Better than wasting his productive years in AAA.

[darwin22]

Very good analysis Cody of the continued ineptitude of this front office.

Plain and simple, Rodon earned the right to make this roster and you could make a very strong argument he should be the starting LF in Baltimore on Opening Day.

Instead we're stuck with Outman for at least the next few weeks.

This organization appears intent on finishing in LAST place.

It sure seems today like light years since we won a playoff series in October of 2023.

 

 

[Mike Sixel]

Neither Larnach nor Outman should be on this roster. Completely unserious organization. 

[Vanimal46]

It’s hard to believe the Twins are planning on Larnach playing LF again. But here we are, set on a Larnach - Buxton - Wallner OF to start 2026.

Good luck to the pitching staff. The defense behind them is going to be among the worst in all of MLB. 

[bean5302]

Quote

His strong spring performance

I'd say more like his "adequate" spring performance. 47 PA .302/.362/.395 OPS .757 wRC+ 104. Very Austin Martin-like. No power, speedy, needs to walk more to get the OBP up high enough to provide value.

Let's be real about Roden. Roden probably shouldn't have been asked to repeat AA for the beginning of 2024, but he earned a spot opening day for the Blue Jays in 2025 and proceeded to defecate the bed.

There's a high degree of likelihood he's a AAAA player, but the possibility he could be solid as a 4th outfielder.

[hlsballer318]

Is there a possibility the current FO is trying to finagle their way out of a mistake of the prior? Give Larnach and Outman spring training and a month to possibly get some trade buzz before cutting bait?

[Danchat]

The Roden part of the Varland deal never made much sense to me, and especially now that Larnach is back and they refuse to abandon Outman. If they're going to sit on Roden, what was the point of taking that last minute offer on Varland? They may as well should have held onto him, make him the closer for this season, and then debate trading him over the 2026 trade deadline (still would have 3.5 years of control). Rojas is a nice pitching prospect, but trading Varland for just one legit prospect is a really dumb move. Ugh.

[MGX]

11 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

I'd say more like his "adequate" spring performance. 47 PA .302/.362/.395 OPS .757 wRC+ 104. Very Austin Martin-like. No power, speedy, needs to walk more to get the OBP up high enough to provide value.

Exactly, the only thing I'd add is Martin produced those type of number VS MLB pitching while Roden did it in Spring Training. Don't get me wrong Roden probably should the 4th OF & as stated in the article the only reason he isn't is because of poor roster construction. Let's hold off on acting he's been robbed of potentially a starting OF role until he proves he can hit MLB pitching.

[LA Vikes Fan]

25 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

It’s hard to believe the Twins are planning on Larnach playing LF again. But here we are, set on a Larnach - Buxton - Wallner OF to start 2026.

Good luck to the pitching staff. The defense behind them is going to be among the worst in all of MLB. 

God I hope you're wrong. At the very least, I hope the thought is Wallner - Buxton  - Martin in the OF with Larnach as the LH DH/emergency OF. I would actually prefer Larnach and Outman gone with a Buxton/Wallner/Martin/Roden OF group, each playing on the OF 4-5 days a week and DH'ing on occasion.  

Bottom line is that Larnach should NOT see the OF. 

 

[Vanimal46]

7 minutes ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

God I hope you're wrong. At the very least, I hope the thought is Wallner - Buxton  - Martin in the OF with Larnach as the LH DH/emergency OF. I would actually prefer Larnach and Outman gone with a Buxton/Wallner/Martin/Roden OF group, each playing on the OF 4-5 days a week and DH'ing on occasion.  

Bottom line is that Larnach should NOT see the OF. 

 

Austin Martin in LF is slightly more tolerable than Larnach. I fear he may be the one asked to fill in elsewhere around the infield because our depth there is also extremely thin. 

[HerbieFan]

27 minutes ago, hlsballer318 said:

Is there a possibility the current FO is trying to finagle their way out of a mistake of the prior? Give Larnach and Outman spring training and a month to possibly get some trade buzz before cutting bait?

Maybe they could trade one for a reliever...... :(

[Mike Sixel]

41 minutes ago, hlsballer318 said:

Is there a possibility the current FO is trying to finagle their way out of a mistake of the prior? Give Larnach and Outman spring training and a month to possibly get some trade buzz before cutting bait?

Larnach has a career of "about average hitter" and terrible defense. Who is trading for that in a month? No one makes trades in May. Outman? Hasn't been even Vazquez like* in 2 years.......

*an exaggeration...

[DJL44]

49 minutes ago, hlsballer318 said:

Is there a possibility the current FO is trying to finagle their way out of a mistake of the prior? Give Larnach and Outman spring training and a month to possibly get some trade buzz before cutting bait?

What other MLB organization is dumb enough to be fooled by a small sample size hot month from Outman?

[sweetmusicviola16]

Couldn't risk losing Outman on waivers..... 

[Vanimal46]

10 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

What other MLB organization is dumb enough to be fooled by a small sample size hot month from Outman?

Maybe we can get a reliever whose arm explodes whenever they pitch more than 20 innings like Brock Stewart. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

14 minutes ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

Couldn't risk losing Outman on waivers..... 

I hope this is sarcastic.

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, bean5302 said:

I'd say more like his "adequate" spring performance. 47 PA .302/.362/.395 OPS .757 wRC+ 104. Very Austin Martin-like. No power, speedy, needs to walk more to get the OBP up high enough to provide value.

Let's be real about Roden. Roden probably shouldn't have been asked to repeat AA for the beginning of 2024, but he earned a spot opening day for the Blue Jays in 2025 and proceeded to defecate the bed.

There's a high degree of likelihood he's a AAAA player, but the possibility he could be solid as a 4th outfielder.

TC should give him a chance to show if he tops out as a AAAA player or has MLB talent.  Parking him in AAA where he has nothing to prove is dumb.  Parking him in AAA to keep Outman from a possible waiver claim shows that the TC is deeply flawed organization even with the new FO.

[jorgenswest]

Roden has two options left. Rodriguez has 1. I would have had them both on the roster  but priority to Rodriguez. His season might look like struggle initially or struggle once the league sees him. He can then go get reset on his option and return. That would give him the off-season to build off of that. I don’t know if he will have a career as a starter in the major leagues. The path to that role might need some up and down. He only has one year left to do that. Roden needs to be up too.

 

[sweetmusicviola16]

12 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I hope this is sarcastic.

Yes, Now Zoll however might agree with my first statement. 

This has become such a horribly run franchise.

[GNess]

Roden is in a tough spot in St Paul as well given a likely OF of Rodriguez, Gonzalez and Jenkins. (Not sure of Jenkins status.) Fedko too?

If the Twins intended to keep Larnach they certainly shouldn't have targeted Roden in a trade package.

 

 

[Vanimal46]

18 minutes ago, GNess said:

Roden is in a tough spot in St Paul as well given a likely OF of Rodriguez, Gonzalez and Jenkins. (Not sure of Jenkins status.) Fedko too?

If the Twins intended to keep Larnach they certainly shouldn't have targeted Roden in a trade package.

The first month of the season would be a pretty good time to try out Roden before the other 3 potential difference making prospects are ready to go as well. 

[Vanimal46]

32 minutes ago, GNess said:

Roden is in a tough spot in St Paul as well given a likely OF of Rodriguez, Gonzalez and Jenkins. (Not sure of Jenkins status.) Fedko too?

If the Twins intended to keep Larnach they certainly shouldn't have targeted Roden in a trade package.

Given that likely log jam in St Paul, who out of those 5 can play 1B? I would try Gonzalez and/or Fedko. 

[Mike Sixel]

5 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

Given that likely log jam in St Paul, who out of those 5 can play 1B? I would try Gonzalez and/or Fedko. 

Mendez. But I guess they could put him in AA?

[Mike Sixel]

I'm guessing several real prospects are in AA, behind bad veterans at AAA.....

[Vanimal46]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Mendez. But I guess they could put him in AA?

Good call. Mendez has basically played a full season of AA split over 2 years but he could start there in 2026. I'd expect an early call up to St Paul for him though. In 118 games, he's a .299/.399 BA/OBP guy. Can we round to the nearest dollar here and call him a .300/.400/.440 guy at that level?

[stringer bell]

This problem has been very evident since the trading deadline. I’ve been waiting for trades since the offseason started and the only move was to tender Larnach. I tend to believe that baseball gms know what they’re doing, but this is malpractice. 

[nicksaviking]

Relax everyone. Rodon is only 25-years-old, that's too young to be a regular MLB baseball player. The average age of a AAA player is 26.5 years old and I'm repeatedly told by people who track Twins players in the minor leagues that this is reasonable measure of a player's future production.

The Twins 40-man roster has an average age of 28.6 years, which is right in line with the other World Series contending teams. You know, the teams that are in the same boat as the Twins.

[nicksaviking]

1 hour ago, Vanimal46 said:

Maybe we can get a reliever whose arm explodes whenever they pitch more than 20 innings like Brock Stewart. 

I'll trade Stewart and his IR spot for Outman and his regular roster spot in a heartbeat.

[Vanimal46]

3 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

I'll trade Stewart and his IR spot for Outman and his regular roster spot in a heartbeat.

The Twins unfortunately need warm bodies at this point. I didn't know this until just now but Stewart is expected to be out for the 2026 season.