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

[chpettit19]

14 hours 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. 

As @Mike Sixel pointed out, Mendez would probably be at AAA playing 1B if it weren't for there being so many guys there already. As @jorgenswest points out, Roden has played 1B in the past. As @Chembry points out, GG has been there some this spring. And I'll add the Fedko has also played some 1B in the past.

The Twins seem to have some options to move a guy from the OF to 1B. From what I watched last year, Mendez was the worst OF amongst these 4. Followed by GG, then Fedko, then Roden. So, that'd be the order I try them at 1B. Mr Dinkelman has his work cut out for him in St Paul trying to ensure all these guys get enough ABs.

[Riverbrian]

In the case of Outman. 

The Dodgers have extreme 40 man pressure. More so than the Twins or maybe any organization.

They probably faced a lot of pressure to remove Outman from the 40 man roster in order to staff the 26 man roster with the best talent they could and they never took him off the 40 man. 

That should tell all of us that the Dodgers felt that Outman wouldn't have made it through the waiver process and it should also tell all of us that the Dodgers felt that Outman was somebody they didn't want to lose. 

The Twins trading for Outman... knowing he was out of options should also tell us that the Twins wanted Outman. 

If the Dodgers and Twins both feel this way about Outman. He probably isn't going to make it through waivers and therefore he had a roster spot this year and that was probably determined on August 1st, 2025 when they made the trade. 

Otherwise we just gave away Brock Stewart for nothing. Brock Stewart is also still on the Dodgers 40 man roster. They were going to send Anthony Banda through waivers instead and this means that the Dodgers like Stewart over Banda and we picked up Banda. 

Put all of this together and the only conclusion you can come to is real simple. Major league teams like Outman. 

Add to that... Outman's struggles at the major league level the past two years has been with the Dodgers in up and down sporadic fashion. They are small sample upon small sample upon small sample.

Who knows what he will do if given an extended run in the majors. I'm not saying that I'm pro Outman but I'm saying that you should all probably put down your gun and take these things under consideration. 

Roden has options. Others don't. 

[Cris E]

12 hours ago, LyleCole said:

How many sub-200 hitters can a team roster over the years:

Christian Vasquez, Mickey Gasper, James Outman, DaShawn Keirsey, Jonah Bride, Ryan Fitzgerald, our own Alan Roden, Jose Miranda, Caron McCusker  (755 plate appearances in 2025)

Don't over-reach unnecessarily, it weakens your point and distracts from a decent argument. 

Vasquez was coming off several years of good performance (for a catcher) with fine playoff experience in BOS and before Jeffers had emerged. As a team on the verge of competing the $10m was not a terrible deal at the time, given that Gary Sanchez was the incumbent and couldn't stay healthy. (Search this site for "5 Reasons Christian Vázquez is a GREAT Fit for the Twins".)

Miranda was playing outstanding ball when he got the concussion that he hasn't recovered from yet.  Ryan Fitzgerald suddenly looks pretty good once we've taken a closer look at his peers, and Roden is far better than Outman and deserved better than he got this spring.

The others, however, make your point with room to spare. 

 

[jorgenswest]

I wonder if Outman will get the DeShawn Keirsey playing time role. If that is the case I don’t want Roden instead of Outman. I want him here instead of Larnach. There is always so much angst about the 13th or sometimes 12th position player who won’t get that much playing time. For me it is Roden over Larnach. That might look like Roden at 1B and Bell at DH or it could look like Roden in LF over Larnach.

Just a note to add that @Riverbrian has advocated that all 13 position players be utilized. I am not sure that any team does that but this might be the team that needs to do it. If usage is like last year I prefer Outman in the Keirsey role.

[Mike Sixel]

Fangraphs thinks he and Rodriguez are nice 4th OFers, btw.....

[JD-TWINS]

20 hours 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. 

Larnach is 4th on depth chart in LF. He’s on the Team to DH v. RH pitching (75% of opponent starters) Outman/Clemens/Martin will ALL play LF ahead of Larnach.

At MLB level, he’s a better match-up than other LH hitters on the Team v. RH pitching!

Nobody bitched about Nelson Cruz being kept as DH w/o any practical defensive spot. Larnach isn’t as valuable at the plate, certainly,  but he can play Corner OF if needed.

Outman will be DFA’d by May 15th, at latest, if he doesn’t hit .240 minimum! Enter Roden or Emma or both?

The continual whining about “Roden not getting a chance after great success at AAA…..” is nuts! If he was that great, he would have been playing while in Toronto. He was 25 last summer and didn’t join Twins until August 1st. He got an opportunity in MN at MLB level and underperformed in a small sample size & then got hurt. Not the Team’s fault - he’s not been mistreated nor hindered!! The TRADE with Toronto was for ROJAS!!! Roden was a nice flier, throw-in and valued just like Outman …….maybe one of them will catch fire?

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, JD-TWINS said:

The continual whining about “Roden not getting a chance after great success at AAA…..” is nuts! If he was that great, he would have been playing while in Toronto. He was 25 last summer and didn’t join Twins until August 1st. He got an opportunity in MN at MLB level and underperformed in a small sample size & then got hurt. Not the Team’s fault - he’s not been mistreated nor hindered!! The TRADE with Toronto was for ROJAS!!! Roden was a nice flier, throw-in and valued just like Outman …….maybe one of them will catch fire?

Toronto was in the World Series with George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Davis Schneider and Nathan Lukes on the depth chart ahead of Roden. It is a little different.

[AceWrigley]

James Outman trying to prove us all wrong going 2-2 today, hitting two 2-run homers. He's had a pretty good spring. Oh, and anybody seen Royce Lewis' hit tool, he sure could use it back.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

21 hours ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I hope this is sarcastic.

What do I know. Outman hit 2 homers today...4 for the spring training season. Plus he can run like a scalded cat. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

3 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I wonder if Outman will get the DeShawn Keirsey playing time role. If that is the case I don’t want Roden instead of Outman. I want him here instead of Larnach. There is always so much angst about the 13th or sometimes 12th position player who won’t get that much playing time. For me it is Roden over Larnach. That might look like Roden at 1B and Bell at DH or it could look like Roden in LF over Larnach.

Just a note to add that @Riverbrian has advocated that all 13 position players be utilized. I am not sure that any team does that but this might be the team that needs to do it. If usage is like last year I prefer Outman in the Keirsey role.

Where is Margot when we need him?

[karcherd]

First I didn't understand the acquistion of Roden like others have pointed out.  He is another prospect that plays a position that we have a surplus of prospects already.  Will any of them make it be at least average or productive major leaguers, we will see.  Outman had one good year, and at his age, his acquisition made not sense either.  And I am not convinced his defense is that superior, I have seen enough misplayed fly balls from him that makes me question his defensive chops.

A lot of comments say Outman will be gone by May or June if he doesn't produce and the kids will be called up.  We don't know because we do not know how Zoll will operate.  I am concerned he will be similar to Falvey and the only way someone comes up is thru injury.   Just like Wallner two years ago was kept down for a month and a half longer than he should just so we could see guys like Margot flail away.

I really hope there is a short leash and they give the kids a chance.  You can't keep waiting until they are until 26 or 27 to see if they can make it here in the majors.

 

[Riverbrian]

18 hours ago, jorgenswest said:

I wonder if Outman will get the DeShawn Keirsey playing time role. If that is the case I don’t want Roden instead of Outman. I want him here instead of Larnach. There is always so much angst about the 13th or sometimes 12th position player who won’t get that much playing time. For me it is Roden over Larnach. That might look like Roden at 1B and Bell at DH or it could look like Roden in LF over Larnach.

Just a note to add that @Riverbrian has advocated that all 13 position players be utilized. I am not sure that any team does that but this might be the team that needs to do it. If usage is like last year I prefer Outman in the Keirsey role.

You are correct that not many teams (if any) properly use all 13 roster spots like I think they should.

I do believe it's important for all teams but something that is (in theory) less important for the big money spenders. 

Why? 

Because the big money spenders acquire real obvious separators. There is a big difference between Juan Soto and guy number 11, 12 or 13 on a roster. There isn't as big a difference between Josh Bell and guy number 11, 12 and 13 on the roster. Unless you decide... to purposely staff spots 11, 12 and 13 with bench players who can't even compete with Josh Bell.

If you purposely choose players who can't compete with Josh Bell. You are wasting one of the 13 roster spots that you can use for development.... 13 roster spots that you can use to find the guy who could become Juan Soto in the future. 

The proof is in the pudding. When is the last time the Twins have developed an offensive player that had any kind of value when they reach free agency. Max Kepler's one year deal doesn't qualify. We deployed Kepler like he was Mike Trout in his prime. He hits free agency and he was a fall back option at best. 

We have this supposed log jam in the corners. Let those logs compete with each other.

People here don't like Larnach and want to toss him aside like used gum. Bring in players to compete with Trevor... don't just hand Trevor an everyday job... you make him compete for his playing time... However... You need someone to out play him first.

If Shelton decides to play Trevor every day while Outman watches. There is no point in Outman at all.

Make Outman wait for a Larnach injury? So Outman comes in cold pulling bench splinters out his rear end and gets a prove RIGHT NOW 10 day sample size of playing time and then goes back to the bench when Trevor returns? What does a 10 day sample size do for anyone? If Outman goes 15 for 40 during that stretch with 3 homers. Did he just beat out Trevor on a small sample? I'd hope not because that would be equally mis-managed.  

Make players earn their playing time. This team only has Byron Buxton who deserves every day playing time. Maybe Keaschall... if he continues what he started and time will tell on that one. 

There is no log jam. We have the ability to start 2026 with Wallner, Larnach, Martin and Outman competing for playing time using the OF corners and the DH spot.

Just letting Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee hit like crap without any competition is just going to keep you drafting early if they fail like 2025. All 3B Eggs and SS Eggs in those baskets and if they fail... who is going to pick up the ball and run with it. No Net... No Insurance... Just one roster spot and throwing everything into that roster spot for years. Lewis and Lee or bust where failure leads to Nolan Arenado signing with the Twins at age 40 to one year deal while we wait for the next Royce Lewis to take a 5 year extended crack at it.

If you deploy all 13 roster spots at the overall problem... you can let the success failure ratio work for you... not against you. The success failure ratio has been working hard against us thus far.        

Outman taking a Keirsay role is pointless. This team isn't a pinch runner away from contention. This team is finding real talent away from contention. No specialists required. We don't need a short side platoon guy... we don't need a pinch runner. We need talent and we need to find it quick.

If they use Outman in a Keirsay role. I'll agree with nearly everyone on this site. Just toss Outman out. He will never get the opportunity to establish himself. If he's taking a roster spot... let's see if he can out play Larnach, Wallner and Martin and let's take honest steps toward being better as 2026 progresses and honest steps toward being better in 2027. 

Accumulate talent... find it. Use 13 roster spots to find it... do not use predetermination to find it just to Lee or bust your way through two years... three years... four years. We've seen how well that has worked for us. 

[D.C Twins]

Crazy to think that people in the Twins organization are getting paid a crap ton of money to make such obviously atrocious decisions... 

[D.C Twins]

Outman... why can't the Twins quit you?!

[D.C Twins]

10 hours ago, Riverbrian said:

I agree that there should be a competitive consideration in regards to 2024 and Today.

I also agree that we should have taken a different approach this year and I'm not a big fan of the direction they are travelling. 

However... no matter the situation you are in. Going for it or rebuilding... The log jam reasoning is just a waste of time. It's pointless. We want log jams. We should strive for log jams as an organization. 

As for Larnach and Tampa and Cleveland and Milwaukee. 

Milwaukee has Garrett Mitchell and Jake Bauers on their roster. Tampa signed Cedric Mullins to join Jake Fraley and Taylor Walls on their roster. Cleveland... They are mostly youth and are typically mostly youth. But Austin Hedges is still hanging around and Hoskins might make the team. 

With me... it's the expiring contract that drives me crazy. Larnach is not an expiring contract.

This means that he can still have a good year and be back in 2027 or traded with increased value. It also means that he could have a bad year and not be back but you don't have to make a decision on Larnach right now. Twinsdaily is acting like Larnach is the biggest issue on this team and Larnach is far from the biggest issue on this team... he's one of a few professional hitters on this team. If Larnach is the 13th best player on the roster... you'll have a pretty impressive roster. We don't have 12 players better than Larnach and he is not an expiring contract. Let's see if he can raise that OPS 30 40 or 50 points. If he can't... he can't. Injuries are going to open the door for Erod, Ggon and Jenkins soon enough. We have those guys in queue.    

With that said... Yes... I agree with you. I would have cashed in Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers in order to take advantage of maximum value for what we get in return. We need additional youth to add to the roster at 1B and SS primarily. I think it's a mistake for us to not do that. 

The accumulation of talent in the rotation and corner outfields. Not a concern to me at all. We need to strive for the accumulation of talent. 

I've never seen a log jam. Never seen one and neither has anybody else but every year... We talk about all these logs all jammed up and they never are.  

  

It doesn't really matter if the logs are jammed or not... the problem is that they are all comprised of rotten wood... 

[jorgenswest]

@Riverbrian I am with you.

They need to identify talent. Roster Outman? That’s fine but do it because you believe he can help you starting 3 or 4 games a week. Do it because you believe there is a reasonable chance (33%?) that the player that 3rd in rookie of the year balloting is still there. Don’t do it because you might need a centerfielder. If they don’t have enough confidence to give him those starts roster someone else.

[Riverbrian]

39 minutes ago, jorgenswest said:

@Riverbrian I am with you.

They need to identify talent. Roster Outman? That’s fine but do it because you believe he can help you starting 3 or 4 games a week. Do it because you believe there is a reasonable chance (33%?) that the player that 3rd in rookie of the year balloting is still there. Don’t do it because you might need a centerfielder. If they don’t have enough confidence to give him those starts roster someone else.

Exactly

This team should not be rostering specialists. It needs to be rostering players that they believe in. 

[Elliot]

I do not think the Twins will be a winning team this year. Not an earth shaking take on my part. I also think that “they” (whoever they are) do a poor job in some aspects of player development. I would love to see a greater emphasis on defense, and a process to get players to their best defensive position sooner in their development. It might also help to get some of the minor league starting pitchers into a relief role earlier.

I share the preceding to demonstrate that I am not a total FO supporter. That said, I do not buy into the "terrible roster construction" arguments in this article.

Specific Objections:

The Twins lineup is exceedingly Left Handed – It looks like a typical daily lineup will include 2 switch hitters (Bell and Lee), 2 LH (Larnach and Wallner), and 4 RH (Lewis, Keaschal, Buxton, and Jeffers). LF is a bit of a coin flip between Martin and Outman; one LH and one RH.  A lineup featuring 2 or 3 LH out of 9 hitters is not exceedingly LH.  Backups lean a bit more left-handed with catcher being the only non-lefty (switch hitter). A thought; is it a RH/LH issue or is it dissatisfaction with 2 of the players in particular? If Jenkins and Rodriguez (both leftys) replaced Larnach and Outman would we still be hearing the same left handedness objections?

Allen Roden is a victim – Roden is a young outfielder with potential. He has proven himself at AAA and in spring training. His small MLB sample is not at all impressive. There are a lot of young players who have the potential to be good MLB players who are sitting in AAA. The way to change that is to produce when given the opportunity in the majors. He will get that chance this year, just not on opening day. Roden is a victim in the same way that Dan Altavilla is a victim. Minor league options matter.

Roster construction is terrible and costing the Twins dearly – Decisions that resulted in losing Matt Bowman and likely, Alex Jackson, have cost the Twins assets.  Releasing Larnach would have as well. Optioning Altavilla and Roden cost them nothing, but it did buy time to possibly make trades involving other assets. Simply good player asset management.

More moves will be made in the first half of the season. Space will need to be made for some of the youngsters, including Roden. Until then, let’s enjoy the process and see which young veterans are able to improve and earn a spot on the next wave and which ones play themselves off the team.

[DJL44]

47 minutes ago, Elliot said:

Roster construction is terrible and costing the Twins dearly – Decisions that resulted in losing Matt Bowman and likely, Alex Jackson, have cost the Twins assets.  Releasing Larnach would have as well. Optioning Altavilla and Roden cost them nothing, but it did buy time to possibly make trades involving other assets. Simply good player asset management.

More moves will be made in the first half of the season. Space will need to be made for some of the youngsters, including Roden. Until then, let’s enjoy the process and see which young veterans are able to improve and earn a spot on the next wave and which ones play themselves off the team.

They have 10 outfielders on the 40 man roster and two more in AAA who could play in MLB this season (Fedko and Jenkins). Nobody can afford to devote that much of the active roster to outfielders. They won’t need that much depth. They have MLB ready talent sitting in AAA, some of it more talented than what they have in MLB, burning options while their development stagnates. That’s not good asset management. Paying Larnach $5M to be redundant is bad asset management. There is little information they will learn in April and May that they didn’t already know about the MLB veterans. There is no process to play out. We will continue to watch marginal veterans no other teams want get playing time while the rookies waste time in St Paul.

[Larry Janisewski]

On 3/23/2026 at 6:21 PM, Mike Sixel said:

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

I think Larnach being on the roster tells us 1 thing: No other team wants to give something (anything) up for him.

[Jim H]

1 hour ago, DJL44 said:

They have 10 outfielders on the 40 man roster and two more in AAA who could play in MLB this season (Fedko and Jenkins). Nobody can afford to devote that much of the active roster to outfielders. They won’t need that much depth. They have MLB ready talent sitting in AAA, some of it more talented than what they have in MLB, burning options while their development stagnates. That’s not good asset management. Paying Larnach $5M to be redundant is bad asset management. There is little information they will learn in April and May that they didn’t already know about the MLB veterans. There is no process to play out. We will continue to watch marginal veterans no other teams want get playing time while the rookies waste time in St Paul.

This is exactly right. I am not complaining specifically about Outman or Larnach. Its what is the plan here? The team added Outman, Mendez, and Roden to the 40 man roster at the deadline last year. They appear to be redundant on the current roster. There is no obvious way for any of them to get a real run at proving them could be a major league regular at this time. They could be fitted in as a backup and/or a short term injury replacement maybe. 

So why were they acquired if they aren't better than what you already have in your system? This what I wonder about. You just aren't going to be able to give all these outfielders a fair shot to prove they are major league regulars. There are too many of them mostly with nothing left to prove in the minors.

[DJL44]

If you break down the players who are OFF the 26-man roster you have:

8 pitchers

4 outfielders (Rodriguez, Roden, Mendez, Gonzalez)

Wagaman and Kreidler

0 catchers

If Lee or Gray gets hurt, they will promote Kreidler. If a different infielder gets hurt, they will promote Wagaman. If a catcher goes on the 10-day IL, they need to release a player. I expect to see a lot of  Wagaman this season and very little of Gonzalez. Fedko and Rosario will struggle to get consistent playing time in AAA.

[nicksaviking]

A rebuilding team has one hitter on the 26-man roster under the age of 26. And of the six 40-man hitters in AAA, two of them are already 27-years old. 

[stringer bell]

5 hours ago, Elliot said:

I do not think the Twins will be a winning team this year. Not an earth shaking take on my part. I also think that “they” (whoever they are) do a poor job in some aspects of player development. I would love to see a greater emphasis on defense, and a process to get players to their best defensive position sooner in their development. It might also help to get some of the minor league starting pitchers into a relief role earlier.

I share the preceding to demonstrate that I am not a total FO supporter. That said, I do not buy into the "terrible roster construction" arguments in this article.

Specific Objections:

The Twins lineup is exceedingly Left Handed – It looks like a typical daily lineup will include 2 switch hitters (Bell and Lee), 2 LH (Larnach and Wallner), and 4 RH (Lewis, Keaschal, Buxton, and Jeffers). LF is a bit of a coin flip between Martin and Outman; one LH and one RH.  A lineup featuring 2 or 3 LH out of 9 hitters is not exceedingly LH.  Backups lean a bit more left-handed with catcher being the only non-lefty (switch hitter). A thought; is it a RH/LH issue or is it dissatisfaction with 2 of the players in particular? If Jenkins and Rodriguez (both leftys) replaced Larnach and Outman would we still be hearing the same left handedness objections?

Allen Roden is a victim – Roden is a young outfielder with potential. He has proven himself at AAA and in spring training. His small MLB sample is not at all impressive. There are a lot of young players who have the potential to be good MLB players who are sitting in AAA. The way to change that is to produce when given the opportunity in the majors. He will get that chance this year, just not on opening day. Roden is a victim in the same way that Dan Altavilla is a victim. Minor league options matter.

Roster construction is terrible and costing the Twins dearly – Decisions that resulted in losing Matt Bowman and likely, Alex Jackson, have cost the Twins assets.  Releasing Larnach would have as well. Optioning Altavilla and Roden cost them nothing, but it did buy time to possibly make trades involving other assets. Simply good player asset management.

More moves will be made in the first half of the season. Space will need to be made for some of the youngsters, including Roden. Until then, let’s enjoy the process and see which young veterans are able to improve and earn a spot on the next wave and which ones play themselves off the team.

Bowman signed a minor league deal and is still around. He’ll start out the season with the Saints. Jackson cleared waivers and is at St. Paul. 
 

Altavilla wasn’t optioned. He has a minor league contract and (for now) didn’t make the major league team. 

[jkcarew]

Acquire in trade, then mothball behind Trevor Larnach.

Seems about right. This way, we have quality depth in case Larnach and Outman are both on IL during the playoffs.