Which Twins Utility Infielder Should Stick Around a While?

[Cody Pirkl]

Image courtesy of © Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images

The Twins currently have a revolving door at shortstop, with journeyman utility players they can’t keep for much longer—if for no other reason, then because none of them fit that role well enough to lock it down. Having one such player is understandable, but the Twins are currently rostering three. One is likely to go when Kaelen Culpepper debuts, and the Twins would be wise to get rid of at least one more at a later time to better utilize the 26-man roster. Who has the best chance of sticking around?

Orlando Arcia

An All-Star for Atlanta in 2023, Arcia has been a true super utilityman, playing all four infield spots in his brief time with the big-league club. He posted a .932 OPS for Saint Paul before his promotion, but has posted a sub-.700 OPS in a small sample, which is in line with his production over the last two seasons.

 

While Arcia’s defensive flexibility is helpful, it’s worth wondering what else he has to provide at this stage in his career. At 31 years of age, it’s hard to envision him holding onto a role beyond 2026 with the Twins, making him especially expendable if the team continues to fall further under .500. He has also only been trusted a handful of times to start games at shortstop, and if the Twins put him behind Tristan Gray and Ryan Kreidler on the shortstop depth chart, his utility in 2026 is worth questioning. He may be the first to go when Culpepper gets the call.

 

Tristan Gray

After winning a bench job in spring training, Gray got off to a hot start in 2026 and has been an above-replacement-level player on the season. He started eating into Royce Lewis’s playing time at third base, where he played regularly until Brooks Lee shifted over full-time. His hot start and handful of clutch hits have carried him, but his slightly below-average .697 OPS is more than acceptable production for a bench player who can fill in at shortstop.

 

The problem is that Gray doesn’t appear to be a trustworthy option now that he’s been exposed to more playing time up the middle. As bad as Lee was defensively at short, Gray has matched him, with -5 Outs Above Average in a fraction of the time. It’s looking more and more like Gray is not a viable option at shortstop, even as an emergency fill-in. He may get more time since the Twins liked him most out of spring training from this group, but his utility will come into question when the Twins get an everyday shortstop on the roster. He's also leading the majors in a rather dubious category: no one misses by more, on average, when they whiff on a swing.

 

Ryan Kreidler

Kreidler has been a pleasant surprise offensively, posting a .761 OPS and already clubbing a career-high 3 homers this season. Brought in as a glove-first utility player, the glove has actually been the disappointment so far. Before 2026, Kreidler was an average or better defender across several infield and outfield spots, including shortstop and center field. At 28 years of age, it’s hard to imagine that Kreidler has suddenly lost a step. It’s more likely that we see things even out for him defensively as the year goes on.

 

Kreidler’s age and subsequent team control make him the most interesting option to keep on the roster moving forward. If his glove evens out, that alone may be enough to utilize some of his five remaining seasons of team control. If his bat can keep up this pace to any degree, he becomes a valuable player in the Willi Castro vein. This long-term upside, however remote reaching it may be, should be enough for Kreidler to be the last man standing if the Twins decide to purge their current veteran super-utility group and look toward the future.

 

The Twins can’t continue to waste 26-man roster spots the way they have been, especially if they continue to fall further out of contention. Lewis himself is sliding into this role, too, further muddying the picture. If their sights turn toward 2027 and beyond, the current super-utility infielder group should be the first place to look when it comes to swapping younger players in. Which, if any, of these three names should stick around?

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[Hunter4848]

Who cares? They all suck

[Linus]

IMO Gray should go first - he just cannot play SS. I’d probably keep Kreidler over Arcia just due to age. His elite glove doesn’t look elite to me but he has hit better than expected. I’m guessing over time he will sharpen up in the field and regress at the plate. 

[karcherd]

Move on from all 3, raise the floor of the roster.  Lee can be the backup SS, Clemens can play third or Lewis when Lee fills in at short.

[Blyleven2011]

To be honest  , I can't answer the questions until I know what the teams plan is , do they want to win or do they want to lose ...

They say they want to be competitive and will be , it seems like they are just stringing us along ...

Tom P.  Must of learned something from Falvey  , if the TWINS ARE LOSING , go into hiding  ( just abunch of cowards who can't give us a  straight answer ) ...

 

[mikelink45]

Does it matter?  We need to raise the floor, establish players who fit their position - I am tired of the flexibility factor.  Being able to play 3 - 5 positions at a mediocre level is hardly exciting. 

[karcherd]

13 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

To be honest  , I can't answer the questions until I know what the teams plan is , do they want to win or do they want to lose ...

They say they want to be competitive and will be , it seems like they are just stringing us along ...

Tom P.  Must of learned something from Falvey  , if the TWINS ARE LOSING , go into hiding  ( just abunch of cowards who can't give us a  straight answer ) ...

 

Tom P shouldn't be the one we are hearing from.  It should be Zoll, he should be setting the direction for this team and getting sign off from ownership.  This is where Tommy messed up in my opinion.  I don't want a hands on owner, hire competent people and let them do their job.  What I want to hear from him is who Zoll's replacement is.  Zoll's plan is no different than Falvey's, tread water with the retreads and pray you back into the playoffs so you can say you are successful.

How often do we hear from the Wilf's during the season, seldom, they give overall business updates at strategic times and let the management run the team.  The current generation of the Pohlads need to learn from them.

[mrtwinsfan]

 on all   3

[Danchat]

They've been fortunate that all three have contributed something offensively... Kreidler's the best defender so he makes the most sense to me to be a bench player. Gray's clutch hitting seems unsustainable and he's a bad defender, that doesn't look like a combo that will last too much longer. 

[thelanges5]

I’m too lazy to look it up. Does anyone know if Gray or Kreidler have options left?

[jaimedude]

I would keep Kriedler, Arcia and Gray are similar defenders. Arcia is a switch hitter. 

[RpR]

All of them.

[karcherd]

4 minutes ago, RpR said:

All of them.

If you want to end with 60 wins and no future, go ahead.

[Hunter4848]

16 minutes ago, RpR said:

All of them.

Why?

[big dog]

I vote for d) other. Time to try someone else, none of them have a future with a team trying for the playoffs someday. 

[DJL44]

Gray hits lefthanded, which means he can pinch hit for all the other infielders who hit right handed.

I would cut Arcia, option Kreidler and bring up Culpepper and Roden.

[tony&rodney]

The Twins return from New York after the 4th of July weekend. One wonders if the decision is made at that point to go with a couple of AAA players, which results in the release of two of Arcia, Gray, Kreidler.

[karcherd]

2 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins return from New York after the 4th of July weekend. One wonders if the decision is made at that point to go with a couple of AAA players, which results in the release of two of Arcia, Gray, Kreidler.

Why wait another month, this roster is not working and is not winning games. There is absolutely no reason to wait.  We have at least 4 utility players and one DH only player on this roster.  The roster needs to be balanced out.

[TheLeviathan]

2 hours ago, RpR said:

All of them.

Does TD have a Hall of Fame.  This poster's BTPP is historic.

Glossary: BTPP is a measure for Bad Takes Per Post which is the ratio of mind numbing opinions relative to shared opinions.  It does not include unshared opinions due to the still developing field of telepathy.

[Vanimal46]

1 hour ago, karcherd said:

Why wait another month, this roster is not working and is not winning games. There is absolutely no reason to wait.  We have at least 4 utility players and one DH only player on this roster.  The roster needs to be balanced out.

There’s always a reason to wait, and never any urgency to get the dirty work done developing young players. There’s a reason why this team will miss the playoffs 5 out of the last 6 years. Biggest reason of all is holding back top prospects so they can pretend it’s a top farm system year after year. 

[bean5302]

45 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

There’s always a reason to wait, and never any urgency to get the dirty work done developing young players. There’s a reason why this team will miss the playoffs 5 out of the last 6 years. Biggest reason of all is holding back top prospects so they can pretend it’s a top farm system year after year. 

I thought the biggest reasons were allocating a large percentage of the expendable income to guys like Joey Gallo, Manny Margot, Josh Bell, the the gutting of entire areas of the roster without rebuilding it (Duran, Jax, Stewart, Varland, Coulombe, etc) and squandering trade value by misreading the market (Kepler x2, Polanco, etc).

[David HK]

One of the 2-headed monster of Gray-Kreidler has to go right now. My vote is Gray, although Kreidler, what's up with his Ministry of Silly Runs on the basepaths?

Arcia is stinging the ball, he needs more ABs. For a team scoring 0-2 runs per game, this should be a no-brainer. Keep him, Dfa Bell, too.

[FlyingFinn]

If I have to pick one it's Kreidler. He's the best on defense and plays both SS and CF, a combo that's hard to find.