BREAKING: Twins Calling Up Top Prospect Kaelen Culpepper

[ashbury]

6 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

So I read the rules/stipulations and they say PPI program allows up to but can’t exceed 60 days of MLB service time. Then below that statement it says rookies aren’t considered rookies after 45 days. Not sure what the timing baseline is. 

Days on an active Major League roster is the term they use, and the Twins have 46 games remaining on their schedule.  They can't fit those into 44 days, so even if he never comes to the plate (130 at bats are also a threshold for rookie eligibility) he'll no longer be a rookie next Opening Day.

In the movies the AAA manager calls the player into his office to deliver the good news.  If it were me, I would have asked the player his opinion - we're bringing you up to the Show, do you want to come up tomorrow, or wait a few days and preserve rookie eligibility for next year?  But that's (just one reason) why I'd be a lousy manager.

[DJL44]

Isn’t Kyler Fedko out for the season? Put him on the 60 day IL

[Chris Hove]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Isn’t Kyler Fedko out for the season? Put him on the 60 day IL

He's still listed on the 7-day, but that could be an option to put him on the 60-day and free up a 40-man spot for KC.

[Teflon]

Hopefully he can stick and be a real honest-to -goodness shortstop, breaking the pattern of the Twins drafting shortstops that can't actually play there.

[DJL44]

I also would have no issue cutting Rashi or Go from the 40-man roster.

[TheLeviathan]

Let's keep the expectations tempered while we also enjoy a fun time getting to see what this kid can do!

I hope he injects the team with some life.

[tony&rodney]

10 minutes ago, Patzky said:

I'm so looking forward to not having to cringe every time a ball is hit up the middle.

Tristan Gray is not up to a level of shortstop we should want. However, Kreidler is a very good defender. We will hope Culpepper makes all of the routine plays and is smooth on relays.

11 minutes ago, ashbury said:

I count 21 pitchers and 19 position players on the Twins' 40-man roster, so they need a spot for Culpepper and the move I anticipate is Gray being designated for assignment.  Unlikely but he could get claimed on waivers during that process.  I don't know whether he can then refuse an outright assignment to St Paul, or if in that case he'd want to look for an opportunity he likes better.  So - 90% chance he goes back to St Paul IMO, but there are wheels within wheels on even a low-voltage move like that.

The Twins can put Kyler Fedko on the 60 day IL I think. There are other players who could be DFA'ed off of the 40 person roster. Go, Orze, or Rashi are just three obvious players who can be put off of the 40 roster.

[umterp23]

ROY award is nice and I’m sure 1 extra pick after round one is a bonus, which means your draft $ pool doesn’t change? If the incentive is just a draft pick and no increase in pool dollars, not sure it is worth it. service time manipulation stinks by owners. I could see that being a sticking point in all cba talks as players wanting more control of their timeline. 

[ashbury]

1 minute ago, tony&rodney said:

The Twins can put Kyler Fedko on the 60 day IL I think. There are other players who could be DFA'ed off of the 40 person roster. Go, Orze, or Rashi are just three obvious players who can be put off of the 40 roster.

Someone else also mentioned Fedko and I threw a quick edit into my post to acknowledge the oversight.  I think the Twins, and most teams, are comfortable with the 21/19 ratio so I would not expect to see a pitcher go off the roster to make room.

[Cris E]

38 minutes ago, danielp19653 said:

You're welcome everyone, got my tickets for tonight's Saints game (first one of the year). Even told my wife that meant Jenkins and Culpepper were going to get called up haha

Thank me too.  I went last night and got Jenkins going. 

BTW, in that game Gabby Gonzalez was playing 1B and got into a collision while running a ball over to the base. He's not a fast man, so when it looked close he just ran through the base to get the out rather than slow to reach out a toe, and it appears he got his foot stepped on. He left the game helped by trainers, but no news this morning.

[chpettit19]

[Obie]

Assume he will immediately be slotted in at shortstop, moving Kreidler to the bench. I wonder if the Twins will consider starting Kreidler at third over Lee against lefty starters. Lee has an abysmal .570 OPS against lefties.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

27 minutes ago, umterp23 said:

So I read the rules/stipulations and they say PPI program allows up to but can’t exceed 60 days of MLB service time. Then below that statement it says rookies aren’t considered rookies after 45 days. Not sure what the timing baseline is. 

I think there is a chance they could assign him back to AAA before the end of the season if we are out of the running for a playoff spot.  I think it tells you the front office is feeling a little desperate too doing this move a week or two earlier than likely they had planned.  

[BaseballBob]

Good for Culpepper! But how much will the offense improve when Kreidler gets his time in center field? Culpepper and Jenkins should be traveling to Milwaukee together. 

[tony&rodney]

3 minutes ago, ashbury said:

Someone else also mentioned Fedko and I threw a quick edit into my post to acknowledge the oversight.  I think the Twins, and most teams, are comfortable with the 21/19 ratio so I would not expect to see a pitcher go off the roster to make room.

True, teams like keeping that balance. We are in the last two months of the 2026 season though and a quick glance over the 40 roster shows a couple of clear decisions looming on the horizon. One is that there are a few pitchers signed as depth who really do not have a path back to the Twins team. Every team loads up on ST invites and adds some peripheral pitchers to try out, hoping for improvement/surprise and protecting against the expected injuries. These guys usually do not survive the pruning of the 40 roster done after the season. Secondly, the Twins continue to carry a load of outfielders. Some of those will not be found on the roster later this year. The Twins do not have any difficult decisions to make concerning their 40 person roster at this time. They can add a couple of guys if that helps the team. The difficult part is the discussions with the players that have worked all year, been a part of the team and/or organization. Baseball is a tough occupation.

[Chris Hove]

The one issue I have with KC being called up is that, next year, when there is a lockout, depending on how long it is, he will be ineligible to play in the minors due to his 40-man status. Hopefully it won't affect him, but it's still very exciting. Congrats to him.

[purplesoldier4u]

58 minutes ago, DataNerd said:

They aren't going to call him up for him to start 3 times a week.

If Rocco were still managing, KC would be in that situation. MIght as well call up Jenkins too!

[ashbury]

7 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

True, teams like keeping that balance. We are in the last two months of the 2026 season though and a quick glance over the 40 roster shows a couple of clear decisions looming on the horizon. One is that there are a few pitchers signed as depth who really do not have a path back to the Twins team. Every team loads up on ST invites and adds some peripheral pitchers to try out, hoping for improvement/surprise and protecting against the expected injuries. These guys usually do not survive the pruning of the 40 roster done after the season. Secondly, the Twins continue to carry a load of outfielders. Some of those will not be found on the roster later this year. The Twins do not have any difficult decisions to make concerning their 40 person roster at this time. They can add a couple of guys if that helps the team. The difficult part is the discussions with the players that have worked all year, been a part of the team and/or organization. Baseball is a tough occupation.

Sometimes players see the handwriting on the wall and ask for their release so they can seek out a better opportunity, and the team grants it.  There's a human factor to all this roster churn and FOs typically try to do right by everyone if they can.

[CRF]

YES!

[Road trip]

3 minutes ago, Obie said:

Assume he will immediately be slotted in at shortstop, moving Kreidler to the bench. I wonder if the Twins will consider starting Kreidler at third over Lee against lefty starters. Lee has an abysmal .570 OPS against lefties.

Kreidler in CF also an option against lefties.  That would allow them to play an all right handed outfield and sit Larnach (.574 OPS split), improving the defense as well as the offense.

[HarmonK03]

57 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

The question is... Will Culpepper stick at SS, or will they move him around between 2B, 3B, and SS? I hope it's the former.

I really hope they don't move him around, that is Kreidler's role.

[rdehring]

1 hour ago, Paul Walerius said:

Jackson would be the other guess.   Not sure. On options though. 

I doubt they would try to get Jackson thru waivers as they are counting on him being their backup next year when Jeffers is gone.

[MMMordabito]

Probably doesn't move the needle with this team, but good for him.

[HarmonK03]

56 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

Hope they plan to start him basically every day. Kreidler is best suited to be a utility guy (and his ability to play quality CF defense is great)

Kreidler is average in CF, he may be better defensively than Keaschall, his lack of hitting does not overcome the difference.  We have a CF in St. Paul if they are that concerned with Keaschall then Jenkins needs to be up as well.  Kreidler is not the answer.

[tony&rodney]

7 minutes ago, Chris Hove said:

The one issue I have with KC being called up is that, next year, when there is a lockout, depending on how long it is, he will be ineligible to play in the minors due to his 40-man status. Hopefully it won't affect him, but it's still very exciting. Congrats to him.

Can you or anyone else please explain why you believe that baseball will be cancelled for 2027. I don't understand that thought process. This is not a criticism, per se, but I'm not seeing it.

I'm not a Vegas guy but if I had to bet on either the Twins winning the 2026 World Series or MLB being cancelled in 2027, my money is on the Twins.

I posted this earlier in another thread.

[HarmonK03]

47 minutes ago, Patzky said:

No options so losing him vs sending down Roden makes Roden likely. (Martin?);

Why would you send Martin down over Roden, who has been more productive.

[miller761]

Great news! Congrats to the kid! Hopefully he can add to the Twins hitting philosophy that returned last. Taking pitches that are not strikes and running up the pitch count. When they do that the team is usually successful. Very excited to see our new short stop play.

[rdehring]

10 minutes ago, Chris Hove said:

The one issue I have with KC being called up is that, next year, when there is a lockout, depending on how long it is, he will be ineligible to play in the minors due to his 40-man status. Hopefully it won't affect him, but it's still very exciting. Congrats to him.

Does Culpepper need to be added to the 40-man this November?  Or does he need to be added next year?  If this year, the playing next year if there is a lockout doesn't matter.

[jmlease1]

10 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

I think there is a chance they could assign him back to AAA before the end of the season if we are out of the running for a playoff spot.  I think it tells you the front office is feeling a little desperate too doing this move a week or two earlier than likely they had planned.  

I don't think the Twins are that worried about trying to close a RoY award. It's the most random award around. If Culpepper hadn't gotten hurt, he probably would have been up even earlier. I think they've been looking at him as being with the team at midseason for some time and the injury almost certainly got in the way of that. YMMV on whether they kept him in AAA too long (I say yes, but I'm an idiot at a keyboard) after coming back, but this has been coming for a while IMHO.

[MMBoys93]

Brewers throwing out 2 lefties and the best pitcher in baseball so this is absolutely necessary.

Kreidler’s numbers against lefties are ghastly so this should help. 
 

Has to be Gray or Jackson getting the boot.