What's the Twins’ Long-Term Answer at First Base?

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

For a good portion of the 2026 season, the Minnesota Twins have had some pretty spotty defense at first base. Josh Bell, Victor Caratini and now Royce Lewis have all graded out as below-average defenders at the position this season. Bell is probably gone after this year, and Caratini could become the Twins’ primary catcher next season (if Ryan Jeffers leaves in free agency), anyway, There's a pretty obvious need for improvement at first base. That invites the question: Could the Twins already have their long-term answer somewhere in the organization?

The most obvious candidate is, of course, Lewis. He's struggled a bit with the nuances of playmaking at his new position, but he's a plus receiver of throws, which makes up for some of the hiccups on grounders his way. The defensive numbers certainly aren’t encouraging. At the same time, Lewis is still a very good athlete who has shown flashes of brilliance at first. With an entire offseason to get more comfortable at the position, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think he could become at least an average defender there.

Less clear is whether Lewis’s bat can hold up at first base. First basemen need to be one of the most productive offensive players in a lineup, and Lewis currently owns a sub-.700 OPS. That obviously isn’t going to cut it long-term. Still, I think it’s too early to say with any certainty that Lewis has no future at first base. It's fairer to say that he can't be the whole plan at the spot next year; he'd have to be a platoon or utility option.

The only other player in the upper levels of the Twins' system who has primarily played first base is Aaron Sabato. It’s been a rocky road for the Twins’ 2020 first-round pick, but as the saying goes, better late than never. Sabato has shown some legitimately encouraging signs this season, posting an .898 OPS at Triple-A St. Paul with 55 extra-base hits in 109 games. That’s the kind of offensive profile you’d expect from a quality first baseman, and perhaps more importantly, both his walk and strikeout rates have improved significantly. For a player whose plate discipline has been one of the biggest questions throughout his professional career, that’s a very promising sign. There are glaring weaknesses in his game, and there are still few scouts who think his success would translate to the big leagues, but if he stays in the organization this winter, it would signal that the Twins are at least keeping an open mind.

Then there’s Gabriel Gonzalez, the least conventional of the plausible options. Gonzalez doesn’t have the traditional frame you’d expect from a first baseman, at just 5-foot-10, but sometimes, guys that size make it work at the spot. He's already made 42 starts at first base for St. Paul this season, and while some of that probably has to do with the sheer amount of outfield talent the Twins have had at Triple-A, they still chose him to get that work, rather than someone like Hendry Mendez.

The Twins’ long-term outlook in the outfield leaves little space for Gonzalez, and it seems like the Twins realize that. Gonzalez doesn’t have the traditional offensive skill set of a first baseman, either. He’s more of a contact-oriented hitter than someone who’s going to provide huge amounts of power. But the fact that he has continued getting starts at first base even with Sabato on the same roster is worth paying attention to. If the Twins truly viewed Gonzalez as a long-term outfielder, it would be somewhat surprising to see them give him this many opportunities at first.

Let's also consider Mendez. The Twins’ No. 7 prospect has spent basically all of his professional career playing the outfield corners, but that might not be his long-term home. Mendez went to the Arizona Fall League after the 2025 season, at least in part to get some reps at first base, and he also appeared there a couple of times at Double-A this year.

Considering how many left-handed corner outfielders the Twins have in their system, someone is probably going to have to transition to another position eventually. That could be Gonzalez, but Mendez makes at least as much. He throws and bats left-handed. He's 6-foot-3. Like Gonzalez, he’s a contact-first hitter who can get on base, but Mendez has also shown an ability to consistently hit the ball hard, more so than Gonzalez. That combination gives him an offensive foundation that could work at first base if the Twins ultimately decide that’s his best path to the majors. Mendez could make his major-league debut in 2027, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that debut comes at first base.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that the Twins look externally for their answer. First base is a position where they could find a veteran solution through free agency or a trade, and there’s no guarantee that any of these four players actually becomes the long-term answer. But I think Lewis, Sabato, Gonzalez and Mendez all have interesting (if speculative) cases for why they could be. The Twins don’t need to find their next first baseman this offseason. They might already have several options worth exploring.

View full article

[LastOnePicked]

I wouldn't go with What at first. Who's a better choice.

[MeleMouth]

None of the above prospects are solutions, unless Mendez's injury made him terrible since mid-June and he looks great next year.

The only players in the organization who could hold the job for a while are JP Smith II and Carson Tinney. Diaw could also be an option if his bat is good at AAA, but he doesn't progress at catcher.

The immediate hope is that Royce gets humility.

The other option would be to move Clemens to 1B.

[gman]

I might go with Ross or Kriedler as the starting second baseman next year with expectations of Houston coming in mid season as the shortstop end either Culpepper or Lee taking over at second full time and the other at third. I would then plan on Clemons at first base.

[1985Fan]

Give Sabato a chance. What have they got to lose? If he doesn’t cut it, then move on. First base has been a hole since forever. They’ve been plugging the hole with one year deals with limited success. They might get lucky with Sabato. 

[Althebum82]

Fans used to grumble about Mauer as a first baseman, but since he retired we have had 33 different guys play first base now over 8 seasons.  Only Sano and Kiriloff played there in half of those seasons, cementing the apparent franchise mentality has been that first base is a throw-away position for which we do not intend to pay top dollar to fill.  

Why would we expect to have any long-term solution in 2027?

[Vanimal46]

7 minutes ago, Althebum82 said:

Fans used to grumble about Mauer as a first baseman, but since he retired we have had 33 different guys play first base now over 8 seasons.  Only Sano and Kiriloff played there in half of those seasons, cementing the apparent franchise mentality has been that first base is a throw-away position for which we do not intend to pay top dollar to fill.  

Why would we expect to have any long-term solution in 2027?

That's an insane stat. Almost as many as Cleveland Browns QBs in that same time frame. 

[IndianaTwin]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

I wouldn't go with What at first. Who's a better choice.

I Don't Know. 

(He's gotten much older and may be ready for a position change.)

[S Bart]

7 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

I Don't Know. 

(He's gotten much older.)

 

33 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

None of the above prospects are solutions, unless Mendez's injury made him terrible since mid-June and he looks great next year.

The only players in the organization who could hold the job for a while are JP Smith II and Carson Tinney. Diaw could also be an option if his bat is good at AAA, but he doesn't progress at catcher.

The immediate hope is that Royce gets humility.

The other option would be to move Clemens to 1B.

Besides humility...somebody needs to coach him on pitch selection

[Cris E]

For decades that's how the Yankees treated LF. It can work if your temps are good.

[S Bart]

34 minutes ago, 1985Fan said:

Give Sabato a chance. What have they got to lose? If he doesn’t cut it, then move on. First base has been a hole since forever. They’ve been plugging the hole with one year deals with limited success. They might get lucky with Sabato. 

Agree...but some Twins Daily fans do not like him ...too old at 27 is the reasoning....

[S Bart]

1 hour ago, LastOnePicked said:

I wouldn't go with What at first. Who's a better choice.

Why?

[DJL44]

I don’t expect the Twins to have long-term players at any position. They value positional flexibility over defensive excellence. That means prospects always start at too difficult of a position and work their way gradually down the defensive spectrum. By the time they work their way to the position that suits them best, they’re ready for free agency.

[DJL44]

“Sabato has shown some legitimately encouraging signs this season, posting an .898 OPS at Triple-A St. Paul”

Take 200 points of OPS off his numbers to translate to MLB. Expect a 700 OPS with bad defense from Sabato. There will be better options available cheaply in free agency.

[Cris E]

The next good 1B is not in the org right now. I just don't see that guy out there yet. Mendez is a spectacularly bad fielder. Gonzalez could maybe make it work. Sabato would get eaten up Fedko-style by MLB pitching.   

The best idea here is moving one of the young catchers if they stall behind the plate, but that call is at least a year away and then they have to mature to be able to hit at the top level. Trade for an Eldridge or sign a real FA 1B that can hit. If we'd needed to spend $50m last winter then a Pete Alonso would have looked good, for example.

[DannySD]

I think Keashall is a strong possibility. 

[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

14 minutes ago, S Bart said:

Agree...but some Twins Daily fans do not like him ...too old at 27 is the reasoning....

Likely the same people that talked about Fedko, Gray, Prato, McCusker, Keirsey, Contreras, Bechtold, Williams, Helman, Hamilton, but maybe not.

[TheLeviathan]

Mendez or Keaschall or "Player not yet on roster"

For all the plodding, slow, large, power-hitter types we drafted over the years we didn't manage a single one we could move to 1B.

If I had the power to choose - I make it Keaschall.  I give Wallner RF for one last chance at the beginning of next year and I know that some combo of E-rod, Jenkins, and Mendez are in the wings should he falter.  At least with Keaschall we know the dude can hit.

[Andy MacPhail]

The expensive FA merry-go-round always kept us from growing at 1B. I was a very big Lewis fan but the Twins broke him. A long with him being a Boras client, IMO, we unfortunately need to move on from him. We need to trade GG before his hype wears off, We have an abundance of quality defensive OFers, where we are much better off with Keaschal moving to 1B. They moved him to 1B in the MiLB, they should have kept him there.

[jmlease1]

13 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

“Sabato has shown some legitimately encouraging signs this season, posting an .898 OPS at Triple-A St. Paul”

Take 200 points of OPS off his numbers to translate to MLB. Expect a 700 OPS with bad defense from Sabato. There will be better options available cheaply in free agency.

Unfortunately that's probably correct. I'd love for Sabato to step up and seize the job; it'd be a heck of a story of a guy drafted highly, deemed a bust who then ground his way up the minors to realize his dream. But while he's been earning his way up to AAA there's not a lot to suggest that he'd be a plus MLB hitter and he's hardly great at 1B. (He's not terrible, and makes the basic plays, but he's slow and not exactly nimble. Royce has a higher defensive ceiling at 1B after half a season at the position.)

I think Mendez might be the best long-term shot the Twins have in their system right now, but it's not a position of strength and hasn't been for quite some time. There's a real argument our best bet to fill 1B might be Winokur or Tinney, and Winokur hasn't played the position yet (but has the athleticism to play CF still) and is only in AA and Tinney just got drafted and is in low A.

[Danchat]

11 minutes ago, MapleGroveTwinsFan said:

Likely the same people that talked about Fedko, Gray, Prato, McCusker, Keirsey, Contreras, Bechtold, Williams, Helman, Hamilton, but maybe not.

Funnily enough, of all the AAA overachievers who are on the old side, the only one who is doing damage in the majors is Mickey Gasper with a 143 OPS+ in 206 PAs with the Red Sox at age 30. Insert that image of the miner who gives up digging for diamonds right as he's about to hit them.

[Nashvilletwin]

If the owners stick to their salary cap demand, I’m quite pessimistic about ‘27 being much more than a stub year.

Lewis stays at 1B until Houston arrives.  Then Clemens moves from 2B to a righty/lefty platoon 1B with Lewis.  Both can also play some utility infield.

In ‘28, ideally we see either Tinney or Diaw make their debut at 1B supported by Clemens.  Lewis is gone.  In ‘29 one of Tinney or Diaw is our primary 1B and the other still is on the team (DH1/DH2, C2/C3, 1B2, PH).

Another alternative is we re-sign Jeffers (four year deal) and he plays 1B and DH starting in ‘29 when Lackey takes over C1 and Jeffers’ legs start to wear out.  So in ‘29, Jeffers and Tinney at 1B and DH with Lackey and Diaw as C1 and C2, respectively. This is my preferred scenario.

[thelanges5]

The 1B FA class isn’t very deep for 2027 (or any position for that matter)

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/available/_/year/2027/position/1b/level/mlb

[bjorks]

1 hour ago, gman said:

I might go with Ross or Kriedler as the starting second baseman next year with expectations of Houston coming in mid season as the shortstop end either Culpepper or Lee taking over at second full time and the other at third. I would then plan on Clemons at first base.

If this is the plan at 2B... 

[bjorks]

47 minutes ago, S Bart said:

Agree...but some Twins Daily fans do not like him ...too old at 27 is the reasoning....

see...Rooker...Brent

[gman]

1 minute ago, bjorks said:

If this is the plan at 2B... 

My last line says I would plan to start Clemons at first base. But I would need to pull him away from second base.

[bjorks]

11 minutes ago, thelanges5 said:

The 1B FA class isn’t very deep for 2027 (or any position for that matter)

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/free-agents/available/_/year/2027/position/1b/level/mlb

Bohm is about the only guy I'd be interested in since he can also play 3B, but out of that list you may as well have Bell back. 

[bjorks]

Just now, gman said:

My last line says I would plan to start Clemons at first base. But I would need to pull him away from second base.

never said anything about Clemens, I'm referring to specifically the fact Kriedler should get about 250 ABs a year and if Ross is on the MLB roster, we've suffered massive failure/injuries. Moving Clemens off being the primary option at 2B is, IMHO, the stupidest thing Jeremy/Shelton could do. 

[S Bart]

42 minutes ago, MapleGroveTwinsFan said:

Likely the same people that talked about Fedko, Gray, Prato, McCusker, Keirsey, Contreras, Bechtold, Williams, Helman, Hamilton, but maybe not.

[S Bart]

10 minutes ago, bjorks said:

see...Rooker...Brent

Also....Royce Lewis