Alan Roden Should Report to Fort Myers Next Spring with at Least One Extra Glove

[Greggory Masterson]

Image courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

Alan Roden has had a Twins career that has been very unfair to Alan Roden, starting the moment many Twins fans learned that he existed. Twins historians may recall the 2025 trade deadline, during which the Twins made nine trades, the last of which sent then-setup man Louis Varland to Toronto. Roden was the second piece of the return for Varland (and Ty France), arriving in Minnesota alongside lefty pitching prospect Kendry Rojas.

Fans were predisposed to dislike Roden for having the temerity to have been traded for a hometown kid, but he didn’t help himself much on the field. In 12 games, he mustered just a .463 OPS, then he sprained his thumb sliding into the wall chasing a foul ball. He missed the rest of that season.

And Roden wasn’t in a position to struggle. At the time of his acquisition, he was just one of many left-handed corner outfield options, alongside (but not limited to) Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, James Outman, Walker Jenkins, and Emmanuel Rodriguez. He was thrust into a situation where he not only needed to fight for playing time in the present, but also had to fend off higher-profile prospects on his heels.

After roster decisions and injury delayed Roden’s 2026 MLB season, he struggled out of the gate, with another OPS under .500 through his first eight games. However, even with a demotion and inconsistent playing time, he finished the season strong, slashing .317/.403/.450 and posting more walks than strikeouts over his last 24 games, to end the season with a .769 OPS in 32 games—15-20% better than average. It was fewer than 100 plate appearances, but it offered a glimpse of the player the Twins thought they had acquired from Toronto: a solid defensive corner outfielder with great strike-zone control and a little gap power. It’s not a high ceiling, but it’s easy to see how a player like Roden can be a solid, everyday player who helps teams win games.

However, everyday play in the outfield probably isn’t feasible in Minnesota next season, even assuming that Larnach has played his last game in a Twins jersey (which, given the club’s history, might be a big assumption). Roden will be jockeying for playing time with fellow lefties Jenkins and Rodriguez, the latter of whom is out of options and will need to be on the big-league roster. Furthermore, Byron Buxton and Luke Keaschall will see a good share of time in the outfield.

You might even say that the outfield is crowded before considering Roden. But there is some playing time to be spared. Jenkins, Rodriguez, Buxton, and Keaschall all have checkered injury histories, and it’s safe to assume there will be at least a couple of trips to the injured list from that group. Once you factor in rest days and a potentially fluid designated hitter spot, it’s not difficult to see some playing time every week. But at this point, he’s slotted in as the fifth outfielder.

However, there might be another lane to playing time for Roden. Prior to his surprise selection in the third round of the 2022 draft, Roden was viewed primarily as a first baseman, having logged 39 appearances there as a 22-year-old junior at Creighton, compared to 15 games in the outfield. He also split time between the outfield and first base his draft summer in the Cape Cod League.

As a pro, Roden has only logged one inning at first base, and he’s listed at 5-foot-11, but he’s got some athleticism, and it’s not hard to imagine him over there after watching France and Kody Clemens (both within an inch of Roden, height-wise) playing first base for the past two seasons.

Even if Roden’s a bit rusty around the bag, the Twins have been successful in recent years in improving first base defense in players like Clemens and France, the latter of whom won a Gold Glove after years of being regarded as a poor defender. Carlos Santana also won his first Gold Glove at first base as a Twin, and they converted players like Luis Arraez into passable first basemen.

This isn’t advocating for Roden to be an everyday first baseman or anything. But if the Twins want to get him on the field as much as is reasonably possible as a bench player, this is one way. A couple of outfield starts paired with a game at first base each week allows the Twins to play Roden about 50% of the time. Given Rodriguez’s lack of experience and Buxton’s recovery from offseason hip surgery, the Twins probably need to count on Roden even more at the beginning of the season than almost any other team’s fifth outfielder. And that day-to-day playing time can go up when any of the four guys ahead of him miss time later on.

Nonetheless, it's difficult to see Roden carving out a consistent three-game-per-week role without a little time on the dirt, and he has real experience playing first base. If his true talent level is close to what he showed in 32 games this season, he’s a player that the Twins should want in the lineup—and he’d be a luxury to have on the bench. Of course, that’s assuming his true talent level is close to what we saw late this season.

Roden as the backup first baseman (in addition to his work in the corners) makes sense with the roster as currently constructed, given that Royce Lewis is penciled into that spot and hits right-handed. Roden, a lefty, giving him a day off against righties would help Lewis’s numbers. But it remains to be seen if Lewis is indeed in that role next season. His production since the summer of 2024 certainly hasn’t earned it. If the everyday first baseman is instead Kody Clemens, a fellow lefty, it doesn’t make as much sense, unless the Twins play Clemens at second base on days Roden starts against a righty.

Similarly, many of the potential bats that the Twins could add in free agency to replace Lewis in some form (such as Jake Bauers, Brandon Lowe, Nathaniel Lowe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jeff McNeil, or even Arraez) are left-handed. Adding a lefty infielder probably precludes Roden from any time on the dirt. But if they were to instead acquire a righty like Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm, or Gleyber Torres, Roden playing some first base could be valuable.

Even without a little work at first base, Roden seems to be a valuable role player on next year’s team who could be thrust into more action at any time. But being able to add a bit of time at first base would immensely benefit his career and the Twins’ roster flexibility.

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Only read this if you won’t take it more than 10% seriously:
Alan Roden was a high school catcher. The Twins have a very murky catching picture next season. Of course, they shouldn’t have him also come to camp with a catcher’s mitt.

But maybe.

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[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

I think it we have seen older/young guys do well at the end of the year, and shouldn't bank on them repeating it. (not that it can't be done)

He ended the season (August and September) 15/40 with 7 walks and only 5 K's (excellent). Against playoff teams (ATL, SD, MIL) 3/12 no walks and 3 k's and 1 Double. 

If you add July against playoff teams he was 8/33, 1 Double, 10 walks, 7 K's. 

IMO he is depth for injury and nothing more, because he seems over matched by major league pitching. But yes he should be bringing a first base glove to spring training, in reality the Twins should be handing them out like candy in spring training. 

[MackMan]

I'm not completely against him playing 1B. The only thing is that it is hard to justify when he hasn't really been tested at the ML level with consistent playing time and Ab's. Maybe 2027 is when everything clicks for him and he becomes our David Ortiz. The issue is that it is going to have to come at 1B or platooning in the OF to start. I think Shelton needs to choose his players he wants to vie for 1B and have them battle it out during ST. Whether that be Roden, Lewis, Clemens, or Sabato.

Now Clemens already has an edge as he shown the willingness and ability to be able to play multiple positions and be a team player. Lewis finally embraced that this year with Shelton that he needed to be a team player when it comes to making sure players are in positions to succeed for the team. Shelton needs to voice his input VERY clear with Zoll about what to expect come ST with the INF team and OF team and the bench players. 

[DJL44]

18 minutes ago, MapleGroveTwinsFan said:

I think it we have seen older/young guys do well at the end of the year, and shouldn't bank on them repeating it. (not that it can't be done)

He ended the season (August and September) 15/40 with 7 walks and only 5 K's (excellent). Against playoff teams (ATL, SD, MIL) 3/12 no walks and 3 k's and 1 Double. 

If you add July against playoff teams he was 8/33, 1 Double, 10 walks, 7 K's. 

IMO he is depth for injury and nothing more, because he seems over matched by major league pitching. But yes he should be bringing a first base glove to spring training, in reality the Twins should be handing them out like candy in spring training. 

Your numbers prove he wasn’t overmatched. A .419 OBP against the best teams is quite good.

[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

4 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

Your numbers prove he wasn’t overmatched. A .419 OBP against the best teams is quite good.

Isn't that a slugging percentage of .272, in addition to 0 stolen bases attempts?  That is a guy that screams something more than depth or utility player? 

Which one is more likely to continue the OBP or SLG? 

If I am wrong I will happily come back eat crow and say I was wrong, just like I would have for Keirsey, Fedko, Martin, McCusker, and all the others players similar to that. 

[chpettit19]

Ideally, the Twins bring in an external 1B who can hit in the 2-4 slots in the order for years to come. But, in the far more likely situation where they don't acquire that player, Roden and Keaschall should both bring a 1B glove to spring training. Along with Clemens. 

The best bats available on the FA market (trade market is harder to lock in at this point) are OFers or Arraez. Yandy Diaz may be a trade target, but he didn't play any 1B this year. If he can field it at an acceptable level, I'd love him at the top of this lineup. But if Tommy Boy is really willing to invest, then the more likely targets are Arraez, Seiya Suzuki, or Randy Arozarena.

Arraez prefers to play 2B, and the other 2 are OFers. If they can add one of the OFers, they should be open to Keaschall getting 1B time. He's played it before. His focus should still be on learning LF, but he can take a ton of fly balls and a ton of grounders at 1B during the offseason and come in ready to play LF and 1B. 

Jeffers returning as a C/1B for 3 or 4 years would also be an intriguing move. It all depends on the payroll level, though. If they can go big on AAV for a 3 or 4 year deal, there are some intriguing bats to add. But most are in the OF and that'd need some adjusting for current players.

[jmlease1]

Roden certainly should get a 1B glove for spring training, but he's still got some fit issues for the Twins which is part of what was so incredibly frustrating about his acquisition and then the absurdly imbalanced roster going into spring training. If you're going to acquire players who are near MLB you have to also concern yourself with fit, not just pure value. Value is fine when you're talking about prospects that are AA or lower, because you won't know what your MLB roster needs even will be 1-2 years out and you can adjust for overpopulating in an area.

But Falvey made an error in acquiring Roden without having a place for him, and then the team (and Zoll bears significant responsibility here) compounded it by tendering Larnach (even though it worked out) and keeping Outman (insane on the face of it, as literally everyone around here noted). Roden's thumb injury probably factored into this bad decision-making because they only had 12 fairly ugly games to evaluate him on, and making a final call on him as a player based purely on that would have certainly been foolish, as he's shown in his still limited time in 2026. But it doesn't change the fact that this team is overstocked on LH OF.

It's still a bit messy, even with Larnach likely (hopefully?) non-tendered this off-season. Seems nuts to start Jenkins in AAA (what does he really have to prove there?), and Rodriguez doesn't have an option, so he's either on the 26-man or somewhere else. Buxton and Keaschall give you RH options and both hit enough that you want their bats in the lineup. Roden as the 5th OF might be ok, but there's still not a lot of ABs there, and as a platoon option at 1B he could work out, but the issue the Twins have is against LHP, where you don't want Clemens playing 1B 2B or anyB, including OF.

Happy to have Roden picking up a 1B glove and glad to see him not stink, but Twins still got a lot of LH bats that play corner OF.

[The Great Hambino]

Instead of trying to convert excess outfielders to first base, would it make more sense to simply trade one for an actual first baseman?

[bean5302]

Nah, we have the first baseman of the future already on the roster. Aaron Sabato put up top 5%, top 10%, top 20% a really high OPS in the minors this year and his xwOBA of .308 suggests he deserved to be top 5%, top 10%... better than average, not the absolute worst hitter in the International league so he's guaranteed for the future!

[bean5302]

Honestly, Roden has a pretty low ceiling. He's probably a lefty Austin Martin. There's no power Roden's profile, he doesn't barrel balls well and he doesn't hit line drives.

[Andy MacPhail]

I feel for Rodon that he was obtained together with Outman to an already existing glut at LH hitting OFer. I scratched my head when Buxton was down that Keaschal & Clemens was placed in CF ahead experienced Rodon. IMO, he has potential but as you stated his best position is plugged. But, IMO, 1B is even more plugged. OF consists of 3 positions where 1B is only one with more expectation on his bat. At 1B he'll have to compete against Lewis, Clemens & Keaschal (his best position) all rank ahead of him & that's not including the FA that the Twins can't resist to pick up. We hang onto our LH hitting OFers until they fizzle out & many don't get the chance, We need to trade away that glut, many teams need them. Now I'm not saying that Rodon is one of those but IMO he's one of the top candidates & he could benefit from that.

[Road trip]

1B glove?  Sure.  With the Twins history of injuries it is entirely possible that several of Clemens, Keaschall, Lewis, and any other potential first basemen will spend significant time on the IL.

But Rodon is strictly a "break glass in case of emergency" plan for 1B.  He likely won't hit  with enough power to be an asset there, and is likely to be a minor defensive liability.  The same, unfortunately, is true of corner outfield spots.  I'm still somewhat stunned that he was advertised as a potential CF when acquired because he sure seems slow, even for a corner outfielder.

[DJL44]

36 minutes ago, MapleGroveTwinsFan said:

Isn't that a slugging percentage of .272, in addition to 0 stolen bases attempts?  That is a guy that screams something more than depth or utility player? 

Which one is more likely to continue the OBP or SLG? 

If I am wrong I will happily come back eat crow and say I was wrong, just like I would have for Keirsey, Fedko, Martin, McCusker, and all the others players similar to that. 

For small sample sizes, the OBP. Nobody thinks slugging percentage is predictive based on 8 hits. SLG depends on HR. 
 

Walk rate becomes predictive after about 120 plate appearances. Strikeout rate after 60. XBH rate becomes predictive after 1610 plate appearances.

[Hubie29]

Short and sweet. Why all the talk about Roden, avg at best major leaguer? I agree with others, we are in trouble if we have to find a position for him. 

[DJL44]

29 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

Honestly, Roden has a pretty low ceiling. He's probably a lefty Austin Martin. There's no power Roden's profile, he doesn't barrel balls well and he doesn't hit line drives.

This is true. He has 40HR in the minors in 1563 PA and that is boosted by 10 this year from the silly ball.
 

They both fill out the roster pretty well as 4th and 5th OF because they can play defense but neither has the bat to be a DH. Platoon them and you can make a 2 WAR outfielder.

[Greggory Masterson]

5 minutes ago, Hubie29 said:

Short and sweet. Why all the talk about Roden, avg at best major leaguer? I agree with others, we are in trouble if we have to find a position for him. 

Because you have to fill out a 13-man lineup, and that includes role players. But more importantly, something about Roden's swing scratches an itch in my brain, so I want to see it more often.

[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

2 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

This is true. He has 40HR in the minors in 1563 PA and that is boosted by 10 this year from the silly ball.
 

They both fill out the roster pretty well as 4th and 5th OF because they can play defense but neither has the bat to be a DH. Platoon them and you can make a 2 WAR outfielder.

That works for when Buxton is hurt, but if he isn't hurt, this doesn't work correct?  So Marin or Roden starts the season in the minors? 

 

[bean5302]

15 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

This is true. He has 40HR in the minors in 1563 PA and that is boosted by 10 this year from the silly ball.
 

They both fill out the roster pretty well as 4th and 5th OF because they can play defense but neither has the bat to be a DH. Platoon them and you can make a 2 WAR outfielder.

As a ceiling you might expect to be able to get 2 WAR. Basically, use 2 roster spots for a barely adequate starting position player. I'm not sold on Roden's defense. He's a below average sprinter in MLB. 27.1 ft/sec this year. At least Martin has some range, in theory. Roden's arm is too weak to be optimally deployed in RF as well.

Based on the fielding data this year
45 grade speed and probably dropping.
50 grade arm
40 grade instincts

[SE23]

15 minutes ago, Greggory Masterson said:

Because you have to fill out a 13-man lineup, and that includes role players. But more importantly, something about Roden's swing scratches an itch in my brain, so I want to see it more often.

This exactly. Roden shows real flashes of multi-tool competency and MIGHT make a very good roster piece. We can cover 1B with Roden, Clemens and Keaschall(?) and all 4 OF slots have depth too.

Now pick up a 3.0+ WAR second baseman and Carson Kelly to bolster the catching corps.

If you've still got cash burning a hole in your pocket, Bednar and/or Imanaga would tie a bow on the next roster. 

[LA Vikes Fan]

Roden has a place on next year's team IMHO. He hit much better post ASB with more power due to a tweak in his approach with an ISO of .111 and a SLG of .413. Even better, he had an 11.8% SO w rate and an 11.8% BB rate. Now, this could be a one season mirage (like Martin's last 2 months of 2025 turned out to be) or it could be a guy started to get it after roughly 250-300 MLB ABs.  It's worth finding that out, and I think the idea of cross-training him to play 1B is a good one. He should already be working on that. Lewis may or may not be back. I think we should explore the Lewis trade market for another team's talented but underperforming change of scenery candidate like Grayson Rodriguez of the Angels, and we need a fallback option even if he stays. Here's link to an article about Roden's second half performance:

https://www.si.com/mlb/twins/onsi/twins-may-have-rethink-alan-roden-place-future

He should stay for another important reason - we don't know what we have in Jenkins and EmRod, especially EmRod. Roden hit the best in 2026 of those 3 guys, by far. Jenkins looks like the real deal. EmRod, who knows. Really the only things we know about him are that he will play good defense and strike out more than 30% of the time. Now, another approach would be to use one of Roden or EmRod in a trade package for a 1B like Burleson of the Cards, but all of that is rank speculation at this point. 

I think we should keep Roden around. He looks to me like a guy with a solid MLB regular ceiling and not too low a floor. Not exciting, but teams need guys like that. 

 

[terrydactyls]

2 hours ago, MackMan said:

I'm not completely against him playing 1B. The only thing is that it is hard to justify when he hasn't really been tested at the ML level with consistent playing time and Ab's. Maybe 2027 is when everything clicks for him and he becomes our David Ortiz. The issue is that it is going to have to come at 1B or platooning in the OF to start. I think Shelton needs to choose his players he wants to vie for 1B and have them battle it out during ST. Whether that be Roden, Lewis, Clemens, or Sabato.

Now Clemens already has an edge as he shown the willingness and ability to be able to play multiple positions and be a team player. Lewis finally embraced that this year with Shelton that he needed to be a team player when it comes to making sure players are in positions to succeed for the team. Shelton needs to voice his input VERY clear with Zoll about what to expect come ST with the INF team and OF team and the bench players. 

I love the argument that a player shouldn't be relied upon because he hasn't played much.  How in the heck can he prove that deserves your love and affection if you don't let him play.  Or, just as bad, letting him play one game every three weeks and then say he lacks consistency.

[DJL44]

34 minutes ago, MapleGroveTwinsFan said:

That works for when Buxton is hurt, but if he isn't hurt, this doesn't work correct?  So Marin or Roden starts the season in the minors? 

Based on past injury history I would assume one of Jenkins, Buxton or Rodriguez is injured and possibly all three at the same time.

[twinstalker]

Roden played first base in 2025 spring training after hitting many meatballs and Toronto thinking they may need to make room for him.  I don't think they liked what they saw, plus Roden slowed down.  That's not to say it's not worth a shot.

[MackMan]

18 minutes ago, terrydactyls said:

I love the argument that a player shouldn't be relied upon because he hasn't played much.  How in the heck can he prove that deserves your love and affection if you don't let him play.  Or, just as bad, letting him play one game every three weeks and then say he lacks consistency.

Exactly. The guy hasn't even had a full season of AB's or games to determine how to best use him. He was taken as supplemental player in a trade and helped keep the jam going with left handed hitting OF's. Maybe Toronto, when they drafted envisioned him as a corner OF player but maybe he's just destined for 1B. I mean, he can't hit any worst than Lewis has over the last 3 seasons. 

And who knows. Maybe he'll tap into some power with playing 1B, like we were hoping Lewis would do.

[PuckettPond]

In that photo he looks out of shape. Does he need to change his body?

[RpR]

3 minutes ago, PuckettPond said:

In that photo he looks out of shape. Does he need to change his body?

YES

He must be on the La Tortuga diet.

[MMBoys93]

I want to see Roden playing 120 games next year.

He had an .850 ops against lefties and an 1.147 ops in 19 PAs this year. Sit him against lefties with mean sliders and sweepers but play him against everyone else.

Keaschall and Roden at the top of a lineup working long PAs followed by 20 HR power in Buxton, Clemens, Jenkins, Rodriguez, Lee sounds really fun. 
 

Roden has hit at every level, never had an OBP under .400, had a freaking NASA grant in college…dude is insanely smart. 
 

They can get Jenkins, Buxton, Rodriguez, Roden and Keaschall ABs next year.

Buxton plays 4 of 5, 2 in DH, 2 in CF-130 starts

Roden half in OF, half at 1B- 130 starts 

Jenkins- 120 OF, 20 DH- 140 starts

Rodriguez- 100 OF, 20 DH (sits vs most lefties)- 120 starts 

Keaschall- 80 OF, 55 DH- 135 starts 

Assumes health, but leaves 30 OF starts open for other guys like Clemens

[MMBoys93]

2 hours ago, bean5302 said:

Honestly, Roden has a pretty low ceiling. He's probably a lefty Austin Martin. There's no power Roden's profile, he doesn't barrel balls well and he doesn't hit line drives.

55th percentile xSLG, 60th percentile hard hit, .488 SLG in minors this year. Martin career high is 7 HRs at any minor league level. Not a good comp 

[IndianaTwin]

Yeah, but if he splits time between 1B and the OF, people will complain about the Twins not putting a guy at a position and letting him stay there. 

That's sarcasm -- I'm a big fan of positional flexibility. Put me in the camp of those intrigued enough by his past to explore the options. And he's still got an option left, according to Fangraphs. 

[MapleGroveTwinsFan]

7 minutes ago, MMBoys93 said:

55th percentile xSLG, 60th percentile hard hit, .488 SLG in minors this year. Martin career high is 7 HRs at any minor league level. Not a good comp 

You do understand that for a 26 year old in AAA, that isn't all that impressive? It wasn't even impressive on the Saints team.  A few guys with a higher SLG for the Saints, Culpepper, Kreidler, Erod, Jackson, Morissette, Wallner, Sabato, Jenkins, Fedko, Rosario, Lewis's was over twice that. 

The only way he should or might see 120 games is because of injuries, and if that is the case, younger prospects should be given those at bats, because the Twins will be going no where again. 

IMO having Roden for depth is a smart move with 2 options remaining, there is no reason to move on from him, maybe he is awesome (way better than last year) somebody gets hurt and he plays well in a replacement role and forces playing time, again IMO that should be the plan. Rebuilding and teams on the edge don't have plans for a 27 year old rookie to play in 75% of the games, unless there is a hole and no prospect is ready. He is a place holder type player and that is how he should have been used this year, he should have been given more at bats this year.