Royce Lewis, Trevor Larnach, and the Two-Step Arbitration Shuffle

[Parfigliano]

On 10/7/2026 at 7:49 PM, mikelink45 said:

I think the fans have seen enough of Lewis, but have the Twins?

TC is scared sh!+less that if they let Lewis go he goes all David Ortiz on their ass.

[stringer bell]

I don't think Larnach will have a role on the '27 Twins unless someone is moved or there are multiple injuries. Alan Roden is younger, cheaper and more athletic than Larnach and in a small sample size, his Statcast profile looks outstanding. There are four other outfielders (Buxton, Jenkins, Keaschall and Emmanuel Rodriguez) in line for playing time in front of Roden, but they all have substantial injury histories so the likelyhood is that there will be playing time on the grass for Roden.

As for Lewis, again he might be the second option at two positions (third base and second base) in addition to competing for playing time at first base where he is the incumbent. Without bringing in someone from another team, the Twins could go with Lewis as one of four alternatives at first--conversion prospects Keaschall and Roden, Kory Clemens and Lewis. $5.1M is a lot for a utility player if Lewis loses out to others, but it would give him a last chance to reestablish himself as a major league regular in his age 27-28 year. Lewis got through the season with less than two weeks on the IL after losing years to injuries. He's shown himself to be versatile and his speed has moved up considerably as he's recovered from devastating injuries. I still think there's an above average hitter with good power in there somewhere and it would be a pity to let go of him a year too soon.

[mluebker]

2 hours ago, Twins GFP said:

No, the comments are saying DFA guys like Larnach and Ober. Dump them for nothing. They outplay their contract and people want to jettison them. I don't understand...

Lewis is a different discussion. His draft pedigree and phenomenal career start is making it hard for the Twins to pull the trigger. They know what he is capable of, it just isn't translating. I do think they need to move him, but trade, not DFA.

Well, my comments weren’t about that. Sometimes you add value by subtracting. If you’ve dangled these same guys out there before and didn’t get any bites, it’s probably time to cut bait and just turn them loose. Maybe they do better somewhere else, maybe they think about career changes. But I’m tired of the Twins carrying a roster of guys who can field, but not hit, hit but not field, or just struggle to do either consistently.  YMMV.