Can the Twins Do Better Than Ryan Kreidler? Three Options Worth Exploring

[Matthew Taylor]

The Minnesota Twins entered the 2026 season with three different options to fill their utility role. Orlando Garcia, Tristan Gray, and Ryan Kreidler all got opportunities with the big-league club, but by the end of the season, it was Kreidler who had established himself as the team's primary utility man. The Twins claimed Kreidler off waivers last offseason, and the move wasn't necessarily made because of what he could provide offensively. It was his glove and defensive versatility that made him an intriguing option. 

Kreidler finished the 2026 season with an 85 OPS+ and eight home runs, which certainly isn't going to make anyone forget about his offensive limitations, but it was a respectable contribution from someone brought in primarily for his defense. Kreidler can handle shortstop and center field while providing additional defensive flexibility around the diamond. That combination made him a useful piece for the Twins, and with another year of pre-arbitration eligibility, Minnesota could bring him back for the league minimum in 2027. If the Twins want to keep things inexpensive, Kreidler is an obvious candidate to return as the team's backup shortstop and utility man.

The argument for bringing Kreidler back becomes a little more complicated when looking beyond his overall season numbers. While an 85 OPS+ was better than anyone could reasonably have expected, it also masks just how much he struggled offensively down the stretch. After July 15, Kreidler posted a .558 OPS with just nine extra-base hits in 125 plate appearances. That's a pretty significant offensive drop-off, especially for a team that could already be losing some important production from its lineup. With Josh Bell likely no longer in the picture and Ryan Jeffers' future uncertain following his qualifying offer, the Twins can't afford to have too many spots in their lineup where opposing pitchers can expect little offensive resistance. Kreidler's glove is valuable, but there is a limit to how much offensive production a team can sacrifice for defensive versatility.

The Twins also don't have an obvious internal replacement waiting in the wings. Ben Ross has potential, but trusting the 25-year-old with a regular big-league role right away would be a gamble. Marek Houston isn't quite ready to make that jump either. Meanwhile, Kody Clemens provides plenty of defensive flexibility and can move around the diamond, but the biggest need for Minnesota is someone who can reliably handle shortstop when Kaelen Culpepper needs a day off or is unavailable. If the Twins decide they don't want to rely on Kreidler in that role, the free-agent market offers a few interesting alternatives.

There are three players in particular who could make sense for Minnesota heading into 2027.

Mauricio Dubon (Diamond Centric's No. 22 ranked free agent)

Mauricio Dubon (Diamond Centric's No. 22-ranked free agent) is perhaps the most natural fit from a defensive standpoint. The eight-year veteran is coming off the best offensive season of his career, posting a 98 OPS+ with 12 home runs. More importantly, Dubon can play just about anywhere on the diamond. He appeared in 62 games at shortstop last season and recorded six Outs Above Average at the position, making him a legitimate defensive option rather than someone who simply provides emergency coverage. At 32 years old, he's also an experienced player who wouldn't need much adjustment time to step into a utility role. MLB Trade Rumors projects Dubon to receive a two-year, $18 million contract. That's a decent chunk of change for a utility player, but his ability to contribute at several positions would give the Twins plenty of flexibility.

 

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (No. 75)

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (No. 75) is another familiar name who could make sense. Technically, Kiner-Falefa was a member of the Twins for about two days in 2022 after being acquired from Texas in the Mitch Garver trade. He was then included in the deal that sent Josh Donaldson to the Yankees before ever appearing in a game for Minnesota. Five years later, he could finally get an opportunity to wear a Twins uniform. Kiner-Falefa still offers a strong defensive presence and can handle shortstop, second base, and third base. He isn't going to provide much power, but he's a player who consistently puts the ball in play and can give a team competent at-bats without sacrificing much defensively. He wouldn't necessarily represent a significant offensive upgrade over Kreidler, but his track record and experience would make him a dependable option.

 

J.P. Crawford (No. 76)

J.P. Crawford (No. 76) might be the most interesting option of the group, particularly if the Twins are looking for someone who can provide more offensive upside. Crawford is coming off a down year at the plate in 2026, but he's a career 105 OPS+ hitter and is just one season removed from posting a 110 OPS+ with the Mariners in 2025. That season, he hit 12 home runs and posted a .352 on-base percentage. Crawford brings excellent plate discipline and has consistently demonstrated an ability to get on base. If he can recapture some of the power he has shown in previous seasons, he could provide a meaningful boost to the Minnesota lineup. He's also an experienced shortstop, although his defensive ability isn't on the same level as the other options listed here. Crawford would essentially be an offensive addition who could handle shortstop when needed, rather than someone the Twins would acquire primarily for his glove. His left-handed bat would also make for an interesting complement to right-handed Kaelen Culpepper . MLB Trade Rumors projects Crawford to receive a two-year, $16 million contract.

 

Of the three players listed, Crawford is the one I'd be most interested in bringing to Minnesota. The defensive concerns are legitimate, and he doesn't offer the same versatility as Dubon, Kiner-Falefa, or even Kreidler. However, the Twins already have some flexibility with Clemens, and they don't necessarily need their backup shortstop to be someone who can play every position on the field. They need someone who can competently handle shortstop while providing a legitimate offensive threat when he's in the lineup. Crawford checks those boxes better than anyone else on this list.

The Twins could certainly decide that Kreidler's defensive contributions and inexpensive contract make him the best option. There is something to be said for having a player who already knows the organization and has demonstrated that he can handle a big-league utility role. But with the potential for several offensive departures this offseason, Minnesota should be looking for ways to add more production rather than settling for another season of hoping a light-hitting utility player can do enough with his glove.

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Would you rather see the Twins stick with Kreidler and his inexpensive contract, or would you prefer they spend some money to bring in an established veteran? Of these three options, who would you want to see Minnesota pursue? Leave a comment below and start the conversation!

Image courtesy of Jesse Johnson, IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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[tony&rodney]

Guess the payroll will be substantial if the Twins can entertain spending up to $10M on a utility player after first considering their needs at catcher, adding two good bullpen arms, and a bat for the right side of the infield. If the payroll goes to $170M, sure, add Dubon.

[thelanges5]

His name is Ben Ross - spend the $$ elsewhere. Bullpen or a better bat. 

[Jeff K]

Catcher, first base and bullpen are far bigger needs than spending $$$$'s on the last player on the bench.  Kreidler or Ross are fine.

[SE23]

54 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Guess the payroll will be substantial if the Twins can entertain spending up to $10M on a utility player after first considering their needs at catcher, adding two good bullpen arms, and a bat for the right side of the infield. If the payroll goes to $170M, sure, add Dubon.

Dubon checks all the boxes for defense and flexibility. Admittedly, he's not going to hit 30 HR.

[SE23]

If we think we need to spend all our money elsewhere, there's no reason we couldn't start the the season with Clemens at 2B, Roden at 1B and Kreidler as our UTIL guy. At least until Houston arrives (hopefully in June/July).

[Dawgzilla]

Great guy, great fielder, but really????!!!  Really???!!!?  You can't find better?!!  Really???!!  Mediocrity, at best, is the goal!

[rdehring]

Add me to those who believe a Kreidler/Ross competition in spring training is the answer.  One opens the season with the Twins, the other is at St. Paul as insurance for an injury or as a replacement should the winner's bat get ugly.  Both play lots of positions, play them well and will be cheap for several years.  Both are exactly what you want for your 13th position player.

[MeleMouth]

Such a Twins way to deal with things. "We have a half-season or full-season problem, but we want to pretend like we're competing this year, so let's sign a veteran on the downside to a multi-year contract, so future years are larded with his salary while we strive for the wild card this year, instead of taking a step back and maximizing our player development system and funnel. Then, let's do it again next year, when the veteran's decline sets in and we again won't really have enough good prospects to staff the team."

[MeleMouth]

2 minutes ago, MeleMouth said:

Such a Twins way to deal with things. "We have a half-season or full-season problem, but we want to pretend like we're competing this year, so let's sign a veteran on the downside to a multi-year contract, so future years are larded with his salary while we strive for the wild card this year, instead of taking a step back and maximizing our player development system and funnel. Then, let's do it again next year, when the veteran's decline sets in and we again won't really have enough good prospects to staff the team."

To follow up my own comment: unless all other positions are set, it would be bad strategy to replace a utility guy on a one-year contract at $1 million with another player who is only marginally better on a multi-year $10 million contract.

[Nashvilletwin]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Guess the payroll will be substantial if the Twins can entertain spending up to $10M on a utility player after first considering their needs at catcher, adding two good bullpen arms, and a bat for the right side of the infield. If the payroll goes to $170M, sure, add Dubon.

Exactly!  What - money suddenly grows on trees for the Twins?

Kreisler’s replacement, especially with a lockout and Houston’s arrival on the horizon, is a fourth priority at best(!)  And to spend upwards of 2/$16-20MM on one of those three would be ridiculous - but, sadly, very Twins like.

Use the cash to sign Jeffers and Arraez and beef up the bullpen. Roll with Kreidler, Ross, et al - particularly until Houston arrives.  
 

[dxpavelka]

At some point I'd love to see this team focus more on actual value than on versatility.  Having guys who can play a multitude of places is great but if they are not a plus player with either the bat or the glove at any of them I don't see much actual value.  How I miss the days when a manager had 8 guys that he ran out there at the start of 125 games.  This year's edition of the local nine had four such guys.  The 1991 Twins had 8 guys that started 112 games.  The 1987 Twins had six guys start 124 games.  Tom Kelly made it a point to tell a Randy Bush to grab a glove and get used to using it more than he previously had.  Today's managers play the analytics game too much and spend too much time chasing micro matchups against a starting pitcher that might only pitch 2 and 2/3 innings and then find themselves at a disadvantage after the pitching change, and with only a four man bench a lack of options to change.  Now you kids get the hell off my grass.

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, SE23 said:

If we think we need to spend all our money elsewhere, there's no reason we couldn't start the the season with Clemens at 2B, Roden at 1B and Kreidler as our UTIL guy. At least until Houston arrives (hopefully in June/July).

Roden is not a first baseman and I do not believe they are looking at moving him.  Let's upgrade the position not rearrange the chairs on the Titantic.

[DJL44]

1 hour ago, rdehring said:

Add me to those who believe a Kreidler/Ross competition in spring training is the answer.  One opens the season with the Twins, the other is at St. Paul as insurance for an injury or as a replacement should the winner's bat get ugly.  Both play lots of positions, play them well and will be cheap for several years.  Both are exactly what you want for your 13th position player.

That’s a competition with no winner. Ross has options and Kreidler doesn’t so we can be 100% certain who gets picked. 
 

Get a starting second baseman who keeps Kreidler on the bench as much as possible.

[Andy MacPhail]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Guess the payroll will be substantial if the Twins can entertain spending up to $10M on a utility player after first considering their needs at catcher, adding two good bullpen arms, and a bat for the right side of the infield. If the payroll goes to $170M, sure, add Dubon.

That's the main thing, the money shouldn't be spent on utility, Utility isn't somewhere we need to look to for offense it's defense. We need to look at RF, we should get a big boost from Jenkins. DH, maybe sign Bell for less to man only there, if Twins are serious about offense. 1B, IMO, Lewis figured it out until he ran out of gas (this is by far the most games he's played since his surgeries); he should be better. Keaschal is a big plus offensively at 1B, with Clemens helping against RHPs. LF, Emma would be a wild card which could better the offense, 3B, Lee can only be better with more experience & a full year at 3B. Defense has been the bigger problem, even though we didn't lose that much defense, it's still a problem. IMO, Kreidler is just fine as an emergency SS sub, even though Houston needs more development offensively, his glove is ready. So, he adds depth.

[bean5302]

I'm not worried about guys who shouldn't get more than 100 PA. No room on a team for non-optional players with super low ceilings. If the Twins bring back Kreidler, it should be on a MiLB deal.

[Parfigliano]

1 hour ago, dxpavelka said:

At some point I'd love to see this team focus more on actual value than on versatility.  Having guys who can play a multitude of places is great but if they are not a plus player with either the bat or the glove at any of them I don't see much actual value.  How I miss the days when a manager had 8 guys that he ran out there at the start of 125 games.  This year's edition of the local nine had four such guys.  The 1991 Twins had 8 guys that started 112 games.  The 1987 Twins had six guys start 124 games.  Tom Kelly made it a point to tell a Randy Bush to grab a glove and get used to using it more than he previously had.  Today's managers play the analytics game too much and spend too much time chasing micro matchups against a starting pitcher that might only pitch 2 and 2/3 innings and then find themselves at a disadvantage after the pitching change, and with only a four man bench a lack of options to change.  Now you kids get the hell off my grass.

A team with numerous Swiss army knifes because of their versatility wins nothing.

[RpR]

1 hour ago, MeleMouth said:

Such a Twins way to deal with things. "We have a half-season or full-season problem, but we want to pretend like we're competing this year, so let's sign a veteran on the downside to a multi-year contract, so future years are larded with his salary while we strive for the wild card this year, instead of taking a step back and maximizing our player development system and funnel. Then, let's do it again next year, when the veteran's decline sets in and we again won't really have enough good prospects to staff the team."

What about the rookie decline that has been a big Twins problem?

[RpR]

4 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

A team with numerous Swiss army knifes because of their versatility wins nothing.

Hard to beat the 2019 veteran imports.

[ashbury]

If Dubon considers himself still a full-time everyday player who simply moves around a bit on the diamond, it could be difficult to persuade him to sign unless there's a significant overpay, or maybe at all.  I don't think he belongs in this list.

[MeleMouth]

19 minutes ago, RpR said:

What about the rookie decline that has been a big Twins problem?

As said in my comment that you quoted, "maximize the player development system and funnel."

If they don't do that, they're dead in the water. They can't compete with the wealthier teams in the free agency market, they won't have enough good prospects to trade for enough really good players, and they can't win anything when their plan every year hinges on signing players like Vazquez, Gallo, Bader, France, Caratini, and Kiner-Falefa so they can win the weak AL Central or squeak into the wild card.

[HerbieFan]

Could Dubon be the 2B??  Clemens plays 1B.  If you're spending that money on him he has to be a regular.

[Coach]

1 hour ago, Parfigliano said:

A team with numerous Swiss army knifes because of their versatility wins nothing.

Jack of all trades, master of none.

[HarmonK03]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

Hard to beat the 2019 veteran imports.

And how far in the playoffs did those veteran imports carry us?

[MeleMouth]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

Hard to beat the 2019 veteran imports.

Yes, the Twins brought in a lot of veterans in 2019, but only Gonzalez was a utility player. You were responding to the Swiss Army Knife comment.

Two starters - Perez and Pineda.

DH - Cruz.

Relievers - Parker, Romo, and Dyson.

Infield - Cron and Schoop.

They also got career years in 2019 from Polanco, Garver, Kepler, Rogers, and Odorizzi.

Additionally, Falvey's offensive permastrategy - power over defense and contact - was perfectly timed for the live ball in 2019. A lot of things went right.

The 2019 team got crushed in the playoffs and just about everyone they brought in was gone by their collapse in 2021.

2023 was good, also, but overall from 2017 to 2026 the Twins have one of the worst playoff records in MLB.

"Veteran imports" has not been a formula for sustainable success or really any kind of major success. Citing sorta-successful anecdotes is not proof of success.

"Veteran imports" is a way for executives to look like they're doing something while they fail to do the hard work needed for sustainable success and avoid having to make the likely sacrifices.

[DocBauer]

Honestly, I just don't understand this article at all.

13 man position pkayer roster.  You have 2 catchers, 5 OF, and 4 starting INF. That's 11 players. One of them must be a backup SS who would invariably be able to play additional positions. That would be Kreidler, probably, since he's out of options, until Ross, DeBarge, or someone else comes along to supplant him with a hopefully better offensive profile. 

That leaves one spot left over. Unless, for some crazy reason, you want a 3rd catcher or 6th OF, you still need INF depth. Someone with a half way decent glove and bat to provide ACTUAL DEPTH for the INF so the Kreidler's and Gray's and Arcia's of the world don't have to be pressed in to full time duty if/when someone gets injured. It's what good teams have.

Kreidler's spot on the roster...or Ross, etc...has nothing to do with any of the 3 options listed in the OP. Those 3 represent actual INF DEPTH for the team. So does Royce Lewis, for that matter, if the Twins braintrust decides they aren't ready to let him go yet.

But we need to examine the entire position player roster. And that roster includes a decent INF option beyond an inexpensive, backup SS/SU player like Kreidler. They are two very different discussions. 

[RpR]

2 hours ago, MeleMouth said:

Yes, the Twins brought in a lot of veterans in 2019, but only Gonzalez was a utility player. You were responding to the Swiss Army Knife comment.

Two starters - Perez and Pineda.

DH - Cruz.

Relievers - Parker, Romo, and Dyson.

Infield - Cron and Schoop.

They also got career years in 2019 from Polanco, Garver, Kepler, Rogers, and Odorizzi.

Additionally, Falvey's offensive permastrategy - power over defense and contact - was perfectly timed for the live ball in 2019. A lot of things went right.

The 2019 team got crushed in the playoffs and just about everyone they brought in was gone by their collapse in 2021.

2023 was good, also, but overall from 2017 to 2026 the Twins have one of the worst playoff records in MLB.

"Veteran imports" has not been a formula for sustainable success or really any kind of major success. Citing sorta-successful anecdotes is not proof of success.

"Veteran imports" is a way for executives to look like they're doing something while they fail to do the hard work needed for sustainable success and avoid having to make the likely sacrifices.

Do not totally disagree with you but:

"Of the 26 players on the Milwaukee Brewers' 2026 World Series roster, 14 were acquired via trade (or 15 according to early Sports Illustrated reports."

No different from the Twins except, most of the Twins AAA rookies, recently, seem to be OK today and mediocre tomorrow.

[MeleMouth]

1 hour ago, RpR said:

Do not totally disagree with you but:

"Of the 26 players on the Milwaukee Brewers' 2026 World Series roster, 14 were acquired via trade (or 15 according to early Sports Illustrated reports."

No different from the Twins except, most of the Twins AAA rookies, recently, seem to be OK today and mediocre tomorrow.

Not sure I see much similarity between the Brewers and Twins, particularly re any discussion about signing free agents.

1. Brewers were able to trade for so many players because they (a) had valuable prospects to exchange and (b) unlike the Twins, had a regular program of trading expensive veterans, such as Burnes, Peralta, Hader, and Williams - while retaining back up depth so the position they traded from still has plenty of talent the next year, also unlike the Twins.

2. Brewers WS team had very few free agents. In 2026, Luis Rengifo was probably the most expensive, @ $3.5M.

3. Veteran pitchers the Brewers traded for who threw in the playoffs were all mid-season acquisitions, not people signed or traded for during the winter or a year or two in advance.

[Dawgzilla]

9 hours ago, Dawgzilla said:

Great guy, great fielder, but really????!!!  Really???!!!?  You can't find better?!!  Really???!!  Mediocrity, at best, is the goal!

Where was I wrong??  I call you out!  Attendance....down; TV access...not applicable...unless you stream and pay up, even locally; team record last ten years...average at best (with a hint, now and then, for playoffs); payroll bottom third in league... perpetually, etc.  Drop mic, exit stage left😉

[Riverbrian]

If you sign any of these 3 guys. That guy will get 300 AB's.