4 Former Top Twins Prospects Impacted By the Carlos Santana Signing

Kiriloff will be just fine if he produces. Santana is on a one year deal, so the long term job is there for the taking. Kiriloff should ultimately probably be more worried about Severino.   In some respects, the second derivative of Santana showing up might be that it actually helps Kiriloff by taking some of the pressure off and giving him a chance to find his feet.   Regardless, Kiriloff will get as many ABs this season as he deserves.

Larnach and Miranda, sadly, are now (valuable from the FO’s perspective) AAA bench depth in case of injuries.  It’s not clear where they even stand on that hierarchy of players considering their competition for promotions include Lee, Martin, Severino, Keirsey and maybe Bubba.  If they’d like to see Target field again they’d better produce across the river.  Both are probably dying to be traded to get a shot at playing every day in the bigs (ala Steer); unfortunately for them, the FO probably will struggle to find a deal that returns a valuable MLB proficient player to replace their important AAA depth role. They might be here a while.

Gordon will get his chance in spring training. But, yes, more and more he looks like the odd man out.  He won’t make it through waivers. I really like Gordon - he was the spark plug that led our 2nd half in 2022.  However, it will be a surprise if he has not departed the organization by early May, if not before opening day.  This spring training is important for him as it might essentially be his “tryout” for a major league job elsewhere.

Kirilloff is the only one of the four that I have any confidence will have a future with the Twins. I think Gorden gets claimed off the wavier wire, and Larnach and Miranda get included in trades. I just don't see any place for those three to get playing time.

1 hour ago, Cory Engelhardt said:

I see Gordon as having the most to lose, in terms of a numbers game. Larnach and Miranda both have options, so there is still opportunity for them to find their footing this season. Kirilloff, if healthy, will get every opportunity to perform.

The interesting thing to me is what will happen IF everyone is healthy AND Brooks Lee is ready. 

At that point, the FO will probably start shopping guys for prospects or package some players together to get another ace SP. either way, the team will improve. 

The Twins don't have a lot of depth ready for the corner outfield spots.  Castro is their super utility guy, and Larnach is at AAA.  With this signing, they could play Santana a lot at first base with AK moving to either left or right.  So I see this signing as a big boost to their depth at first base and the corner outfield spots.

With one spot available, looks to me like Gordon gets it, unless he has a terrible spring and one of Miranda or Larnach has a HUGE spring.  Would be surprised if any of this trio would bring much back in a trade, hopefully, either Miranda or Larnach has a nice first half with either the Twins or Saints and either secure a role with the Twins or gain another teams notice.

Gordon will be on the opening day roster unless he's injured, Carlos Santana's signing has no impact on him. Santana is a 1st baseman and DH. Gordon will be the 13th man and fill a super utility role. I agree that he'll likely be gone at some point in the season, but they aren't going through arbitration with him currently if the plan was to just let him go.

1 hour ago, roger said:

The Twins don't have a lot of depth ready for the corner outfield spots.  Castro is their super utility guy, and Larnach is at AAA.  With this signing, they could play Santana a lot at first base with AK moving to either left or right.  So I see this signing as a big boost to their depth at first base and the corner outfield spots.

With one spot available, looks to me like Gordon gets it, unless he has a terrible spring and one of Miranda or Larnach has a HUGE spring.  Would be surprised if any of this trio would bring much back in a trade, hopefully, either Miranda or Larnach has a nice first half with either the Twins or Saints and either secure a role with the Twins or gain another teams notice.

Agree 100%. Our overall outfield depth is not great.  Thus,  Gordon has a good chance to stick around a bit.  If we run into a need, Kiriloff can be that fill-in outfielder.  And if Severino starts smoking it, Kiriloff may find himself in that role more often than he probably would hope (but he’d still be in the show).

1 hour ago, gman said:

I don't see Gordon on the Twins roster at the end of spring training. Larnach and Miranda are depth in 3A to start the year and will be injury replacements or bench bats when they get up. I don't see Larnach on the roster at the end of the season. Kirilloff will play most every day and probably bat in the 3 to 5 spots, with the occasional off day against a tough lefty. Santana won't play as much as people seem to be suggesting, I'm guessing less than 100 games. His bat seemed to have slowed last year.

I agree. It begs the question, who gets the most DH starts over the course of the season? 

Gordon will be on the team (unless traded) on opening day, outside of just being terrible in training camp. I don't think they offer him arbitration if that wasn't the plan. I know, not a ton of money, but they're pinching pennies like it's the late 90's lately. What role they have in store, I have no clue, Castro is probably better in the same role. Again, another LH hitter, no real point in plugging him in at 2B, LF or RF for Julien, Wallner or Kepler against a tough lefty. Has never been a big enough bat to consider at DH. 

Larnach is in a tough spot, one of way too many LH hitters that can play the OF. His best shot is probably being traded to a non-contender that will just play him and he doesn't have to look over his shoulder after a bad 2 week stretch and gets the chance to make the adjustments at the MLB level. 

Miranda I'd say is most impacted. His most likely chance was to be a RH bat backing up 1B and maybe 2B, occasional DH. Santana takes up two of those. Outside of injury I see him at AAA.

Kirilloff should only be slightly impacted as long as he can stay healthy and produce. This is the make it or break it year for him. Last year, he was coming off multiple years of the wrist thing and nobody knew if that surgery would work. He didn't do too bad when out there. As long as the shoulder thing is in the past, maybe he can settle in and show us what made him one of the top prospects. 

We have a lot of players on this club who need to prove themselves & take that step. Signing Santana affected the 4 you mentioned but also signing all those poke-and-hope backend pitchers that will be given every opportunity to prove themselves over Varland who has already proven himself & pitchers like Canterino, SWR, Festa etc, who are very close, will be held up. You could argue that Balazovik was pushed out prematurely before being given the chance to prove himself in spring training. Just to give the fanbase the impression they are doing something.

Miranda has proven himself that he's a MLB hitter who can platoon at 1B/ DH for years. Santana has made him obsolete & worth very little in trade. IMO Miranda is the much better option in the soon-to-be and long run. Santana is like Gallo where he'd serve a non-important purpose in the beginning of the season but ends up as a waste of money.

Kiriloff will break out to be the hopefully primary 1Bman that can play RF & DH. Gordon & Larnachs' playing time lies squarely on themselves & how the other OFers shake out. IMO the OF Gordon will do well but if they keep experimenting w/ the INF Gordon, he's DFA'd. I hope that Larnach can adjust to the off-speed pitches & flourish. Odds are that Gordon will be the odd man out & be traded if everything else doesn't blow up. Meaning, Buxton's health & Kepler able to adjust to the pitchers adjusting to him.

lets just pray that AK finally stays healthy..and we see him playing somewhere in the lineup every day..be it 1B, LF or DH. I personally would rather have seen them resign Solano..dont see Santana helping at all

22 hours ago, Nashvilletwin said:

Kiriloff will be just fine if he produces. Santana is on a one year deal, so the long term job is there for the taking. Kiriloff should ultimately probably be more worried about Severino.   In some respects, the second derivative of Santana showing up might be that it actually helps Kiriloff by taking some of the pressure off and giving him a chance to find his feet.   Regardless, Kiriloff will get as many ABs this season as he deserves.

Larnach and Miranda, sadly, are now (valuable from the FO’s perspective) AAA bench depth in case of injuries.  It’s not clear where they even stand on that hierarchy of players considering their competition for promotions include Lee, Martin, Severino, Keirsey and maybe Bubba.  If they’d like to see Target field again they’d better produce across the river.  Both are probably dying to be traded to get a shot at playing every day in the bigs (ala Steer); unfortunately for them, the FO probably will struggle to find a deal that returns a valuable MLB proficient player to replace their important AAA depth role. They might be here a while.

Gordon will get his chance in spring training. But, yes, more and more he looks like the odd man out.  He won’t make it through waivers. I really like Gordon - he was the spark plug that led our 2nd half in 2022.  However, it will be a surprise if he has not departed the organization by early May, if not before opening day.  This spring training is important for him as it might essentially be his “tryout” for a major league job elsewhere.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Gordon is traded before the season starts. Castro has bypassed him based on last year, and provided more speed too. Also Martin may make the roster and has options.

Kirilloff will be fine if he's healthy, or he won't.  It's on him, as he's got a clear open window to step up and claim his spot. Many guys never get a chance as clean as this one, so I hope he's ready.

I could easily see the FO trading Gordon to an org that is thin in CF for a bag of balls and lunch money (which is to say a 19 year old "live arm".) It'll be a sign of how great an organization we are and how much we care for our guys, and free agents will talk about it next winter when they sign $2.0m deals to be part of this clubhouse.

Miranda won't be traded even if he spends the whole year in St Paul. We don't have many RH bats near ready in the org and he can use this season to reset as a 1B/OF/DH to be ready when Santana leaves or fails or whatever. He has been the type of guy they like so he only needs to return to level after injury, and that's easy to imagine happening this year.

Larnach is the one I have trouble seeing a future for.  They'll certainly leave him in St Paul to work on things, but ERod is coming and other callow youth are on his heels. Even if there are injuries Martin has passed him for the next shot at a long term gig in the outfield. So unless he figures out a lot this year and hits the living bejesus out of the ball there's a real and frightening chance he's going to be on the Balakvoizspelling career path in a couple years.

I think that if the Twins could trade Gordon it would have been done by now.  I don't think anybody feels like Gordon could help their team.  He may have to be included in a larger package.  Package may also include Larnach.  I had really high hopes and expectations for Larnach but I am starting to sour considering he will be 27 years old.  I still think he could help a team and hit some massive homers, but I think his time with the Twins will be coming to an end soon.  Martin needs to get a chance in the  big leagues and I think Miranda needs another chance also when healthy.  All of the above could do themselves a huge favor by going off big in spring training.  Well,  I guess that is why we are so interested.  Let the battles begin.