40-Man Roster Decisions: The Hitters

James Beresford can also become a minor league free agent following the completion of the World Series. He would seem to be a strong candidate to come back to the organization on another minor league contract.

Speaking of ‘after the World Series,’ that is when Derek Falvey will take over his role as the Twins Chief Baseball Officer. He will have plenty of very important decisions to make throughout the offseason, but today we’ll just discuss the 16 hitters on the 40-man roster. Again, after reading today’s article, we are going to want your thoughts and opinions on who should be added. How many of them are Givens to remain on the roster? Any of the arbitration-eligibles? Who are the guys on the proverbial roster bubble? For this, we are going to assume no trades for now. It is, of course, possible that the Twins make a trade or two before the Winter Meetings which would effect this as well.

The Twins have six arbitration-eligible players, including two hitters. There are other articles on the arbitration-eligibles and (Coming Soon!) there will be more in the Twins Daily Offseason Handbook.

• Eduardo Escobar
  
• Trevor Plouffe
  

FREE AGENT

Just one player currently on the 40-man roster will automatically become a free agent after the World Series. That player is catcher Kurt Suzuki. It is highly unlikely that he will be brought back, though certainly not impossible.

THE GIVENS (Assuming no trades)

1. Byron Buxton - High draft pick. Top prospect. Yes, he struggled in the big leagues in 2015 and through August of 2016. However, we also saw September, when he put together an incredible month. We saw what he can be offensively. We already know what he is defensively. And he’s just 22. Easy choice.
   
2. Brian Dozier - I mean, the guy just hit 42 home runs in 2016. He posted an .886 OPS. And he’s got two more years left on his contract. Could he be traded? It’s certainly possible, but otherwise, he will be on the roster. Not much more to say about that.
   
3. Max Kepler - Was named the Twins top rookie by Twins Daily and the Baseball Writers. Certainly had his ups and downs in his first full-time big league experience, but the 23-year-old showed the potential we started seeing in 2015.
   
4. Jorge Polanco - Polanco finally got the opportunity to play in the big leagues, pretty much every day, after August 1st. Can he play shortstop? He should get a shot in 2017. Regardless, Polanco has an exciting future ahead of him and is a given. He will be out of options next season.
   
5. Joe Mauer - Let’s see. Big contract. No trade clause. He’s a given, assuming he wants to keep playing.
   
6. John Ryan Murphy - It was a difficult season for the backstop acquired a year ago from the Yankees. However, he is good defensively and in the past has shown more offensively than he did in 2016. Still just 25, he’ll be on the roster in 2017.
   
7. Byungho Park - He came in with a lot of hype after hitting 105 homers over his previous two seasons in Korea. He showed power when healthy, hitting 22 home runs in 93 games. Unfortunately, contact issues meant that 10 of the homers came in 31 games in Rochester. He had wrist/hand injuries that may or may not have contributed to his struggles. With his power potential, he remains a given.
   
8. Eddie Rosario - Certainly he has his flaws, the most obvious being his complete lack of control of the strike zone. However, Rosario is immensely talented and can do a lot of good on the baseball field. Just 25, he’s a given to remain on the 40-man roster.
   
9. Miguel Sano - Most will admit that 2016 was a difficult year for Sano on several levels, but even in a “bad” season he hit 25 homers. He can be much better which is scary to think about, especially for AL Central pitchers.
   
10. Kennys Vargas - He will be out of options in 2017, so he’ll need to make the 25-man roster. He didn’t hit for average, but finally showed patience and a bunch of extra-base power in 2016. That likely pushed him from the bubble to a given.
    

There are ten hitters who are "givens' to be on the Twins 40-man roster. In addition, there are two arbitration-eligible hitters. In my opinion, Eduardo Escobar should be nearly a given to stay on the roster and be offered arbitration. Most likely, he will be a reserve infielder, but he could get time at third base or shortstop depending upon how other situations play out. Trevor Plouffe is a much more difficult decision. 2016 was a frustrating season Plouffe, but when healthy, he can play solid defense at third base and be relied upon for 18 to 20 homers. For one year and $9 million, it’s not unreasonable to bring him back. I just think it’s pretty unlikely.

Here are the hitters remaining on the 40-man roster who remain question marks for the roster at this point. As a reminder, room still needs to be made on the roster for players who need to be added to the 40-man roster or potentially lost to the Rule 5 draft. Of the below names, the front office will need to determine if they prefer to keep the current guy or go with a potential Rule 5 selection. There are a lot of difficult decisions.

ON THE BUBBLE

1. Adam Brett Walker - For me, he would be a given to remain on the roster. He just turned 25, and he has moved up the organizational ladder, continuing to show power. But there are the strikeouts and concerns about his defense.
   
2. Juan Centeno - For me, he would have been removed from the 40-man roster already. I’ve tweeted several times that I don’t recall seeing a worse defensive catcher (maybe Matthew Lecroy) in team history. He can hit a little and he’s only 26, so maybe he could stick.
   
3. Robbie Grossman - For me Grossman is a given to remain on the roster. He had a terrific on-base percentage. He can also hit left-handed pitching quite well. He could be an ideal platoon candidate. But his defense is so weak in the outfield that a new regime might have another opinion.
   
4. Danny Santana - Currently on the 60-day disabled list, he will need to be removed from that soon. He is certainly a terrific athlete. He can play in the outfield or the infield (not necessarily well, but he can play them), but he just hasn’t shown any offense since that incredible rookie season in 2014. He’s is out of options and just can’t be guaranteed a roster spot.
   

POTENTIAL 40-MAN ROSTER ADDS

Real quickly, here is an incomplete list of hitters who would need to be added to the Twins 40-man roster or risk being lost in the Rule 5 draft (with my thoughts on likelihood of them being added):

• Mitch Garver - Given
  
• Zack Granite - Highly likely
  
• Daniel Palka - Highly likely
  
• Engelb Vielma - Likely
  
• Stuart Turner - Bubble
  

So there you have it, a crib sheet review of the hitters on the Minnesota Twins current 40 (or 38?) man roster. As I see it, there are 10 easy choices to keep on the roster. There are two hitters who are arbitration-eligible. Neither is a given. There are four hitters who I believe are on the 40-man roster bubble. To make matters more confusing, there are four or five hitters who need to be considered for addition to the 40-man roster.

Between yesterday’s review of the pitchers on the 40-man roster and today’s review of the hitters, we’ve got information to hand over to Derek Falvey to help in his decision. Discuss the options below, and let us know what your transactions would be.