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As the Minnesota Twins look to take a step forward offensively in 2026, one of the biggest question marks in their lineup is first base. Last year, after Ty France was traded at the deadline, all but one start at the position went to either Kody Clemens or Edouard Julien. Looking forward, it sure sounds like Derek Falvey and the Twins are inclined to stay the course.
When asked at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas last week about his intentions to add at first base during the offseason, Falvey told reporters, including John Bonnes of Twins Daily:
"I guess I view it through a couple lenses. I think it's an area where we're going to hope that there's a few guys internally that we've asked to continue to kind of grow and develop there. Eddie Julien got some time there, and will continue to get a little bit more work. Kody Clemens was a huge value add for us last year there. There's no way around it. Like, great fit, great kid, I thought was a lift in the clubhouse, and had really good year there.
So I think give him another winter, get his legs under him. Like, could we find a complement there from the right-handed side? That's possible too, but that's an area that we know, that we have some players that can play there, but maybe not a single designated person. But we want to give Kody a lot of runway there too, because he was really a good fit for us last year."
Well, that wasn't very ambiguous was it? Clemens is your starting first baseman, with the team likely to add some possible righty-hitting options to their capability mix. Julien will need a monster spring to make the team, and that's if he sticks on the 40-man roster all winter, but Clemens apparently has an open door to "a lot of runway" at the position.
One could cynically view this as another cheap move fueled by stingy ownership. In fact it's not really even cynical. Clemens is a low-cost option who will cost the minimum and will negate a need to shop externally. But that doesn't mean this can't also be a reasonable course of action. If the team's plan is indeed to go with Clemens at first, at least as an interim plug-in, I don't hate it.
Clemens, like Julien, didn't do much with his expanded post-deadline opportunity at first base. He mostly slumped throughout August and September, dragging down the surprisingly strong numbers he'd amassed through his first couple of months as a Twin. But within the generally underwhelming second half, Clemens also produced one of the greatest single-game offensive performances in franchise history.
On September 12th against the Diamondbacks, Clemens went 4-for-4 with three home runs and a double, narrowly missing the first ever four-homer game by a Twin. Even amidst a sea of late-season struggle, it was the type of flash that makes Clemens an intriguing player, despite being a bit of a journeyman at age 29.
You've got to have some ability to put together a game like that. Just like you've got to have some ability to rip 12 homers in 54 games, as Clemens did during his initial stretch with Minnesota in May, June and July. These weren't all garbage-time cheapies either; he hit some big game-changing bombs and was a key figure in the 18-win May that temporarily thrust the Twins into contention.
To become a true asset as a starting first baseman in the majors, Clemens needs to harness that ability more consistently and cut down on prolonged droughts. But the ingredients are there. His xSLG, average exit velocity, barrel and hard hit rates were all solidly in the upper quartile of MLB players this year. He walked and made enough contact to hold his own with strike zone control. His xwOBA (.341) was substantially higher than his actual wOBA (.307), suggesting room for growth.
Importantly, he also adds some other much-needed qualities to the mix as a regular for the Twins. Clemens was said to have assumed a leadership role on a team that now faces a leadership void. He's pretty good defensively, and vastly better than Julien, which helps give him a major edge (to the extent that a competition exists). And Clemens is an above-average runner — in the same range as Austin Martin and Alan Roden — which is not often the case at first base.
As the Twins look to get faster and more aggressive, having some speed at an unorthodox position can be helpful, especially if they team is resigned to having one of its slowest runners (Brooks Lee) at shortstop.
We can't overlook the uninspiring overall track record for Clemens, who was never a top prospect and has been 20% below average as an MLB hitter through 265 games as he approaches 30. He was on waivers when the Twins acquired him for a reason. But in many ways his breakthrough in 2026 looked legit, featuring career highs and favorable indicators across the board.
Clemens attributed much of his success this year to reps and consistency. He's never had many opportunities for regular big-league playing time in the past — his 379 plate appearances with the Twins nearly tripled his previous season high. In that sense, I can buy into Falvey's stated vision: give Clemens an offseason to prep for the starting job, ramp him up accordingly in spring training, and see if he can fully unlock his potential with everyday starts against righties, while also providing value in other ways.
If the alternative is going after someone like Ty France in free agency — and, let's be honest, it probably is — why not?
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