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When the St. Paul Saints kicked off their season on Friday night, it was cool to look over their starting lineup and find a series of viable major-league contingency options, almost from top to bottom.
Leading off was Austin Martin, who spent plenty of time with the Twins last year and will almost certainly be called upon this year to help in the outfield or at second base. No. 2 hitter Luke Keaschall is also capable of playing those positions and offers much more offensive upside, coming off an eye-opening spring at the plate. Batting third was Emmanuel Rodriguez, who has a real chance to break into the Twins outfield this summer. From there the lineup went Armando Alvarez (3B), Mike Ford (1B/DH), Jair Camargo (C), Yunior Severino (1B/DH) and Jeferson Morales (2B/OF) – all players who could credibly be viewed as MLB options, if needed, offering ways mitigate a loss at almost any position on the MLB roster. Except for one.
At the very bottom of the lineup, batting ninth: the Saints' starting shortstop, Ryan Fitzgerald. Ever heard of him? Well, he might currently be third on Minnesota's SS depth chart.
If Fitzgerald were to get the call at some point, it'd be a neat moment for him but an ominous sign for the Twins. He's a 30-year-old undrafted career minor-leaguer who is more of a utilityman than full-time shortstop. Last year, with Kansas City's Triple-A affiliate, he made more starts at both second and third than at short.
Not the most compelling backup to an injury-prone star at a key position for a big-league team that's trying to contend, but that appears to be where we are at. How'd we get here? It's a combination of skimpy depth and some unfortunately grouped injuries. The Twins front office flirted with the idea of signing a veteran backup shortstop during the offseason, but elected not to, opting to use their available funds on a fourth outfielder, lefty reliever and scrap-heap first baseman. Meanwhile, their internal depth has been eroded by attrition:
- Brooks Lee, who would have been second on the shortstop depth chart behind Carlos Correa, is sidelined indefinitely with a back issue.
- Payton Eeles, who started 21 games at shortstop for the Saints last year in a sensational breakout minor-league season, underwent offseason knee surgery and will likely miss a sizable portion of this season.
- Will Holland, who made 20 starts at short for St. Paul in 2024, also opened the season on the injured list as he recovers from an ankle fracture suffered last year.
All of these players were perhaps stretches to be viewed as MLB shortstops, to some extent. Lee is certainly a capable defender but he flopped offensively as a rookie last year. Eeles and Holland, while both intriguing in their own rights, are not considered top prospects and neither has played much above Double-A. For now, all three are out of the picture, leaving a vacuum behind Correa and Willi Castro on the depth chart. Even Royce Lewis, who could theoretically be an option in a pinch given his background, is unavailable.
Castro himself is hardly an ideal safety net behind Correa, both because his functionality as a utilityman is quite valuable (as demonstrated by the fact he's currently starting elsewhere), and because the Twins have openly stated that they prefer not to use him at shortstop. The team says that's because they feel playing there wears him down, but also: Castro rates very poorly at the position defensively.
And so, the Twins' entire shortstop situation teeters on the health and availability of Carlos Correa — a superstar whose presence is absolutely pivotal, and whose absence could send shockwaves through a team with no real contingency plan. He says he's healthy after being plagued by plantar fasciitis in both feet over the past two years, and he's looked fine in early action despite the early lack of results. Still I'll be wincing extra hard every time he takes an awkward step and grimaces, or jogs slowly down the baseline.
At $37 million, Correa is by far the highest-paid player on the roster, and rightly so. But that price tag also underscores the burden he bears: not just to perform like a franchise cornerstone, but to stay on the field like one. With virtually no reliable backup behind him and the fallback options ranging from untested to impractical, the Twins’ outlook at one of the most important positions in baseball is fragile at best. If Correa falters, so too might the foundation.
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