The Twins Have too Many Good Outfielders; Can They Make Room for Them?

The Twins will begin the 2020 season with Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, and Max Kepler in the outfield. That is a group many teams would love to have, both offensively and defensively. If one of them goes down the Twins can easily turn to Jake Cave, Marwin Gonzalez, or LaMonte Wade jr. and they will be just fine playing every day. If everything went absolutely horribly wrong, the Twins could turn to any of Brent Rooker, Alex Kirilloff, or Luke Raley to play every day and they would likely be just fine. Basically what I’m saying is the Twins have A LOT of outfielders ready or almost ready to play in the majors. Where will they all fit?

Here is every MLB outfielder and every minor league outfielder who will be ready to contribute by some point in 2021:

Current major league players with years of team control remaining:

• Eddie Rosario: Two years
  
• Byron Buxton: Three years
  
• Max Kepler: Five years
  
• Jake Cave: Five years
  
• LaMonte Wade Jr: Six years
  

Prospects expected to arrive within the next two years:

• Luke Raley
  
• Alex Kirilloff
  
• Brent Rooker
  
• Trevor Larnach
  
• Royce Lewis?
  

Will all three current starters be on the team in coming years? Let’s take a look.

Eddie Rosario: I don’t expect Rosario to be on this team past his arbitration years which means 2021 will likely be his last year in a Twins uniform. The cost is rising too much for a corner outfielder who is trending downwards and the Twins obviously have the depth to replace him. This will open up a spot for someone, but unless he is traded it will take until the start of the 2022 season.

Byron Buxton: It’s tough to say what the future holds for Buxton in Minnesota. Even if he leaves after arbitration that won’t be until after the 2022 season and the Twins have been rumored to want to extend him. I don’t think he will be leaving any time soon so that locks one outfield spot for well past when these prospects should be ready to take over.

Max Kepler: This one is easy. Max is staying in Minnesota for at least the next five years. I believe he is a budding star and is on one of the most team friendly contracts in baseball. He won’t be traded or released so that locks up another outfield spot for the long run.

After going over those three we are left with Buxton and Kepler likely being locked into starting spots for the next three to five years and Rosario as the only one who will likely be replaced. One spot to take with many top prospects upcoming will mean they’ll have to make room somehow. Here are a couple options…

Someone becomes the new designated hitter: Nelson Cruz is on the final year of his two-year contract so if the Twins don’t bring him back then perhaps a prospect can take over that role. Kirilloff, Rooker, Raley, and Larnach are all much better offensively than defensively so maybe that would work.

Trade prospects for pitching: This just makes a ton of sense and seems inevitable, right? The Twins will need that impact pitcher and they have more than enough outfielders to be successful for a long time. Eventually the Twins will have to pay the price for that player to put them over the top.

What do you think about the great problem the Twins have coming up? Honestly the fact that I am writing about the Twins having too many good players just shows how good this team is. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

MORE FROM TWINS DAILY

— Latest Twins coverage from our writers

— Recent Twins discussion in our forums

— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email