Which Twins Role Players Will Write Themselves Into the Team's Future?

In 2012, the Twins acquired a 23-year-old infielder named Eduardo Escobar, part of the return for two months of a severely diminished Francisco Liriano at the trade deadline. At the time, Escobar was not all that highly regarded, and his initial run with Minnesota in 2012 and 2013 (negative-0.2 fWAR in 80 games) did little to bolster his rep. 

To his great credit, though, Escobar developed into a highly useful player for the Twins. He didn't get much hype in an organization that was anticipating the arrival of premier prospects like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sanó, but Escobar was one of the team's better regulars over the next several years, posting solid offensive numbers as a versatile, shortstop-capable fielder. 

Escobar was amidst a career year in 2018 when the Twins cashed him in for Jhoan Durán in one of the best moves of the Derek Falvey era. Durán, much like Escobar, would become an example of how key contributors can be uncovered in unlikely places. They don't always have to be top draft picks like Buxton or high-profile international signings like Sanó.

Which brings us to present day. As the Twins rebuild and set their sights on future improvement, there's understandably a lot of focus on those top prospects who will hopefully help elevate the club over the next few years: Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Kaelen Culpepper and Gabriel Gonzalez, who made his Twins debut on Friday night against Boston.

There's also plenty of attention being paid to Royce Lewis and Matt Wallner — former top prospects whose ability to reboot and rebound in Triple-A feels very weighty at the moment. 

While these rising and reeling talents all plug away in the minors, there are a number of players currently on the MLB roster who are making their own cases to play a role going forward, as the team hopefully transitions into a more competitive state. 

Acquired via waivers, minor-league deals or low-scale trades, none of these players have anything promised. They need to fight for their MLB futures, and that's exactly what makes their stories compelling to follow this summer.

Kody Clemens
The Twins acquired Clemens in exchange for cash considerations last April, jumping the waiver line for a player who was potentially headed to the minors at age 28. He impressed enough over the remainder of the season to earn another chance this year, but had much to prove. 

He largely slumped through the first month, but Clemens has come on in a big way. He heated up in late April and is has an OPS over .800 here in May. While bigger names have fizzled, Clemens has sizzled enough to expand his role, best demonstrated on Friday night when started in right field and batted seventh against a left-handed starter at Fenway.

He's held his own against southpaws, which is one thing helping his case. Clemens has also been not just good but excellent defensively at first base, and he saw time at second as well before getting his first starting outfield nod over the weekend. That's the kind of flexibility that helps a good (if streaky) hitter and valued clubhouse presence stick around. 

Clemens is arbitration eligible for the first time in the coming offseason, and could be retained year-to-year at a reasonable cost through 2029. He's not gonna be a star but he could definitely be a stable roster fixture for a while.

Ryan Kreidler
Willi Castro is another example of the player type we're talking about. He was acquired as an unheralded minor-league free agent in 2023 — envisioned as a speedy light-hitting utilityman, if he made the team — but turned himself into a quality regular and even an All-Star. 

It's hard to look at Kreidler and not see the parallels. Both players ranked #7 in the Tigers system, per MLB Pipeline, before debuting in the majors. (Castro in 2019, Kreidler in 2022.) Both fell out of favor in Detroit after failing to hit in parts of four seasons. Both got scooped up by the Twins for essentially nothing.

Castro proved to be a find. And while it's still very early, Kreidler is trending in the same direction. He's already hit three home runs in 11 games with the Twins, which is more than he totaled (two) in 89 games with the Tigers. Much like a younger Castro, Kreidler offers considerable value if he hits at all, because he can play center field and shortstop. In fact, he's probably the team's best defender at short, evidenced by Derek Shelton's decision to start him there (with Brooks Lee at third base) over the weekend.

He's not going to maintain a 1.000+ OPS but the offensive bar for Kreidler to be a valuable multi-year roster asset is not high. He won't even be arb-eligible until after next season. 

Tristan Gray
Many middling talents like Gray never get much of an extended opportunity in the majors. The 30-year-old admitted to reporters ahead of this season that he was considering retirement before catching on with the Twins and holding down a roster spot. 

This is his chance. We'll see what he can do with it.

Gray's had some nice moments this year but overall hasn't been terribly effective. It can be hard when you're playing sporadically and constantly feeling like your roster spot is at risk. For now, the Lewis demotion lessens those impediments for Gray, whose spot should be secure and his role expanded in the coming weeks. 

Can he show enough to convince the Twins he might be worth keeping around cheaply as a backup infielder or potential platoon partner? It's going to require his power showing up more consistently to offset a poor plate approach. Gray, currently away from the team on paternity leave, has just one extra-base hit in his 57 plate appearances.

Alex Jackson
The loss of Ryan Jeffers opens the door for Jackson to try and play his way into Minnesota's catcher setup in 2027. He's been stashed at Triple-A, third on the depth chart, up until the starter went down with a hamate fracture this past week, forcing the Twins to confront the reality of a Jeffers-less future behind the plate.

Jackson could be part of it. He's got MLB experience and is still two years away from free agency. Like Kreidler, he offers enough defensive value in a limited role to justify rostering without a great deal of offensive production. But he's got to at least hit a little, and the .527 career MLB OPS up to this point won't cut it. 

He posted a career-high 111 OPS+ in Baltimore last year and has flashed pop at Triple-A with the Saints, albeit with a .295 OBP. Jackson got the start at catcher on Friday (going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts) and figures to play semi-regularly over the next couple of months. Will he establish himself as a credible option to share time with Victor Caratini in 2027 after Jeffers presumably moves on?

The dilemma here is that if Jackson plays well enough to earn a spot in the team's 2027 plans, it decreases his odds of getting through waivers again when Jeffers returns. But you cross that bridge when you get there. 

Yoendrys Gómez
The advantage of having a wide-open bullpen, as the Twins do this year, is that you can audition intriguing arms and hopefully run into a few overlooked useful pieces along the way. In the past we've seen Minnesota use this method to come upon multi-year contributors like Brandon Kintzler, Casey Fien and Jared Burton.

The relievers who've rotated through their bullpen carousel so far this year, like Zak Kent and Garrett Acton, have failed to capture the imagination. Gómez, their latest waiver-wire pickup, is a little more interesting. I certainly don't want to blow out of proportion his tiny sample of work with the Twins, but in eight appearances, he's looked legitimately good with seven strikeouts and just one hit allowed in 6 ⅓ innings. His appearance in last Wednesday's series finale against Houston, striking out five of seven batters faced, was an eye-opener.

The fact that he's appeared on five different MLB teams since the start of last year could be viewed as a negative, a sign of his perceived dispensability, or a more positive indicator of the intrigue that numerous different front offices — including the Dodgers, Yankees and Rays — have seen in him. There's nothing stopping the Twins from giving Gómez a more extended look than any of those other clubs saw fit. 

The Twins whiffed on almost all of their minor-league bullpen signings, from Liam Hendriks and Andrew Chafin to Matt Bowman and John Brebbia, so they really could use a hit on a random find like Gómez. Or Cody Laweryson, or Eric Orze. This relief corps needs all the help it can get going forward.