stringer bell

I'd be super surprised if any of the last three cuts doesn't get a legit shot for the Twins at some point during the season. In 2023, Julien was up and down at least twice and the same for 2024. Whoever doesn't make the Opening Day roster will almost certainly get their shot. BTW, I thought Martin should have been included in the competition too. He seemed to spend most of his minor league time on the dirt and second should be the best infield position for him.

Probably not time to trade Lee or Julien after their disappointing 2024 seasons. Willi was the subject of trade rumors, but he has value to the Twins because of his proven flexibility.

You're miscounting by one, I believe. One of the bench players you listed is the DH and then there is room for one more player.

To answer the question, I don't think it's comfortable if there is full health of the position players. Miranda should be getting plenty of plate appearances against right handed pitching and Castro will play somewhere. Having one or both of these younger guys sit on the bench against right handed pitching makes very little sense. If Willi is needed in the outfield or if there is an injury to left-side infielders, then Lee can get his reps there.

I just checked the Twins' roster and it appears that Cartaya has been optioned to St. Paul. That leaves three catchers on the roster, plus a slightly more than emergency guy in Mickey Gasper. Ryan Jeffers is 27 years old, has progressed to arbitration contracts and is under team control for two years. The author has continually stated that Jeffers is not and cannot be the primary catcher for the Twins. I disagree. Despite playing slightly over the half the time for the past two years, Jeffers has accumulated WAR in the top third of all catchers. As noted by others, in a 50-50 job sharing of catching, there is no significant difference in the performance of pitchers when Jeffers is catching compared to Vázquez. Jeffers isn't Yadi Molina behind the plate, but he isn't Dr. Strangeglove either. Many predicted Jeffers would regress to the mean in 2024 and perhaps he did, but he did it in an inconsistent manner. He played All-Star worthy baseball for the first two months of the season, but slumped badly and never really had a hot streak in the second half. Was it wear-and-tear, was it a hidden injury, did the league catch up to him, or was it one of those things, a bad stretch with no real cause? We'll find out in 2025 provided Jeffers continues to avoid disabling injuries. I really would put my bet on him improving because he works hard at his craft (listen to the interview G & G did at Twinsfest) and he is still pretty young. We've had two years of Vázquez being one of the worst hitters in baseball who gets continued regular play. At 34, it is tough to imagine him getting significantly better unless being in a contract year does something magical. Given the usage of the Twins' major league catchers, it will be a loss when Vázquez leaves despite the meager offense. Finding the backup or partner for Jeffers will be a high priority for next year, although it could be from the two young catchers that the Twins will carry in St. Paul. I don't hold out significant hope for either Camargo or Cartaya, but another year in the minors might unlock enough for one of them to be a contributing major leaguer. Having two lottery tickets doubles the odds, I guess. To respond to @Doctor Gast conclusion, I don't think Twins' catching is a five-alarm fire, but there is a need for reinforcements and having someone who is more projectable than Camargo or Cartaya would be prudent.

Cartaya optioned to St. Paul.

1) If Ty France is going to start 110-130 games at first, Miranda should get the most PAs as the DH, particularly given his reverse splits. 2) Lee lost prospect luster and Julien pretty much undid all his good work in 2023 (IMHO). Sending either or both to St. Paul to start the season is proper and justified. Lee has been better than Eddie in the spring so far and has played three positions in the IF and is a switch hitter--he's the more versatile tool, but he and Castro would be neck and neck as primary options for second base. 3) As a 29-year-old rookie with less than 25 PAs in the majors, I don't think it would be wasteful or a problem to have Gasper as the last guy. He could pinch hit, maybe DH or play first occasionally, and grab his gear if there's a blowout and catch a couple of innings. As the position player group sorts out, it looks like the Twins could have three very versatile guys (Castro, Lee, Gasper) to fill in at 7.5 positions. Injuries and poor performance will happen and the last three guys cut (out of Gasper, Lee, Keirsey, Julien, and Martin) are all going to get a chance. I'm actually pretty optimistic as of today.

I think Miranda should be the DH against RH pitchers.

I don't know if Martin will make the roster, but he'll play for the Twins this year, barring injury. He (hopefully) will add value and the Twins have him for six more years if they want him that long. They have Woods Richardson for six more years, as well and he is currently older than one pitcher on the 40-man roster (Castellano) so maybe the "kids" aren't passing him since he is younger than most of them, such as Matthews and Festa.

Oh, that's so much better!

I've said for about a week that from 1000 miles away, it looks like the last spot is between Julien and Gasper. If he's going to play a couple times a week, I think I'd prefer Gasper. If it is regular ABs as the DH, maybe Julien, but Gasper is a switch hitter. I didn't see him hit right handed today and I wonder if that might be his weaker side. The photo with this article shows Gasper in catching gear. I know he finished one game behind the plate. I hope he gets a couple more chances to catch in the next two weeks.

Didn't he walk three in one inning in his last outing? Not a real advertisement for a spot on the roster.

Throw more strikes!!

Winokur is a big'un for sure. It appears he runs pretty well and has a good arm. He could be something in a couple of years.

I don't know if he did it on purpose, but a smart play by Julien!

Too many pitches out of the zone for Varland. He is facing good major league hitters.

Hard to know without watching his movement at contact, but it looked like a tough play to me.

Gasper has a major league...............mustache.

Toronto announcers love Julien apparently. I'm not sure he's a lock for the squad and I think Lee is the choice at second base if they made Opening Day decisions today.

Florida ballparks are pretty tough for wind and sun, but Miranda didn't have a good look on the popup. I really want to see Winokur a bit more. He double-clutched his first chance, but Springer wasn''t running hard out of the box. He made a smooth play with a perfect throw on his second chance.

Lee homered against a major league pitcher in the Yankee game (don't remember if it was Cole or a top reliever). Yeah, it is early and putting up numbers against minor leaguers isn't the same. However, it's better to be good than not.

Maybe they are only doing home games. I know they were on WCCO on Sunday.

Morris might be the rookie pitcher who makes the most impact in 2025. He looks very good right now.

I don't think Camargo can make enough contact to be a true major leaguer.

Gasper with another knock. Lee hit a rocket in the first, but Gimenez made a nice play. He didn't win a platinum glove for nothing.