Greggory Masterson

I outlined how many teams do have a player like that on their bench—one who doesn't necessarily do one thing well but is only a half-step behind your average regular. The Twins have had guys very recently like Willi Castro and even Kyle Farmer (2023's version who could play shortstop and hit at a league-average level). The thing is that Lewis has no shown himself to be 2023 Kyle Farmer, and other than hoping they find the switch to get him to consistently play at a passable level, it's difficult to see how he becomes that. No one would be salivating over adding 2023 Kyle Farmer to this team, but his OPS that year was 60 points higher than Lewis's last year, and he could play a premium defensive position passably well. He had twice the bWAR in about a third of the plate appearances. I would love a good fifth infielder being added to the mix. The issue is that that player is not Royce Lewis. Or at least it hasn't been in 30 months.

There is probably another team’s Royce Lewis who fits the current Twins better; that’s part of this. Royce probably fits another team better. But also, that 5.1M doesn’t need to be spent on a different 5M player. It can be the difference between bringing in a 12M infielder or a 17M infielder. Or a 5M reliever vs a 10M reliever. It’s all money that goes into the spending pool.

The downside to this is probably that he’s going to be making a few million in arbitration (MLBTR estimates 5.1M). When budgeting for a roster, it’s possible that that 5.1M can be better spent elsewhere

Let’s just call it as it is: It's been two and a half seasons since Royce Lewis was a good major leaguer. On June 22, 2024, Lewis woke up with a .996 career OPS (about 75% better than average) over 346 plate appearances. Since that day, Lewis has a .653 OPS (20% below average) in 1,171 trips to the plate. He has been a well-below-average hitter for more than three times as long as he was an exceptional hitter. He’s had stretches in which he’s returned to form, including a 32-game (injury-interrupted) stretch in 2025 with an OPS over .900 between May 30th and July 28th, or a stretch between mid-May and early September in 2026 in which he sustained an OPS over .750 for 81 games. But the highs haven’t been high enough, and the lows have been too low for the Twins to count on Lewis as an impact hitter. And this places both Lewis and the Twins in an awkward spot. Although Lewis is estimated by MLB Trade Rumors to command a modest $5.1 million in his second year of arbitration, his lack of production and the team’s current construction make it difficult to justify keeping Lewis in Minnesota in 2027. Even if Lewis believes his more well-compensated teammates are on the chopping block ahead of him, he may have already played his last game for the Twins. So, let’s talk about how Lewis fits on the 2027 squad. Lewis the Starter Lewis played a career-high 125 games in the majors this season (plus an additional 15 in the minors). He lost the third base job to Brooks Lee, but he saw nearly everyday playing time after being recalled from Triple-A in June, playing 94 of the team’s final 97 games. He primarily played first base, but appeared 16 times at second base and nine times at third. If the Twins were to run back the 2026 infield in 2027, Lewis would be the top candidate to start at first base on Opening Day, with Kody Clemens slotted in at second. Maybe they’d swap positions. But either way, the Twins probably didn’t have a serious offseason if that’s the case. For someone who hadn’t played the position before, Lewis adapted well to playing first base, but he’s no Gold Glover there. Nor was he any better than average at second base. He didn’t hit like even an average first baseman, even after returning from Triple-A. Lewis slashed .245/.295/.409 in those final 94 games. Given the Twins’ current roster (and barring Ryan Jeffers accepting the QO), adding a plus hitter at first or second base is the most straightforward way to upgrade the lineup. Even an anticlimactic addition like Gleyber Torres would be a substantial improvement over Lewis based on OPS alone (.727 last year for Torres compared to .667 for Lewis). It’s hard to justify Lewis filling an everyday role at first or second next season. Lewis the Reserve If Lewis shouldn’t be an everyday player, he could fit into a bench role. Or, perhaps, he could be fit into a bench role, whether it makes sense or not. The Twins have done a poor job in recent seasons constructing a bench with real utility. Gone are the halcyon days of Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer, Donovan Solano, and Michael A. Taylor. Since 2024, the Twins bench has been made of spare parts, filled with redundant, superfluous, or incapable players who met the Walmart greeter standard: they were warm bodies. Carrying Lewis in a bench role would continue this pattern. Valuable bench players have roles or specialties. Maybe they’re a pinch-running asset, maybe they’re a platoon partner, maybe they can play a difficult-to-defend position like shortstop, center field, or catcher. But they have a real use case. Lewis doesn’t do one thing that lends itself to such a role. He hasn’t played shortstop since playing one inning there in 2023, so the Twins would either need to carry a second bench infielder or stomach Lee being the primary backup shortstop—a difficult proposition, given his struggles there before sliding to third. Although Lewis plays a fine first, second, and third, he’s not good enough at any of those spots to justify being a defensive replacement. Nor has he played any outfield since tearing his ACL in 2022 while playing center field. Lewis bats right-handed and could be a platoon candidate with an infielder like Clemens, who has historically struggled against lefties (career .627 OPS, 20% below league average). However, Lewis hasn’t demolished lefties in his career, with a .747 lifetime OPS against southpaws, just 8% better than league average. For context, that’s right in line with Austin Martin’s .745 OPS against lefties. Lewis has been a below-average hitter against lefties overall during the past two seasons. He simply doesn’t hit well enough to be a platoon partner. He has been a good baserunner over the last year or so, making good decisions on the basepaths and going 28-for-31 as a base stealer over the past two seasons, but he doesn’t have the blazing speed you’d want from a dedicated pinch-runner. So, overall, Lewis has a middling-at-best bat that doesn’t offer a real platoon advantage. He has defensive flexibility, but you don’t love him at any position, and he doesn’t play shortstop. He runs well, but not enough to be a basepaths weapon. He does a bit of everything, just not terribly well. There is a role like that. You’re more likely to see it from a fourth outfielder than a fifth infielder, but there are plenty of guys around the league who are just a half-step worse than a traditional everyday player but can give several players a day off a week. Think 2019 Marwin Gonzalez, if Lewis was willing and able to play the corner outfield spots as well (which is questionable). But Gonzalez was a better hitter and fielder than Lewis has been over the last three seasons. It seems the more thought that goes into Lewis on the 2027 roster, the more it feels like we’re trying to find a way to make Lewis useful to the team, rather than including him because he’s actually useful. Really, the only way that he makes sense as an addition is if there's a real chance he can get closer to the player he was in his first 80 or so games, and it's quite easy to be skeptical of that. It's probably easier to be skeptical than optimistic there. Especially if Lewis is unable to play in the outfield, the Twins would need to flank him on the bench with a shortstop, a catcher, and probably another outfielder (likely Alan Roden or Emmanuel Rodríguez). Lewis would be the team’s primary bench platoon bat, and he’d probably play three or four times a week, giving players days off at the three non-shortstop spots with questionable production. It really seems like there’s a better way to build a roster than to shoehorn Lewis into one of the valuable 13 hitter spots. His admittedly modest $5.1 million estimated salary can probably be spent more efficiently at that. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images View full article

I am about to begin the world's silliest victory lap!

Don't get me wrong; this isn't proposing that Roden be the primary first baseman--I'm just interested in him playing there once a week, a few times a month. My belief is that they should acquire another infielder, probably a 1B/2B with Clemens playing the other. If he's a righty, it's easy to find Roden a handful of starts there. If he's a lefty, it's harder to get Roden playing time there between Clemens and [New Guy]'s starts. And if that's the case, so be it. I'd care more about truly upgrading in the infield than finding Roden games in the infield. But even then, it would help Roden's flexibility and could come in handy if there were an infield injury.

Like I always say: the best benches have a guy who can only play second base

Because you have to fill out a 13-man lineup, and that includes role players. But more importantly, something about Roden's swing scratches an itch in my brain, so I want to see it more often.

Image courtesy of Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Alan Roden has had a Twins career that has been very unfair to Alan Roden, starting the moment many Twins fans learned that he existed. Twins historians may recall the 2025 trade deadline, during which the Twins made nine trades, the last of which sent then-setup man Louis Varland to Toronto. Roden was the second piece of the return for Varland (and Ty France), arriving in Minnesota alongside lefty pitching prospect Kendry Rojas. Fans were predisposed to dislike Roden for having the temerity to have been traded for a hometown kid, but he didn’t help himself much on the field. In 12 games, he mustered just a .463 OPS, then he sprained his thumb sliding into the wall chasing a foul ball. He missed the rest of that season. And Roden wasn’t in a position to struggle. At the time of his acquisition, he was just one of many left-handed corner outfield options, alongside (but not limited to) Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, James Outman, Walker Jenkins, and Emmanuel Rodriguez. He was thrust into a situation where he not only needed to fight for playing time in the present, but also had to fend off higher-profile prospects on his heels. After roster decisions and injury delayed Roden’s 2026 MLB season, he struggled out of the gate, with another OPS under .500 through his first eight games. However, even with a demotion and inconsistent playing time, he finished the season strong, slashing .317/.403/.450 and posting more walks than strikeouts over his last 24 games, to end the season with a .769 OPS in 32 games—15-20% better than average. It was fewer than 100 plate appearances, but it offered a glimpse of the player the Twins thought they had acquired from Toronto: a solid defensive corner outfielder with great strike-zone control and a little gap power. It’s not a high ceiling, but it’s easy to see how a player like Roden can be a solid, everyday player who helps teams win games. However, everyday play in the outfield probably isn’t feasible in Minnesota next season, even assuming that Larnach has played his last game in a Twins jersey (which, given the club’s history, might be a big assumption). Roden will be jockeying for playing time with fellow lefties Jenkins and Rodriguez, the latter of whom is out of options and will need to be on the big-league roster. Furthermore, Byron Buxton and Luke Keaschall will see a good share of time in the outfield. You might even say that the outfield is crowded before considering Roden. But there is some playing time to be spared. Jenkins, Rodriguez, Buxton, and Keaschall all have checkered injury histories, and it’s safe to assume there will be at least a couple of trips to the injured list from that group. Once you factor in rest days and a potentially fluid designated hitter spot, it’s not difficult to see some playing time every week. But at this point, he’s slotted in as the fifth outfielder. However, there might be another lane to playing time for Roden. Prior to his surprise selection in the third round of the 2022 draft, Roden was viewed primarily as a first baseman, having logged 39 appearances there as a 22-year-old junior at Creighton, compared to 15 games in the outfield. He also split time between the outfield and first base his draft summer in the Cape Cod League. As a pro, Roden has only logged one inning at first base, and he’s listed at 5-foot-11, but he’s got some athleticism, and it’s not hard to imagine him over there after watching France and Kody Clemens (both within an inch of Roden, height-wise) playing first base for the past two seasons. Even if Roden’s a bit rusty around the bag, the Twins have been successful in recent years in improving first base defense in players like Clemens and France, the latter of whom won a Gold Glove after years of being regarded as a poor defender. Carlos Santana also won his first Gold Glove at first base as a Twin, and they converted players like Luis Arraez into passable first basemen. This isn’t advocating for Roden to be an everyday first baseman or anything. But if the Twins want to get him on the field as much as is reasonably possible as a bench player, this is one way. A couple of outfield starts paired with a game at first base each week allows the Twins to play Roden about 50% of the time. Given Rodriguez’s lack of experience and Buxton’s recovery from offseason hip surgery, the Twins probably need to count on Roden even more at the beginning of the season than almost any other team’s fifth outfielder. And that day-to-day playing time can go up when any of the four guys ahead of him miss time later on. Nonetheless, it's difficult to see Roden carving out a consistent three-game-per-week role without a little time on the dirt, and he has real experience playing first base. If his true talent level is close to what he showed in 32 games this season, he’s a player that the Twins should want in the lineup—and he’d be a luxury to have on the bench. Of course, that’s assuming his true talent level is close to what we saw late this season. Roden as the backup first baseman (in addition to his work in the corners) makes sense with the roster as currently constructed, given that Royce Lewis is penciled into that spot and hits right-handed. Roden, a lefty, giving him a day off against righties would help Lewis’s numbers. But it remains to be seen if Lewis is indeed in that role next season. His production since the summer of 2024 certainly hasn’t earned it. If the everyday first baseman is instead Kody Clemens, a fellow lefty, it doesn’t make as much sense, unless the Twins play Clemens at second base on days Roden starts against a righty. Similarly, many of the potential bats that the Twins could add in free agency to replace Lewis in some form (such as Jake Bauers, Brandon Lowe, Nathaniel Lowe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jeff McNeil, or even Arraez) are left-handed. Adding a lefty infielder probably precludes Roden from any time on the dirt. But if they were to instead acquire a righty like Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm, or Gleyber Torres, Roden playing some first base could be valuable. Even without a little work at first base, Roden seems to be a valuable role player on next year’s team who could be thrust into more action at any time. But being able to add a bit of time at first base would immensely benefit his career and the Twins’ roster flexibility. Only read this if you won’t take it more than 10% seriously: Alan Roden was a high school catcher. The Twins have a very murky catching picture next season. Of course, they shouldn’t have him also come to camp with a catcher’s mitt. But maybe. View full article

fwiw I expect Clemens to be a major factor next year, but I just have reasonable doubt that he's their first or second baseman on Opening Day

It depends on your definition of "large," but yes, there are many fans who would prefer to not see Buxton play for the Twins again, one way or another. As for being healthy and productive, that also depends on your definition; many would say that Buxton has never been healthy and productive. I doubt anyone has ever thought, "I don't want a healthy and productive Buxton playing for the Twins," but that's probably because playing 100 games with a well above-average OPS isn't their version of "healthy and productive," given the time lost to injury. The best ability is availability, and all that.

September days and days on the injured list don't count.

Aaron Sabato