One underrated quality of the way the Twins have been constructed this year is the option situation. That is to say, there are only 4 players on the current roster who are on their final option: Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Tyler Duffey and Matt Wisler. It doesn’t lead to too many tough decisions forced by bureaucratic considerations.
Kepler, Polanco and Duffey are part of the core of the team, and aren’t going anywhere, while Matt Wisler was an offseason waiver claim. The Twins don’t have any long term investment in Wisler, and quite a bit of depth if Wisler doesn’t show the Twins what they are hoping for from a veteran reclamation.
What this means for the rest of the team, is that the team can be built almost entirely based on talent. The Twins have a lot of talent in the starting lineup, and assuming health, the starting 9 can be assumed. The only real questions come on the bench, but I think most people are in agreement that Jake Cave will take the final bench spot over Willians Astudillo and Lamonte Wade.
Later in the year, though, the questions might get a little tougher. What happens when Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach start insisting upon a spot on the Major League roster? That’s a tougher question, and it will probably be first answered by whatever inevitable injury comes along, but after that, the Twins aren’t really bound by the logistics of the roster.
It seems most likely that the first person to be replaced (again, assuming full health) would be Jake Cave, who could easily be sent to the minors. Next, it would probably be Eddie Rosario, if the Twins need a corner outfielder. Kirilloff or Larnach would really need to be impressive to make that fly, but if it does, there is no real pressure placed on the team by Major League rules to do anything with Rosario except send him to Rochester. Rosario has options.
And so do the Twins.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
