4 Twins players fighting for their futures ahead of 2024 season
A few guys are fighting for more than just a 26-man roster spot in Spring Training.
While the Minnesota Twins are starting to figure out what the Opening Day roster will look like, some players are looking further down the line at where they might fit in.
Only 26 players will end up making the final roster, and already the team has sent home eight non-roster invites as the screws start to tighten. The good news is that most of the roster seems to be set with only a few potential spots up for grabs -- and even those seem to be small races.
Minnesota needs to figure out what the deal is with the No. 5 spot in the starting rotation, and what happens if Anthony DeSclafani isn't ready to start the season. Similarly, the eighth spot in the bullpen is up for grabs but only a few of players are legitimate candidates for it.
A handful of guys are fighting for their future in a different way, as they're hoping to remain in the picture long-term rather than simply fighting for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
4 Twins players fighting for their futures ahead of 2024 season
Jordan Balazovic
It's been a rough few years for Jordan Balazovic, from an off-field incident last year that set him back to getting DFA'd this winter to make room for new players. What makes where things have gotten so much harder to take is that he looked like a rising star just a handful of years ago.
Back in 2019 he was a Top 100 prospect who posted a 2.69 ERA while striking out 129 batters in 93 2/3 innings at Single-A. Just two years ago he was a Top 5 prospect in the farm system, ranking alongside the likes of Joe Ryan and Royce Lewis but he didn't even come close to making the Top 30 in this year's list.
His fall from grace was hard and swift, as he posted a 0-7 record across 21 starts and 70.2 innings at Triple-A with a bloated 7.39 ERA to boot. Making matters worse was his 1.939 WHIP, 35 walks, and 21 home runs allowed, which in combination with breaking his jaw in an altercation last spring not only put him on Rocco Baldelli's bad side but has called into question his future with the Twins.
Balazovic didn't do himself any favors this spring. While he struck out six batters in four innings of work, he's posted a 11.25 ERA and 2.150 WHIP. It's not the end of the line just yet, though. While things aren't exactly going great, he wasn't among the first eight roster cuts the Twins made and the team did bring him back after he cleared waivers so there's still a level of investment. It's up to Balazovic, though, to make the most of it.
Jose Miranda
Not everyone is fighting for their future in a negative sense. Just a handful of months ago Jose Miranda was on the wrong side of this debate, but he's since started to get back to the player he was looking to be when he made his debut back in 2022.
So much has happened with Miranda and his situation in the last year. He began the year as a guy the Twins thought could become the team's everyday third baseman, but a string of bad injury luck combined with even worse timing threw that plan out of whack. Miranda spent s ton of time on the IL and rehabbing at St. Paul, while also slumping hard when he was on the MLB roster.
Not only was he bad at the plate -- Miranda had a -0.6 fWAR and an anemic 56 OPS+ in 40 games -- was also a defensive liability and ended up going on the 10-day IL in July before ending his season on the 60-day IL in September. While this was all happening, Royce Lewis was storming back onto the scene as a key piece of the core and doing it in Miranda's shoes.
He was a potential trade candidate this offseason and looked to be boxed out of a role at both corners of the infield, but the tide has started to change in his favor. Miranda is hitting .455 with a 1.045 OPS in 11 plate appearances so far this spring, which is a small sample size but a big step in the right direction.
Batear para el RF fue el plan de José Miranda hoy. #SpringTraining pic.twitter.com/CCK9Pw9WZc
— MLB Puerto Rico (@MLBPuertoRico) February 26, 2024
While he's not going to be the everyday man at third, there's a potential path for him back to the majors over at first. He spent the bulk of his spectacular rookie season at first and with questions about how healthy Alex Kirilloff can stay he could end up back there as part of a platoon alongside Carlos Santana.
It's hard to overstate just how hard Miranda fell, but he's starting to make his way back and his future is already looking brighter than it did earlier this winter.
Aaron Sabato
A former first round pick for the Twins, it's looking like the end is nigh for Aaron Sabato. If not the end, it seems he might have reached his ceiling within the organization, something that was pretty much confirmed with another unimpressive trip to Spring Training.
Sabato was among the first eight players Minnesota reassigned as it cuts down the roster, and it's not hard to see why. In just nine at-bats he posted a .111 batting average which is part of the reason he was sent home. He was never really in play for an MLB roster spot but this spring was a disappointment for someone who the team once had high hopes for.
Had he developed a bit more there was certainly a path for Sabato in the majors. Since trading Luis Arraez the situation at first base has been shaky, with Alex Kirilloff's bad injury luck getting in the way of him truly flourishing. The job is still his, but there's a universe where Sabato is potentially in a position to be platooning with him and filling in while he gets healthy.
Instead, Sabato has never made it above Double-A since being drafted back in 2020. He was part of a strange COVID draft class that saw teams unable to truly scout players the way they usually do which is what many are chalking up to the reason for his struggles. He had a 1.015 OPS at Cedar Rapids in 2021 and hit 22 home runs a year later, but he's struggled since then and it might soon be the end of the road.
Simeon Woods Richardson
Here's another positive development, as Simeon Woods Richardson is in the José Miranda category of fighting for his future in a good way. Things have been a little slow for him since coming over to Minnesota as part of the Jose Berrios trade, but it could very well be that we see both prospects the Twins received on the MLB roster at the same time.
Austin Martin's path, while more complicated than it was at the start of the offseason, still seems pretty clear and Woods Richardson is taking the right steps toward joining him. He made his debut back in 2022 but has only pitched in two games for the Twins -- the last of which didn't really go that well.
His debut against Detroit was decent, pitching five innings and giving up three runs while striking out three batters. Things cratered hard last year, though, as he was rocked in a generally gnarly game for the team overall against Washington. Minnesota lost 10-4 while Woods Richardson got tagged for five runs on seven hits before getting sent back down almost immediately.
To be fair, he got called up amid a tricky injury situation that saw Kenta Maeda need to be replaced on extremely short noticed. While his last appearance for the Twins was less than ideal, things look to be going much better this spring. His major league fastball is developing nicely and he changed some of his pitching mechanics which seems to be having a positive impact.
We've got a 94.8 mph pitch from Simeon Woods Richardson this inning and he's consistently 93-94 with the fastball so far.
— Do-Hyoung Park (@dohyoungpark) March 3, 2024
Continues to be good buzz around him this camp following the slight arm angle change, and next step is to see if he sustains this to another inning.
So far this spring he's worked stuck out two batters and allowed just a single hit and zero runs in three innings of work across two appearances. He won't be making the Opening Day roster, but it seems that the third time might be the charm for when Woods Richardson eventually gets called up again this season.
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