4 players who could steal Opening Day roster spots for the Twins

Brooks Lee

This one is pretty obvious, but Brooks Lee belongs on lists like this until he actually gets a roster spot. The good new is that he continues to outperform expectations and is on a fast track to making is debut before too long.

Lee was drafted just two years ago, and since then has been a fast riser through the Twins system. He's done so carrying the weight of being the Next Guy, and he has a chance to show everyone he has what it takes to carry the mantle this spring. Last year he went from a guy who could reach Triple-A to firmly getting there by September, and has now become a prospect who might get called up this season to vying quite seriously for a 26-man roster spot.

While he wasn't the sole reason, Lee's expected arrival contributed to an infield logjam that resulted in Jorge Polanco getting traded. He's also been increasingly teased as a call-up candidate with reports indicated he's nearly MLB-ready.

Everything we've seen so far would suggest those reports are not misguided.

He slashed .275/.347/.461 between stints in Wichita and St. Paul last year, which isn't world class production but the type of stuff that shows the sort of promise he has. A lot of his struggles have come due to the stress of pushing him through the farm system, which is something his Spring Training campaign will shed more light on.

Lee is a popular pick to make the Opening Dar roster, but the Twins are in the infancy of their schedule and there's a lot of runway left before decisions need to be made.

Lee no doubt has the makings of being an important piece of the future, but that's what we're hoping to learn more about over the next month. He's not a shoo-in to get a roster spot, but the foundation is there and he doesn't need to build a lot to once again exceed expectations when it comes to his ascension.

David Festa

If there's been a theme this offseason for the Twins it's pitching depth, and that's going to be a focus in Spring Training. With the team failing to properly replace Sonny Gray via free agency or trade, the task of filling the void falls on the in-house talent the team has been hyping up all offseason.

We've heard this song before, as talent already on the team was justification Minnesota's front office used to explain why the team didn't make any moves at the trade deadline. Now that we've gone an entire offseason without a notable pitching addition, that same reasoning is being trotted out -- and there's admittedly some merit to it.

David Festa is at the front of the line for players bubbling under the Major League surface who could soon have a massive impact on the roster. He's the No. 4 prospect in the organization, according to The Athletic, and is the top pitching prospect next two Marco Raya.

Between the end of July and beginning of September last year, Festa posted a 2.40 ERA and a 35 percent strikeout rate across 30 innings of work and went 9-4 with a 2.43 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 103 2/3 innings back in 2022.

That's the sort of stuff that has rightly put him on the radar for potentially getting onto the big league roster this season, and more of that in Spring Training could make a compelling argument to get him on the Opening Day roster.

It's a long shot, but the Twins need to find pitching depth before it truly becomes a need. Taking a chance on Festa fits the general vibe the team has of hoping in-house candidates can band together and replace what was lost with Gray and Kenta Maeda leaving in free agency.

The No. 5 starter role is a wide open competition, even if Anthony DeSclafani has the inside track, and if Festa can prove himself in Fort Myers then it might be hard to keep him off the roster in April.

Louie Varland

This one feels a little less like the others because we've seen Louie Varland on the active roster in the past. He didn't do enough to fully earn the fifth starter spot in the rotation, but he's not out of the running to do that this spring if he can put together a convincing argument.

On paper, Minnesota trading for Anthony DeSclafani seemingly boxed Varland out of the rotation but he's going to get a chance to prove himself down in Fort Myers. Last year Varland finished the year 4-3 with a 4.63 ERA and a 0.5 WAR -- al of which was better than what his main competition managed in San Francisco.

DeSclafani posted a 4.88 ERA alongside a 4-8 record and a 0.2 WAR with the Giants, who were an admittedly worse team than the Twins but the results nonetheless count. There's upside with him, though, as injuries have hampered his production over the last few years and he's only three years removed from logging over 160 innings while turning in a a pair of complete game shutouts.

If the Twins can get that sort of performance out of DeSclafani this year it would make the Jorge Polanco trade worth it. Adjacently, if Varland can challenge himself to live up to that sort of level, the Twins will be in a prime position with a pair of back-end starters capable of effectively replacing Kenta Maeda's lost production.

Varland's ceiling seems to be as a No. 4/No. 5 starter, but a solid performance in Spring Training could earn him a spot in the bullpen. The point is he's firmly on the bubble with more ways of making the Opening Day roster than missing it -- what happens next is up to him.