5 Twins players who are in danger of losing their 40-man roster spot
Not every player that the Twins have on their 40-man roster is irreplaceable.
The narrative around the Minnesota Twins lately hasn't been particularly positive. Part of the reason for that is that they haven't replaced Sonny Gray this offseason and they just made the unpopular move to trade away Jorge Polanco who was a fan favorite. However, the state of their roster is honestly pretty good going into 2024.
The Twins have studs at the top of their rotation as well as in the infield and the outfield and bullpen are chock full of guys that should at least be interesting. In a decidedly weak AL Central, Minnesota still looks like a team that should be able to thrive especially if a couple things break their way.
However, not every player on the 40-man is a rock star. Far from it. Right now, the Twins' 40-man roster is full, but that could change if guys like Josh Staumont and Alex Kirilloff start the season on the injured list. That would only provide temporary relief, though, so if the Twins decide to make any more moves this offseason or try to claim players off the scrap heap after spring training roster cuts, they are going to have to probably make some room.
The goal here isn't to completely throw guys under the bus as they are very likely to be fine human beings. However, the reality of running any team is that there are going to be guys that are more expendable than others on the 40-man and a subset of those guys either don't have a real path to playing time or should be able to pass through waivers unclaimed. With that in mind, here is a look at the Twins players that the team could afford to live without.
Jordan Balazovic
It wasn't that long ago when Jordan Balazovic was a prospect that many thought could become a significant part of Minnesota's future. However, the results alone have left a lot to be desired. He posted a 4.44 ERA in 18 bullpen appearances last season and while he throws pretty hard, the rest of his Statcast metrics are middling to terrible.
On top of that, it sure doesn't seem like the team itself is particularly fond of him at the moment. His manager called him out last year when he broke his jaw in a fight. He seems to have recovered well enough, but the results weren't there and he definitely seems to be trending downward in an organization that could really use some more pitching. There are probably just better options available that also would fits the Twins' financial constraints.
Jorge Alcala
This is a tough one because from 2019-2022, Jorge Alcala was a very solid contributor out of the Twins' bullpen. Over that span, he put up a cumulative 3.39 ERA in 79 appearances with 91 strikeouts in 87.2 innings of work. Unfortunately, some elbow trouble in 2022 forced him to miss most of that season and that may have been the beginning of the end.
The primary problem here is that bullpen arms are very often the guys that end up getting moved off of 40-man rosters. Teams usually carry a million of them on the 40-man in the likely event that arms need to be rotated out or replaced due to injury. They are also the kinds of guys that are the most likely to make it all the way through the waiver wire and their team can still keep them around in the minor leagues. It is that bucket where Alcala currently resides.
After being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his forearm in May, Alcala again missed a lot of time in 2023 and when he was on the mound, the results were downright bad. In 11 appearances, he only managed a 6.23 ERA with his walk rate of 5.2 BB/9 being pretty brutal. It is possible that his issues were injury related and he probably shouldn't be the next man off the 40-man given that. However, he will need to look good this spring to avoid potentially being on the chopping block.
Bubba Thompson
It is admittedly a little weird to put a guy who was just acquired by Minnesota on the 40-man watch list. Bubba Thompson used to be a prospect held in high regard before some struggles in the big leagues with his hit tool has led to him bouncing around the league. Most recently, the Twins went ahead and claimed Thompson off waivers from the Yankees. In a vacuum, this is a low-risk, high reward move especially if it weakens the Yankees at all...but his tenure with the Twins could be short-lived.
The issue Minnesota currently has is that they have an abnormally high amount of outfielders on their 40-man roster. The idea behind claiming Thompson is that the move costs very little and gives the team some depth in the event that someone falters/gets hurt in spring training or if Alex Kirilloff is out for an extended period of time again. Given the number of quality outfielders Minnesota has on the roster currently, Thompson is probably going to be the odd man out unless he really shows out this spring.
Jose Miranda
Normally, a guy like Jose Miranda would be kept around on the 40-man roster. He can hit a bit, has experience playing multiple spots in the infield, and looked good in his first look at the big leagues in 2022. However, he is the victim of a combination of having a really rough 2023 season and having a lot of competition for an infield roster spot.
In addition to posting a .211/.263/.303 slash line in 152 plate appearances last year on his way to a 57 wRC+, he also wasn't good defensively. Having a glove first or bat first bench infielder is fine, but Miranda couldn't do much of anything last year. With most of the Twins' starting infield locked in and guys like Austin Martin and Yunior Severino also on the 40-man, Miranda is a pretty redundant and underperforming player that could get axed if push came to shove.
Nick Gordon
Finally, we come to the Twins' outfield that is already looking somewhat uncertain given that it sounds like Byron Buxton wants to take the field again. While the outfield group outside of Buxton is somewhat lacking upside especially if they trade Max Kepler, the Twins have a bunch of guys on the 40-man that could interesting this coming season and that makes the path forward for Nick Gordon very tricky.
In his three seasons in the big leagues, Gordon has exactly one season (2022) where he was at least league average at the plate with two duds in there and he has never been an above average defender. The Twins also have Trevor Larnach, Matt Wallner, and Emmanuel Rodriguez all waiting for more playing time while Gordon was basically roster filler in the playoffs. When you combine all of that with the fact that Gordon is the one guy that the Twins could not settle on an arbitration figure with and you have the recipe for a guy whose days could be numbered.
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