4 Twins players who could lose their roster spot after Manuel Margot trade
By Josh Hill
Austin Martin, 2B/CF
No player might be more impacted by the Twins acquiring Manuel Margot than Austin Martin. Before the trade he seemed to have a pretty clear path to the Opening Day roster but now things are a little murkier.
Martin still provides some value that could see him earn a 26-man roster spot, but he'll now need an overly impressive spring to make it happen. The idea before was that Martin could help platoon in centerfield with Byron Buxton and provide some insurance behind him in the unfortunate event that he suffers more bad injury luck. Even with Buxton fully healthy, he'll need days off and Martin figured to be the perfect guy to slide into the lineup on those occasions. He also provides something the team has long been searching for: right-handed hitting.
All of those boxes are also checked by Margot, and the Twins going out and trading for him seems to be a pretty clear indication that the team is going to put him ahead of Martin.
That doesn't guarantee he will lose his roster spot, though. Martin also plays second base, which means the Twins could also use him as one of their utility players Rocco can plug-and-play in the lineup. Kyle Farmer is going to lead that charge but the idea of Martin platooning second with Edouard Julien feels like a good one.
The most likely outcome to all of this is Martin starting the season at Triple-A and then getting called up after someone heads to the IL. That's how Julien made his debut last year and it seems to now be Martin's best path to the majors.