Every year, MLB selects a group of young prospects to play in the MLB Futures game and even fewer players to participate in the Futures Skill Showcase. The Minnesota Twins will have a representative from the six selected this year.
Brooks Lee is the Twins most advanced top prospect, and if it wasn’t for an injury early in the year, the 23-year-old would probably be in the Twins lineup already. The switch-hitting shortstop has been tearing up Triple-A pitching since returning, however, the Twins are crowded at shortstop with Carlos Correa, so Lee has been working on playing second base.
Second base has been a weak spot for the Twins this season, with Edouard Julien struggling early and being demoted to Triple-A. Along with Julien, veteran Kyle Farmer has been a disappointment, only batting .187 with zero home runs.
Is Brooks Lee the missing piece for the Twins infield?
Not to sound overly excited, or go heavy on the sales pitch, but Lee has been absolutely on fire in Triple-A. So far this season he's batting .333 with six home runs and five doubles despite having a large chunk of his season carved out due to a back injury.
Simply put, he's been masterful.
Brooks Lee with his 6th HR of the season…it was hit 101.3 MPH💣
— Twins Player Development (@TwinsPlayerDev) June 26, 2024
Over his last 7 games, he has hit 5 home runs and 3 doubles and has more walks than strikeouts in that timespan 📈
He is now slashing .348/.411/.682 (1.093 OPS) on the season‼️#MNTwins pic.twitter.com/rflMwDgO1I
With Lee's addition to the big league roster, the Twins would have one of the best infields in the league, with Correa, Royce Lewis, Willi Castro, Jose Miranda, and Carlos Santana. Adding Lee would allow Castro to help out where needed, as he has been the best utility player in baseball.
What would be the roster move to bring Brooks Lee into the fold?
While there's plenty of excitement about the eventual promotion of Lee, the flipside of that coin is someone will need to surrender their roster spot. The obvious, and painful, answer is for the Twins to DFA Kyle Farmer. He just hasn't had anything work for him this season, and it might be best for both parties to move on.
Despite Farmer’s struggles this year, he will likely have suitors as contending teams always seek a veteran presence.
Regardless of how hard it might be to move on from Farmer -- or whoever else might be on the chopping block -- it's beyond time for the Twins to give Lee his chance. He has shown he is too good for Triple-A and the injury hasn’t impacted his play in the slightest. Farmer gives the Twins an excellent opportunity to open a roster spot for Lee right now.
Last season the youth movement was critical to the Twins second-half push, and it could work again as they try to chase down the Cleveland Guardians.
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