It’s time for the Twins to move on from Kyle Farmer

Kyle Farmer’s fate feels inevitable at this point, which is unfortunate but honestly it’s probably best for the team moving forward.

There's no way to sugarcoat it: Farmer has been really bad this year.

His .189 batting average is the worst among Twins hitters with any substantial playing time. Farmer's inability to get anything going offensively is magnified by the fact that he was paid $6 million this winter, one in which Minnesota opted to reduce the payroll by $30 million and not meaingfully add to the roster.

Farmer's defense has been good, but it's getting hard to justify him taking up a roster spot. The Twins made an investment in him that hasn't paid off, and now there are a handful of other players who have established the ability to contribute in ways Farmer can't.

It’s time for the Twins to move on from Kyle Farmer

This Twins team has been driven by a really good offense and some great young depth pieces. Yes, there are some injury concerns in the infield with Royce Lewis, Carlos Correa, and Jose Miranda on the IL.

That being said, Farmer himself has been on the injured list since July 12, meaning he hasn’t been productive or available. 

Minnesota has Correa, Lewis, Miranda, Brooks Lee, Eduaord Julien, Willi Castro, Carlos Santana, and Farmer. That’s eight infielders for four spots, and that’s not even considering Yunior Severino who has an ETA of 2024 and Alex Kiriloff on the IL, a guy who has played some first base in his young career.

Regardless of injury, Farmer really only creates a logjam and takes up a 40-man spot that could be used for a depth outfielder or a younger player. 

Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of teams interested in trading anything for Farmer. The Twins will likely be looking to make some smaller moves on the margins, and he could very well be a throw-in piece to help clear another roster spot. If that doesn’t happen, there’s a good chance he will be DFA’d and released. 

Even though we’ve been a bit tough on Farmer so far, it's unlikely that he’s done playing and he has the potential to add value when he's playing better than he is now. He's been a productive player before and has the ability to be a lefty platoon bat. There’s a good chance Paul DeJong gets traded at this deadline, and I think Farmer could get picked up by the White Sox to fill their shortstop hole for the rest of the season.

Hopefully Farmer can finish strong and earn himself another job in 2025, but it’s most likely that that won’t be in Minnesota.