Projected Twins Opening Day Lineup after Manuel Margot trade
By Josh Hill
With the arrival of Manuel Margot, the Minnesota Twins now have another question to answer this spring: Who will lose their 26-man roster spot to make room?
Margot is a lock for the big league roster as an excellent depth piece behind Byron Buxton, but it's creating a Too Many Cooks situation that will need to be solved over the course of the next month. Not only will he need someone's 40-man roster spot but there's one fewer Opening Day roster spot to go around.
Who will end up being on the outside of the bubble looking in is what we're going to find out.
Twins 2024 Opening Day roster projection after Manuel Margot trade
Projected Minnesota Opening Day starting rotation
One area of the roster that's completely safe from any sort of impact is the starting rotation. The only question here remains who will occupy the No. 5 starter role, which right now seems to be Anthony DeSclafani.
A case can be made for Louie Varland -- one he can make for himself in Fort Myers -- but all signs point toward the recently acquired DeSclafani getting first dibs on the role. No sign points toward any of these roster spots being impacted by the Twins trading for Margot.
Pitcher | Throws |
|---|---|
Pablo Lopez | RHP |
Joe Ryan | RHP |
Bailey Ober | RHP |
Chris Paddack | RHP |
Anthony DeSclafani | RHP |
Projected Minnesota Twins Opening Day bullpen
The same goes for the bullpen, although there could be some wiggle room here. Minnesota is entering the season with the best bullpen in baseball according to FanGraphs and it seems unwise to tinker with things before knowing what the team truly has.
Four new arms are expected to be available on Opening Day, with Justin Topa leading the way as the most exciting addition. He came over from Seattle in the Jorge Polanco trade and figures to be one of the most valuable pieces of the bullpen this season.
Jay Jackson is a veteran journeyman looking to turn in a good year, while Steven Okret was acquired from Miami in a trade involving Nick Gordon. Josh Staumont seems to be fully healthy again and is a hard throwing reliever with tons of upside.
None of those guys are likely starting the year with St. Paul, and neither is Jhoan Duran or Griffin Jax. If there's anyone out of the group who could be left off the 26-man roster to make way for Margot it's Brock Stewart but the Twins will probably make more additions than subtractions to the bullpen this season.
Pitcher | Throws |
|---|---|
Griffin Jax | RHP |
Caleb Thielbar | LHP |
Steven Okert | LHP |
Justin Topa | RHP |
Josh Staumont | RHP |
Jay Jackson | RHP |
Brock Stewart | RHP |
Jhoan Duran | RHP |
Projected Minnesota Twins Opening Day infield and outfield
This is where things get a little tricky, as it's unlikely Minnesota will drop someone out of the bullpen to add an extra position player.
What probably happens is Austin Martin's timeline gets pushed back a bit and we have to wait for and injury before he gets called up. This is how Edouard Julien made it into the lineup last year, getting called up after Joey Gallo hit the IL, and it now appears to be Martin's clearest path to the majors.
Player | Position |
|---|---|
Carlos Santana | 1B/DH |
Alex Kirilloff | 1B/DH |
Edouard Julien | 2B/DH |
Carlos Correa | SS |
Royce Lewis | 3B |
Ryan Jeffers | C |
Christian Vazquez | C |
Kyle Farmer | INF |
Willi Castro | INF/OF |
Byron Buxton | CF |
Max Kepler | RF |
Matt Wallner | LF |
Manuel Margot | OF |
Willi Castro could be on the roster bubble as well, and there's a scenario where Martin gets his spot. Derek Falvey indicated that Margot will offer support behind Max Kepler and Matt Wallner on the corners of the outfield, which means Castro's territory is being cut into in a way where Martin could still be viewed as part of a platoon in center.
Castro has the ability to play in the infield, but so does Martin so that could be a situation to keep an eye on as Spring Training unfolds and both players make their case for 26-man roster spots.
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