Twins rumors: 3 players who could be roster casualties this offseason
It might be the end of the road for a few Twins players.
Now that the Minnesota Twins season is officially over, the work to start building back better in 2024 begins.
The bar has officially been set higher than it ever has before, with the Twins snapping the miserable 18-game losing streak this October. Simply winning a playoff game, or even a series, isn't enough and success is going to be defined much differently next year.
Minnesota has some top-line decisions to make, like how seriously it pursues bringing back Sonny Gray and adding to the pitching staff. There's also the increasingly important question of how to replace an injured Alex Kirilloff that must be answered, as well as making a call on how to use what could end up being roughly $50M in payroll.
Small ball has always been the way of life in Minnesota, but moving to sign Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa to a combined $300M over the last year has moved the needle a bit. There's drama with Sinclair and Bally Sports North that could impact revenue -- and therefor the payroll -- which is something to keep an eye on.
Even if the Twins end up with new stream of TV revenue, they'll likely still have to make some tough payroll decisions as the team figures out how to best spend in free agency this winter. That probably means, like the Ely radio station, it's the end of the road for a few guys.
3 Twins who who could be payroll casualties this offseason
Nick Gordon
This would be a tough one for Twins fans, but it might be that Nick Gordon's time with the team has come to an end.
Gordon fractured his leg back in May and missed the entire season after being moved to the 60-day IL shortly after. He won over the hearts of Twins fans for his dugout antics while cheering on the team in the playoffs and riling up the crowd, but that's the biggest impact he had all season.
To be fair, that injury didn't help but in the meantime, the Twins might have found other guys to plug into his utility role. Willi Castro essentially became what Gordon was in the lineup and he's likely going to be back in 2024. There's also a potential influx of young talent coming up from the minors that might spell the end of Gordan by way of needing his roster spot. Brooks Lee will be a hot name tossed out among fans, but Austin Martin, Simeon Woods Richardson, and Matt Canterino all make logical sense as guys who could start the year in the Majors. Jose Salas has an ETA of 2024 according to MLB.com's prospect rankings -- which seems a bit quick -- but he's another guy who could fill Gordon's shoes.
What might work in his favor is the fact that he's only due $1M, and that might be enough for the Twins to bring him back. He might not be a key piece of the future core, but he has value and it's a matter of whether Minnesota sees enough in that versus what the team has coming in the prospect pipeline.
Jorge Alcala
When the Twins decided to not make any external moves to help the bullpen last spring, part of the rationale was that they had guys coming back who would fill the gap.
If that sounds familiar -- or like a pattern -- it's because that's the same strategy used at the trade deadline.
One of the guys the Twins had circled for potential relief to the bullpen issue was Jorge Alcala. He had a bit of a breakout year in 2021, appearing in 59 games and posting a 3.92 ERA while seemingly auditioning for the closer role. He wasn't lights out, but he seemed to show enough flash and promise that he was worth taking a gamble on being a potential key member of the bullpen.
That didn't happen.
Alcala appeared in 11 games this season and promptly fell into a crater. His ERA skyrocketed to 6.23 and his strikeout rate plummeted to 1.60. He was coming off an injury that wiped out his 2022 campaign, but the gamble on him didn't pay off. He's only due $1M next season, but both his salary and his spot on the 40-man roster is likely best served being given to someone else.
One of the biggest questions the Twins need to answer this winter is how to improve the bullpen, and Alcala has already been edged out of that conversation. The next logical step is to move on from him entirely.
Jordan Luplow
This sort of feels like a no-brainer, especially if the Twins are looking for a salary to dump in order to pursue something bigger over the winter. He figures to make around $1.6M should Minnesota retain him, but that seems unlikely given the number of upcoming moves the team can make in the outfield.
One of the hottest names to watch this offseason is Austin Martin. He's expected to be called up and factor into the Opening Day roster if all goes well in Spring Training, which everyone is assuming it will. He was acquired back in 2021 as part of the Jose Berrios trade, and has spent the last two seasons bubbling below the Major League surface. A UCL injury wiped out most of his season this year, but he was on track to potentially be a September call-up had that injury not set him back.
Before his injury, Martin was slashing .241/.367/.316 at Double-A Wichita. If hearing about a guy hitting well at Wichita sounds familiar, it's because Martin is in Edouard Julien's company in that regard -- although Julien is much further ahead.
Martin is a shortstop but can play both outfield and second base, which makes him another classic utility piece for the Twins to use. He's also only 24 years old and could help roll the youth movement into next season. All of this is to say there's so much upside in just this one guy that it makes little sense for the Twins to use $1.6M to retain Luplow on the 40-man roster.
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