SAD NEWS: Two Twins Top Players To Miss out On Opening Day Match.
New roster cuts by the Twins indicate that a top prospect will not be on the Opening Day roster.
The Minnesota Twins still need to make some roster cuts before Opening Day, which is in just over two weeks.
The majority of the 26-man roster is set, and while Carlos Santana and Manuel Margot provide reinforcement, they also keep several elite prospects from ever getting the chance to make their debut. After dealing Jorge Polanco, the Twins signed Santana in an attempt to break up a slump of developing infield talent.
In particular, Brooks Lee, the team’s second-ranked prospect, was a name that everyone was closely watching because Twins brass had been hyping him up all winter. He was hyped by Derek Falvey as being almost major league ready, which made everyone eager to see when he would be called up.
In terms of development, Austin Martin appeared to be even more advanced than Lee, and he had an easy route to the Opening Day roster. The Twins’ acquisition of Manuel Margot put an end to all of that, as seen by their most recent round of roster cuts during Spring Training.
Austin Martin is a Minnesota Twins option in the most recent round of roster cuts.
Following their Tuesday Spring Training game against the Tigers, the Twins made their third set of roster cuts in as many weeks.
As the Twins continue to reduce their roster, Martin was one of four players they optioned on Tuesday. All anticipation that he would make his Opening Day debut is dashed by this move, but it’s unlikely to be the last we hear from him.
As part of the most recent round of roster cuts, the Twins reassigned the following players:
All but E-Rod were assigned to Triple-A St. Paul; he was optioned to Double-A. Beyond Martin and Rodriguez, it’s important to look at the three players who were added to the 40-man roster at the end of the previous season in order to shield them from the Rule 5 Draft.
Severino is a strong-hitting infielder who excelled in Triple-A baseball towards the end of the previous campaign. He may be a surprise call-up later in the current campaign. Although Jair Camargo has a better chance of making it to the majors, he might be added if something were to happen to Ryan Jeffers or Christian Vazquez.
Regarding Martin, his course may resemble that of Edouard Julien. The Twins summoned Julien up and never looked back when Joey Gallo went on the disabled list early in the season. Since then, he has developed into a vital member of the club, which is one of the reasons Polanco was unnecessary this winter.
Martin, who can also play the infield, was ideally positioned to be Byron Buxton’s backup in centerfield. Although we have been waiting impatiently for him to make his major league debut since he was acquired in the Jose Berrios trade in 2021, we may not have to wait long for him to do it.
