Twins – The Twins have used first base as something of a revolving door since 2019, when C.J. Cron roamed the earth (or, at least, the Upper Midwest) — using the following players who made at least 10 appearances there in a season:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s quite the list. And the Twins enter this offseason with perhaps more uncertainty at the position than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe’re going to have to prepare along a couple of different paths,\u201d president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, after Santana\u2019s one-year deal went about as well as the Twins could have hoped in a season during which the 38-year-old switch-hitter led the team with 23 homers and\u00a0won the AL Gold Glove Award at first base<\/a>\u00a0(making him the oldest position player to win that award for the first time), he hit free agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then, Kirilloff stunned everyone with the announcement of his retirement<\/a> at age 26. The Twins would have loved for Kirilloff and his sweet-when-healthy swing to simply have emerged as the long-term solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe’re going to have to lean on some of the internal guys to take on some of those at-bats for sure, at least in terms of backup consideration,\u201d Falvey said. \u201cAnd then we’ll just have to see how the offseason plays out there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That mention of backup consideration for the \u201cinternal guys\u201d — that\u2019s Miranda and Edouard Julien<\/a>, both of whom would require much more seasoning at the position — appears to be far from an indication that the Twins are ready to hand one (or both) of them the gig and take things from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The right-handed-hitting Miranda has far more experience at first base of the two, but that\u2019s relative, considering he\u2019s made only 92 appearances at the position in his three big league seasons. He\u2019s looked far more comfortable at his natural third-base spot, with his instincts and skills still developing at first base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The lefty-swinging Julien would be even more of a developmental project. Having worked him out at first and explored that potential flexibility away from his home at second base, the Twins have had him play first base in a game five times during his two-year MLB career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sliding one over to first base or using them in a platoon could alleviate some of the Twins\u2019 infield traffic jam, leaving Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee to slot in at third and second base, respectively. But it would certainly be a risky proposition on both defense and offense, especially with Miranda and Julien both coming off inconsistent seasons with the bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n