First base, rookie contributors: Nine questions facing the Twins in spring training

The Twins made a lot of changes off the field over the last several months. The Pohlad family is continuing to explore a sale. Jeremy Zoll replaced Thad Levine as the team’s general manager. Dave St. Peter is moving out of his role as team president. The Twins have a new TV deal.

For the on-the-field roster, it was much quieter. The Twins signed free agents Harrison Bader and Danny Coulombe to add to their depth last week, but there aren’t a ton of changes to a team that finished with 82 wins last year and fell apart in the final six weeks of the season.

With the Twins opening camp this week, here are nine questions facing the club:

Ty France became a leading option to start at first base when he agreed to a one-year contract with the Twins on Tuesday. The Twins are tasked with replacing Carlos Santana, who signed a one-year, $12 million deal with the division rival Cleveland Guardians. Santana led the Twins in homers (23) and RBI (71) and provided Gold Glove defense while playing 150 games.

France, an All-Star in 2022, hit .234 with 13 homers and 51 RBI in 140 games for Seattle and Cincinnati last year. The Twins don’t have much proven depth behind him. Jose Miranda, who has started 81 career games at first base, is a fill-in option, but his below-average defense works against him as an everyday starter.

The Twins mentioned Edouard Julien, who has played 19 big-league innings at the position, as a backup, and manager Rocco Baldelli said he wouldn’t rule out Willi Castro, who has never played first base. Mike Ford, a nonroster invitee, adds to the camp competition.

After trade rumors throughout the offseason, it appears starting pitcher Chris Paddack, catcher Christian Vázquez and Castro will make it to camp with the Twins. All three players will make at least $6 million this year and are free agents after the upcoming season.

The top question asked to players during Twinsfest related to their late-season meltdown that cost the team a playoff spot last year. The Twins finished with a 12-27 record over their final 39 games. It was an obvious source of motivation during the winter, but Baldelli said he wanted to implement some changes this spring, including giving veteran players noticeably more at-bats in camp.

Lewis was starting to draw mythical comparisons when he hit 10 homers in his first 16 games last season. Until he faltered down the stretch, producing a lowly .474 OPS over his final 37 games, he performed like a superstar whenever he was healthy.

The Twins largely know what to expect from Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton when they’re on the field. Lewis wants to play more athletically this year, with more speed and better defense, and show he hasn’t reached his full potential.

A strong rookie class — Lewis, Julien and Matt Wallner — helped the Twins to a division title in 2023. Last year’s crop of rookies, outside of starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson, lacked the same type of impact once injuries hit the lineup and starting rotation.

Outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez is a consensus top-50 prospect and hits the ball as hard as anybody in the organization, but he’s played more than 47 games in a season just once in the last four years. Marco Raya, an addition to the 40-man roster in November, needs more seasoning in Class AAA, but his slider makes him one of the team’s best pitching prospects. Second baseman Luke Keaschall is another highly rated prospect, but he’s coming off elbow surgery.

Most fans should find it easier to watch/stream the Twins this year, but there were no splashy roster moves following an embarrassing end to last season. St. Peter said last month the Twins are targeting 2 million tickets sold this year.

The Twins have a lot of candidates for their starting second baseman, but it remains up for grabs. Brooks Lee is a good defender, but the switch hitter needs to show more offensive consistency. The Twins don’t want to use Castro in center field or shortstop, so he could have more of a regular home at second. It is Julien’s natural position if he can hit like he did two years ago. Austin Martin could carve out a role at second base, too.

The Twins have seven starting pitchers they feel comfortable using in their rotation, including David Festa and Zebby Matthews, who filled in during the final couple of months last year. Their Class AAA rotation to begin the season could include prospects Raya, Andrew Morris (2.37 ERA in 133 innings), Cory Lewis (2.51 ERA in 79 innings) and Travis Adams (3.90 ERA in 127 innings).

The Twins hired Falvey in part because of his role in Cleveland’s pitching pipeline, and now the Twins need to keep churning out young starters.

The Twins scored the 10th-most runs in the majors last year, cut down on strikeouts and rated around the league average in hard-hit balls, but Baldelli wants to see more consistency after dismissing all the major league hitting coaches at the end of the season.