Signing Donovan Solano will create domino effect with Twins roster

FORT MYERS, FLA. — The Twins used 152 different batting orders in 2022, tying the franchise record set in 1999, and they put 145 different defensive lineups on the field, their most ever.

There could be even more playing-time maneuvering in 2023.

"Yeah, we're going to do that every day," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of his team's plan to examine every matchup and every defensive alignment before each of its 162 games in an effort to find the most successful mix possible. "We're going to have some platoons around the field, everywhere you look. And on top of that, guys [won't be] platooning in just one spot on the field. They're guys that can do several different things. … We're going to have more options."

That seems to be the motivation for the Twins' mid-camp addition of free-agent utility infielder Donovan Solano, who agreed to a one-year contract Tuesday night. The former Marlin, Yankee, Giant and Red arrived in Fort Myers on Wednesday, and figures to be added to the Twins' 40-man roster on Thursday. Baldelli said he cannot comment on a player not yet on his team.

Solano, like his teammate in Cincinnati last season, Kyle Farmer, is able to play any infield position, though he has played four times as many games at second base as all the other positions combined. But it's not defense that the Twins likely sought in adding the nine-year veteran.

He carried on-base percentages of .339 or higher in each of the past four seasons, and slugging percentages above .450 in two of them. He even won a Silver Slugger award as the best-hitting NL second baseman in 2020, when he posted a .326 batting average in 54 games.

Against lefthanded pitching, his hitting ability stands out even more. Solano had a .348 on-base percentage against lefties last year, and a .422 on-base percentage, with eight extra-base hits in 83 at-bats. In 2020, his average against lefties was .350, with a .381 OPS and a .482 slugging percentage. He's 35 now, so he's a risk, but one worth taking, the Twins feel.

"We want as many good players as we can get. As many guys as we can to look up and make a lineup," the manager said. "It's not even just right-handed/left-handed — it's types of pitches, literally pitches, that you're going to see [us give consideration to] on a given day. So the answer is yes. We're trying to solidify several different lineups that we're going to want to construct during the year."

Though it may impact his playing time, Farmer said he welcomes the addition of his old teammate.

"He's one of the best hitters I've ever seen, and a really good guy as well," Farmer said. "He can hit. I mean, he's a really, really good hitter. I played with him with the Dodgers in Triple-A, and then with the Reds last year. We called him 'Donnie Barrels' because he always barrels the baseball."

The delicate question still to be answered, however, is whose roster spot will Solano claim? The Twins plan to carry 13 pitchers, meaning there are 13 roster spots available for position players, two of them catchers.

That means if Solano makes the team, a young player like Trevor Larnach, Nick Gordon or Alex Kirilloff figures to be off-loaded, whether demoted to Class AAA St. Paul or in a transaction with another team.