Twins takeaways from the GM meetings: Emmanuel Rodriguez, trade candidates, coaching staff update

SAN ANTONIO – Emmanuel Rodriguez played only 47 minor league games this year, mostly at Class AA, but he might be the type of prospect who can turn a decent Twins outfield group into the best in the division.

Rodriguez, 21, posted a .280 batting average and a .459 on-base percentage with nine home runs, 27 RBI, 47 runs and nine stolen bases at Wichita. The 5-10 lefthanded hitter totaled 51 walks and 62 strikeouts.

He can be a divisive prospect to scouts because he has major strengths and major weaknesses.

He rarely chases pitches out of the strike zone and he might have as much power in his swing as any Twins minor leaguer. He’s a good defensive center fielder with an above-average arm.

The downside is he’s an extremely passive hitter; he will have his share of swings-and-misses at pitches in the strike zone. And he has been limited to fewer than 50 games in three of the past four years because of injuries.

A nagging right thumb sprain derailed most of Rodriguez’s 2024 season, requiring multiple stints on the injured list. He underwent surgery after the season, a “cleanup procedure,” said Twins President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey, and he’s expected to be ready for spring training.

“He’s such a unique profile,” Falvey said. “It’s almost impossible to look at that profile and say how it’s going to translate to the big leagues because no one else has it. He’s very, very unique and he’s so young, he’s still growing and still getting better.

“I’m excited about next spring training because I’m looking forward to a healthy version with a little bit more experience.”

On paper, the Twins have a league-average outfield with Byron Buxton in center while Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach are the projected starters in the corners. For a club that enters the offseason with little payroll flexibility, the Twins need players like Rodriguez, the No. 2-ranked prospect in their farm system, to make an immediate impact.

“We really had a tough run over the last six weeks and didn’t play as well as we could have and that’s on us,” Falvey said. “We’ve had to do some deep dives and a lot of deep introspection with frustration around that. But we feel like that core is still there from ‘23, even the core that held us up for a good chunk of last year. I’m confident that core from last year can get us back to where we need as related to next year.”

Here are more rumblings from the league’s GM meetings in Texas:

• Teams are still in the exploratory stage of trade talks, exchanging team needs, but league sources expect some interest in Twins starter Chris Paddack, who missed the final 2½ months of the season because of a forearm strain. He’s owed $7.5 million in the last year of his contract. Paddack was inconsistent with a 4.99 ERA through 17 starts, but he will be another year removed from his second Tommy John elbow surgery.

• The Twins ranked last in the majors with 65 stolen bases last season — Willi Castro was the only player who swiped more than seven bases — but adding more speed isn’t a top priority entering 2025. “That’s not been the core of our team as is,” Falvey said. “Our offense is not necessarily predicated on stealing a lot of bases. If we could add it to the mix in some way, shape or form, we’d love to. But we want to make sure that we’re just figuring out how to get the most runs over the course of a season.”

• The Twins hired Matt Borgschulte from the Baltimore Orioles as their hitting coach, but they might not complete their coaching staff hirings until December. They are expected to add at least one assistant hitting coach and an infield coach. “That’s not that uncommon,” Falvey said. “It wouldn’t be crazy for us to have that roll into winter meetings time or otherwise. I remember at the winter meetings a few years ago, we were interviewing for bench coach and Mike Bell, I remember spending time with him.”

• Royce Lewis’ agent, Scott Boras, said he hasn’t had specific conversations with Falvey about Lewis spending more time at second base next year. “Royce has always been, for me, kind of a Ryne Sandberg-ish kind of player,” Boras said. “Power, athleticism and he certainly has the skill to do something like that, but I don’t make those decisions about where they choose to play him.”

It’s unclear if the Twins would need to pay down some of Christian Vázquez’s salary in a potential trade because he will make $10 million in 2025. Even if the Twins offloaded some of his salary through a deal, they would still have to spend on another backup catcher to pair with Ryan Jeffers. “It’s hard for me to envision a world where one catcher is catching 80-90 percent of your games,” Falvey said. “It’s just changed so much. I feel good about the tandem that we have.”