FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Twins appear to be down to one significant roster question.
Minnesota optioned Ryan Kreidler and Eric Wagaman to Triple-A St. Paul on Monday, a pair of moves that would appear to put Tristan Gray in position to make the club as a utility player and specifically as the backup shortstop. Orlando Arcia is also still in camp, but Gray is expected to take the spot.
Gray, a left-handed hitter who turned 30 on Sunday, was acquired via trade from the Red Sox in January. He’s a lifetime .207/.264/.369 hitter at the Major League level over parts of three seasons with the Rays, Marlins and Athletics. He’s slugged .472 over five Triple-A seasons and has played all four infield positions in the Major Leagues.
Kreidler is an exemplary defender at multiple positions and appeared to have a strong case to make the roster as a utility player. But it appears the Twins are choosing Gray’s offensive potential over Kreidler’s defense.
Manager Derek Shelton specifically pointed to Gray’s left-handed bat as one factor in the choice. Luke Keaschall and Royce Lewis, the team’s primary second and third basemen, are both right-handed hitters, while shortstop Brooks Lee is a switch-hitter who has been more effective from the right side.
“It was a challenging decision,” Shelton said. “I think they both bring interesting skill sets to the team. We just ended up thinking for right now that Tristan fit our team better in terms of the functionality.”
He also noted that while Kreidler’s versatility includes the ability to play a strong defensive outfield, the makeup of Minnesota’s roster means that he likely wouldn’t have many chances to take advantage of that skill.
Wagaman, a right-handed hitter with power, is a corner infielder and outfielder who was squeezed out due to a glut of corner bats on the Twins’ roster. Minnesota optioned Alan Roden, a promising corner outfielder, on Sunday.
Though there are still some official transactions to be carried out, it appears that the 13 position players on the Twins’ Opening Day roster will be Ryan Jeffers, Victor Caratini, Josh Bell, Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, Kody Clemens, Gray, Byron Buxton, James Outman, Matt Wallner, Austin Martin and Trevor Larnach.
Catcher Alex Jackson is still in camp but is not expected to make the team.
Ober encouraged
Bailey Ober’s results were quite a bit worse Monday against the Red Sox than they had been six days earlier against the Phillies, but the big right-hander was in a much better mood after his outing. Ober was reached for four runs on 10 hits over 4 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking three.
His command was not where he wanted it to be, but his velocity was noticeably higher than the previous start, increasing by 1.4 miles per hour on both his four-seam fastball and sinker. He averaged 89.6 and 90.0 on the two fastballs, respectively, and generally was encouraged with how things went.
“I worked on getting my body moving down the mound a little bit faster, getting into more of an athletic position,” he said, “and that was just this past week trying to feel that. Just getting used to getting moving and getting my hand in the right spot at release with those types of moves. Felt better mechanically, felt more consistent. Felt like I was being quicker and more athletic.”
Bullpen waiting game
While the position-player side of the Twins roster is set, the bullpen is most definitely not. Shelton said he hopes to have things settled by the time the team leaves Florida on Tuesday evening, but it’s not a sure thing. Minnesota has a workout on Wednesday in Baltimore before the Thursday opener.
“I would hope so,” he said. “I've been on teams [where] we've been up to the middle of the off day. My hope is we'd be there but I'm not going to guarantee that we are going to be there.”
Six relievers appear to be set for now: Cole Sands, Justin Topa, Eric Orze, Taylor Rogers, Anthony Banda, and Kody Funderburk. That leaves two openings, which will most likely go to right-handers. Dan Altavilla and Zak Kent are the leading candidates, with Cody Laweryson also in the picture.
The wild card is that this tends to be a very busy time on Major League Baseball’s waiver wire. And with such an unsettled and relatively unproven relief corps, the Twins will have their eyes on pitchers who could come available.