Key question for the Twins: Who's on first in '26?

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EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- If it’s December, we must be wondering who the Twins’ next first baseman will be.

No matter who takes the field at first for Minnesota on March 26 in Baltimore, he’ll be the fifth Opening Day starter at the position in as many years. He’ll join a list that includes Miguel Sanó (2022), Joey Gallo ('23), Carlos Santana ('24) and Ty France ('25). And most likely, like the last three of those names, he’ll be new to the organization.

So let’s take a look at the possibilities.

The most likely outcome is that the Twins will sign a free-agent first baseman. The Athletic reported recently that Minnesota is looking in that market, and named candidates such as Rhys Hoskins, Josh Bell and Ryan O’Hearn. Other available players in roughly that tier include Paul Goldschmidt, Nathaniel Lowe and Luis Arraez.

The Twins’ front office has been given clearance to make additions to the roster without trading players to clear payroll space, so a relatively affordable free-agent add like someone from this list is entirely viable. It’s likely, though far from confirmed, that they have roughly $15-20 million in payroll space, but that will have to cover bullpen additions and perhaps another bat along with addressing first base.

Hoskins may be the most natural fit from the list. He and Goldschmidt are the only right-handed hitters in the bunch, and while being lefty is not a deal-breaker, the Twins are heavily left-handed at the corners. They could use some balance. Meanwhile, Goldschmidt has already been linked with the Mets after the departure of free agent Pete Alonso to the Orioles. That doesn’t rule Goldschmidt out, but it’s safe to say you don’t really want to get in a bidding war with the Mets.

Free agency is not the only direction the Twins could go, though. Another possibility is to trade for a first baseman. The Phillies are believed to be a motivated seller on Nick Castellanos, so though Castellanos is owed $20 million next year, there’s some reason to believe they might eat a large chunk of that in a deal. And while Castellanos hasn’t played first base in the Major Leagues, he’s expressed an openness to moving there.

And then there are internal options. One choice would be simply to plug Kody Clemens back into the position he manned down the stretch last year, but Clemens is probably best suited to utility work. And there aren’t a great deal of other obvious places to upgrade the lineup -- which is a priority -- if they don’t bring in a third baseman from outside the organization.

Another would be to move one of the club’s glut of corner outfield/DH types to first. But general manager Jeremy Zoll seemed lukewarm at best to the idea of someone like Matt Wallner or Trevor Larnach moving to a new position. Larnach could conceivably be trade bait for a first baseman, however. It was somewhat surprising that he wasn’t non-tendered.

All of which is to say, the most likely next Twins first baseman, like the last three, is not on the roster just yet. Stay tuned.