Roster construction is far from complete, but the Twins have made several changes to their 40-man roster. They may not be high-prominence changes, but they are changes, and with those changes come new jersey numbers.
Even the numerical assignations are not yet complete: four new members of the 40-man roster (Gabriel Gonzalez, Ryan Kreidler, Hendry Mendez, Connor Prielipp) do not have official numbers, per the team website. But everyone else, whether having changed digits or been assigned fresh ones,
has a number.
Here they are:
Kody Clemens: 2
last worn by: Brooks Lee
With Lee’s number change (see below), Clemens reclaims the number he wore for a season and a half as a Phillie, having swapped to #2 there after wearing #23 for his first year there.
Eric Wagaman: 13
last worn by: Ty France
Wagaman wore #34 during his debut with the Angels and #33 last year with the Marlins, so #13 is a new MLB number for him. The latter of his old numbers is available in Minnesota (#34 is retired for Kirby Puckett), so I’m guessing his switch to #13 was a preference.
Alan Roden: 18
last worn by: Kody Clemens
Roden had worn #18 for Toronto before being traded to Minnesota, where he was assigned #19 due to Clemens wearing his old number. But Clemens switching to #2 opened #18 for Roden, and he’s taken it.
Eric Orze: 19
last worn by: Alan Roden
I have no idea what Orze’s number preference is, but it’s a safe prediction he prefers something in the 10-19 range: after debuting wearing #53 for the Mets in 2024, he wore #17 for the Rays last season.
Brooks Lee: 22
last worn by: Griffin Jax
I can’t find the article, but an MLB.com piece from Lee’s rookie year (when he wore #72) said that his preferred number is #22. He switched from #72 to #2 last year as Jax still had #22, but Jax’s trade opened up #22 for Lee, and he has taken it immediately.
Josh Bell: 56
last worn by: Thomas Hatch
Bell has worn a few numbers in his career, but his longest-worn and most-recognizable number is the #55 he wore in Pittsburgh for his first five seasons in the league. That number isn’t available for the Twins (worn by Kody Funderburk), so he’s taken the next one up.
Kendry Rojas: 60
last worn by: Carson McCusker
While #60 is generally considered a pitcher’s number, its most recent and longest-tenured wearers in Minnesota were both outfielders: McCusker held the number last year, and Jake Cave had it for four seasons. Now it goes back to the mound.
Alex Jackson: 64
last worn by: Jose Miranda
Another unusual setup with a position player wearing a number in the 60s. While #64 may similarly be thought of as a back-end reliever’s number, Miranda had the number for the last four seasons, and before that, it belonged to another catcher: Willians Astudillo. (Jackson’s longest-worn number is #12, which has been vacant in Minnesota since the Harrison Bader trade; I don’t know why he isn’t wearing it now.)
John Klein: 71
last worn by: Jovani Morán
Unlike the two previous entries, #71 is thought of as a reliever’s number and stays with a reliever. Only three Twins have worn the number in the regular season: Joe Roa, Sean Poppen, and Morán, who wore it most recently and longest.
Andrew Morris: 78
last worn by: Simeon Woods Richardson
I always liked Woods Richardson wearing #78 because it was unique, so his change to #24 last year irrationally annoyed me. But it gets back in the cycle with Morris, one of six players the Twins added to the 40-man roster to protect from the Rule 5 draft.
That’s it for players, but that’s not all for numbers: the Twins added several new coaches this season, most of which have assigned numbers as well. LaTroy Hawkins (bullpen) and Mark Hallberg (bench) are currently numberless, but here are the rest:
Grady Sizemore (first base): 0
Derek Shelton (manager): 8
Mike Rabelo (assistant bench): 63
Toby Gardenhire (MLB field coordinator): 66
Keith Beauregard (hitting): 84
And now we wait for the rest of them… at least, I wait.
