Whether by conscious choice or roster-building happenstance, one of the stanchions of the Rocco Baldelli Minnesota Twins regime was a veteran leader on the offense.
From 2019-2021, Nelson Cruz was cast in that role and about as effective as could have possibly been hoped for—headlining the ‘19 Bomba Squad and presenting a countenance on and off the field that was easy to aspire to.
From 2022-2025, the clubhouse leadership role was passed to surprising free-agent signing Carlos Correa—producing more
controversial results. Because of his postseason success with the Houston Astros, C-4 was certainly looked upon as a veteran presence and acted accordingly. While some eventually warmed to his style, valid criticisms remained of his potential sign-stealing past, the way in which he mentored young players, and his willingness to jump ship back to south Texas at the first sign of strife.
However one feels about Correa’s departure, it left the Twins without an established offensive presence. Pablo Lopez—and now perhaps even two-time All-Star Joe Ryan—have the hurlers covered, but their meetings, schedule, and mentality are completely different from those of the batsmen.
Two logical figures to inherit the clubhouse leader tag would be Byron Buxton (for his talent) or Josh Bell (for his experience). While I’m sure Buck is a wonderful teammate and his talent puts him at A-1 on the roster, his countenance seems more Joe Mauer-esque in the sense of being more quiet and laid-back. Bell’s transience on this roster probably prevents too many proclamations from him as well.
There are of course many different ways to lead—and some guys likely need more leadership than others. Off the top of my head, I’d posit that the likes of Kody Clemens (thanks to a famous MLB Papa) & Brooks Lee (son of a notable college coach) need less hands-on role models than the average major leaguer.
But what about Royce Lewis, Matt Wallner, Luke Keaschall, Austin Martin, Tristan Gray, or Ryan Kreidler? I don’t know as much about their “backstories”, but perhaps a “been there, done that” MLB offensive player could model the consistency needed to stick in The Show?
This is to say nothing of the potential value to the “next wave”—Culpepper, Rodriguez, Jenkins, Tait, Houston, etc.—of Twins prospects who have yet to experience the daily grind of MLB.
I know this organization may have “bigger fish to fry” at the moment with some complicated trade deadline scenarios to sort through. But with one wave of prospects seemingly giving way to another, it might be time to at least begin thinking about who can provide the solid leadership to make it all gel together in the bottoms of Target Field innings.
