Twins set Opening Day roster

MINNEAPOLIS -- The most bonkers offseason in Twins history came all the way down to the wire with one last notable trade just hours before the deadline to set Opening Day rosters on Thursday, when Minnesota and San Diego agreed to a four-player swap headlined by Taylor Rogers and Chris Paddack that completed the overhaul of large swaths of the Twins' roster.

All told, 12 players on the Twins' current 40-man roster were not in the organization when the offseason began, with Minnesota having completed four major trades and signed three free agents since March 12 alone. One of those free agents was, of course, Carlos Correa -- the prize acquisition among the flurry of moves.

That wheeling and dealing finally led to the Twins setting their Opening Day 28-man roster, a configuration of players hardly imaginable at this time last year considering 19 players on this roster were not on last year's Opening Day roster. Let's take a look.

Catchers (2): Ryan Jeffers, Gary Sánchez
Is manager Rocco Baldelli fine with carrying only two catchers on his roster and using one of them as one of his primary designated hitters? The answer is unequivocally "yes," and that's exactly what the Twins will do.

"We are going to do that," Baldelli said. "I don't know if it's audacity, but if you want to go with that, yes, we have the audacity to do that."

As the superior defender and the organization's catching cornerstone of the future, Jeffers could see a slight edge in time behind the plate, but Sánchez will also do plenty of catching and slot in as DH often when he's not behind the plate. And if the need for an emergency catcher arises at some point ... well, Baldelli will cross that bridge when he gets there.

First baseman (1): Miguel Sanó
Sanó is a notorious slow starter and streaky as they come at the plate, which made it all the more encouraging when he collected four hits (including two homers) and two walks across his final three Spring Training games. Will that translate to the regular season? We'll see. But the Twins showed last season that they won't hesitate to make changes during Sanó's slumps, as they turned to Alex Kirilloff as their everyday starter for a time. Kirilloff will still be the primary backup to Sanó here.

Second baseman (1): Jorge Polanco
Polanco will enter the season with his fifth double-play partner in as many seasons, and he's already noted that the vibe during infield drills alongside Correa has reached a new level of intensity. He'll continue as the everyday second baseman after the move helped him not only stay healthy but also set career-bests in homers (33) and slugging percentage (.503) after he was held back by injuries in parts of '19 and '20.

Luis Arraez and Nick Gordon will be the primary backups here, with Arraez likely to step in whenever Polanco is needed to start at shortstop.

Shortstop (1): Carlos Correa
Correa has said over and over that he wants to establish a "championship culture" in Minneapolis. What does that look like? Early on, it looks like Correa taking his teammates out to his favorite Puerto Rican restaurant in Fort Myers, Fla., to get to know them. It looks like a friendly game in which an infielder has to do five push-ups if he misplays a ground ball during pregame drills. There's plenty more to come there from the new superstar shortstop, who posted a 1.250 OPS with three homers in seven Spring Training games.

Polanco will likely be his primary backup here, with Gordon and Gio Urshela also able to step in when needed.

Third basemen (2): Gio Urshela, Luis Arraez
There's a logjam of third basemen on the 40-man roster, and for now, it could be tough for Arraez to find consistent playing time at any single position. Urshela is the better defender of the two and carries mostly neutral lifetime left-right splits. Still, third base and designated hitter are likely Arraez's best shots for at-bats, since second will be occupied by Polanco more often than not and Baldelli has said Arraez won't be focusing on the outfield this season. Arraez also started seeing time at first this spring.

Utility (1): Nick Gordon
Gordon is no worse for the wear after he suffered a big collision in the outfield with teammate Max Kepler during his final Spring Training appearance on Monday and should be ready for Opening Day. He went as far as to joke on Wednesday that he'd suffered such collisions as a football slot receiver in high school and expects to be fine. He can play third, short, second and some outfield, and could be a plug-and-play option everywhere but first base and catcher.

Outfielders (4): Alex Kirilloff, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Gilberto Celestino
The starting three were set in stone for quite some time, with Kirilloff, Buxton and Kepler locked into their starting spots from left to right. Though the fourth outfield spot looked to be a contest between Brent Rooker and Kyle Garlick at the end of camp, the Twins traded Rooker to San Diego, sent Garlick to Triple-A and promoted Celestino, who offers a true backup option in center field without requiring an immediate move to clear a spot on the full 40-man roster.

Starting pitchers (6): Sonny Gray, Dylan Bundy, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Chris Archer, Chris Paddack
Minnesota's starting picture finally appeared set with the signing of Archer to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2023, but the picture clouded once again with the acquisition of Chris Paddack from San Diego, especially since none of the other five is a prime candidate to be bumped to the bullpen or the Minor Leagues.

It remains to be seen how the Twins will arrange the six starting pitchers on their Opening Day roster, and it appears that the Twins are open to considering a six-man rotation to begin the season, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said. Where and how Paddack fits into that picture could depend on his discussions with the coaching staff upon his arrival to the Twin Cities on Thursday afternoon.

Relief pitchers (10): Tyler Duffey, Jorge Alcala, Emilio Pagán, Joe Smith, Caleb Thielbar, Jharel Cotton, Jhoan Duran, Josh Winder, Danny Coulombe, Jhon Romero
The Twins will unsurprisingly carry 16 pitchers on their Opening Day roster. The 10-man bullpen also features a five-person leverage group that will miss Rogers as its ninth-inning anchor but still features upside in Duffey, Alcala, Pagán, Smith and Thielbar. Everyone else is expected to provide multiple innings if needed.

This bullpen group should be particularly exciting with its inclusion of both Duran and Winder, the No. 6 and No. 7 prospects in the organization, who will get a chance to make an immediate impact against big league hitters. Duran should pitch out of the bullpen throughout the season and could even move into leverage roles with his big stuff, but the Twins will need to carefully handle Winder to keep him stretched out to a regular starter's workload.