Twins GM Says Outfield Prospect to Get Time At First; Starter Moving to Bullpen?

Zoll talked about some on-field changes the team could test out during spring training.

The view of a small crowd for the Sept. 3, 2025 Twins-White Sox game at Target Field. | Will Ragatz

With Derek Falvey fired and general manager Jeremy Zoll now leading the Minnesota Twins' roster construction, it appears that he has some interesting plans in place. Speaking on team's Inside Twins social media series on Wednesday, Zoll detailed some of the changes the Twins could be looking at during spring training.

Outfield prospect will get time at first base

Minnesota has a decent stable of outfielders in the minors who are nearing the majors. With the likes of Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Gabriel Gonzalez spending all or portions of last season at Triple-A St. Paul, the Twins could see an influx of promising outfielders make their way to the big leagues this season. With that in mind, and with a need for first basemen, Zoll indicated that 22-year-old prospect Hendry Mendez will see time this season at first base.

"Unbelievable zone control, (Mendez's) ability to take walks instead of strikeouts is some of the tops you'll see in the minor leagues," Zoll said. "Really interesting bat profile. We're also going to give him some time at first base as we keep progressing here and try to add another tool to his tool belt."

Minnesota acquired Mendez for Harrison Bader last July during the unprecedented fire sale that saw the team ship off 10 core players. In just 33 games with Double-A Wichita late last season, Mendez hit for a .324 average while slugging three home runs and driving in 16 runs. Overall in 2025, Mendez slashed .299/.399/.439 while hitting 11 homers, striking out 65 times, and drawing 67 walks. Ranked as the No. 25 prospect in the Twins' farm system by MLB Pipeline, Mendez has never played infield during his minor league career.

Starter shifting to bullpen?

Entering spring training, Minnesota has 20 pitchers on its 40-man roster, including 12 starters and 18 relievers. However, the Twins' bullpen is easily the most glaring weakness on the roster, and could potentially be one of the worst in the majors. After the trade deadline fire sale decimated the bullpen, Minnesota has been looking for pitchers to fill the gaps.

This offseason, Minnesota has acquired veteran reliever Taylor Rogers and more recently took a swing at former first-round pick Jackson Kowar. However, with a clear weakness in the team's bullpen, Zoll indicated Minnesota could look to move a starter to the pen, though he didn't name who the potential options could be.

"There's definitely a number of names to choose from there, so there's definitely some component of this that's case-by-case and individual," said Zoll. "Some guys were starting to go through role changes towards the end of last year, whether that's someone like Travis Adams or Marco Raya. So, they might fall into a little bit of a different bucket than some of the other guys that were staying on a starter routine, or were primarily on a starter routine for the entire season last year."

One starter who was mentioned as a possible reliever last season was David Festa. He made 11 starts last season and posted a 5.40 ERA, but his ability to pile up strikeouts could make him a prime candidate to move to a reliever role.

"Certainly want to make sure guys have time to acclimate to roles but we also know that even if we do have some guys convert from starter to reliever, that might not be an Opening Day thing, at least at the major league level, and they might get some time in Triple-A in certain cases," continued Zoll. "So, again, it's going to be a case-by-case discussion. Some of it is contingent on how the roster building goes over this next stretch, and as we settle into camp. A lot to work through there. We've already had some conversations internally about that, and that's only going to continue over the next couple of weeks."

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