Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
At last season’s trade deadline, the Pohlads mandated a Minnesota Twins selloff that featured the salary dump of once-ballyhooed free agent signing Carlos Correa, who was dealt back to the Houston Astros.
Since the former Platinum Glove winner was pushed out the door, it’s been 2023 No. 8 overall draft pick Brooks Lee who has operated as the Twins’ starting shortstop. The results defensively, so far, have not been ideal.
Last season, Lee played 77 games at shortstop, most of which came after Correa was traded. Before that, he split time between third base (43 games), and second base (37 games).
Minnesota Twins have a shortstop crisis with Brooks Lee
While Brooks wasn’t great at 2nd (-2 DRS) or 3rd (-6 DRS), his defensive numbers fall off a cliff at shortstop. He racked up six errors, five of which came while fielding the baseball, not throwing it.
The advanced metrics aren’t any better. In 595 innings at SS in 2025, Lee owned a -8 DRS (defensive runs saved), with a -1 OAA (outs above average) and FRV (fielding run value).
J.J. Cooper is the Editor-In-Chief at Baseball America and when he looks at the Minnesota Twins’ depth chart for 2026, Brooks Lee at shortstop is a concern that stands out like a sore thumb, defensively. In his view, the Twins do not even have an MLB shortstop on their roster right now.
“But I’m just going to say right now, the Minnesota Twins do not have a shortstop right now. And I do mean, Brooks Lee does not play shortstop. There’s no logical path where you say Brooks Lee is going to be defensively what you want to get from an MLB shortstop.
J.J. Cooper – Baseball America
The issues for Brooks Lee at shortstop continue to pile up, the deeper you look. He has a sprint speed in the 19th-percentile. Thus, it’s no shock his range is limited.
Throw that on top of his 28th percentile arm strength… and the Twins have a recipe for defensive disaster, entering Spring Training. If Lee was an offensive juggernaut, it would be easier to swallow his inefficiency on defense.
But last season, he slashed .236/.285/.370 (.655 OPS) in 139 games. While most good MLB teams have a shortstop who is a plus player on both offense and defense. Going into 2026… the Twins’ shortstop is the opposite of that.
No alternatives shortstops for Minnesota Twins?
Presenting an even larger problem for Minnesota, is the lack of alternatives they have to replace Brooks Lee at shortstop. They started the offseason by claiming 28-year-old infielder Ryan Kreidler. He owns a career 11 OPS+, but can play defense, at least.
The Twins also traded for Tristan Gray, who posted a 91 OPS+ across 30 games last season for the Tampa Bay Rays. Only nine of those games came at shortstop, however.
Orlando Arcia is another options expected to be in camp. He has more than 1,000 big league games under his belt, and 859 of them have come at shortstop. There was a time Arcia posted positive defensive numbers, but at 31 years old, that hasn’t been the case of late.
The only player in the minors to post 20 HR, 20 SB, & a K% below 18%:
Kaelen Culpepper
The 23-year-old, 6’0”/185 SS, shows a calm presence in the box w/ minimal movement in his load & easy power. Most damage is pull-side, but there’s still room to unlock more loft (50.0% GB%). pic.twitter.com/zunfco3djP
— Running From The OPS (@OPS_BASEBALL) January 31, 2026
Arguably the best scenario at shortstop for the Minnesota Twins would be for top prospect Kaelen Culpepper to earn a promotion and stick. That’s not something new manager Derek Shelton can afford to rely on, though.
While Culpepper is expected to start the 2026 season at Triple A, he hasn’t gotten there yet. Nonetheless, he’s a better defender than Lee, by quite a bit, and his .844 OPS across two levels last season gives the Twins a glimmer of hope that, at 23 years old, he could make the big league jump in 2026.
Lee still has three minor league options remaining. If he doesn’t hit, it’s not impossible we see Brooks Lee back at St. Paul at some point this spring/summer.
Mentioned in this article: Brooks Lee Kaelen Culpepper Orlando Arcia Ryan Kreidler Tristan Gray
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