Potential Twins lineup in 2023 with Carlos Correa returning
Carlos Correa's new deal with the Minnesota Twins sparks a bunch of new questions, like what else can the team do to improve the roster ahead of spring training and if they don't do anything what will the starting lineup look like?
Here's the lineup MLB Network projected shortly after the Correa news broke.
- Luis Arraez, 1B
- Carlos Correa, SS
- Byron Buxton, CF
- Jorge Polanco, 2B
- Max Kepler, RF
- Jose Miranda, 3B
- Joey Gallo, LF
- Nick Gordon, DH
- Christian Vazquez, C
What's different from 2022 in that lineup? Joey Gallo, who signed a one-year deal a few weeks ago, is in and starting in the outfielder and Christian Vazquez is the starting catcher.
A couple of players missing from that potential lineup are outfielders Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach. Both battled injuries last season but if healthy both have been projected to be key cogs in the team's future.
Max Kepler has had his name in trade rumors all offseason and if he's dealt it would open a spot for Kirilloff or Larnach. The Twins also have two of the best shortstop prospects in their farm system in Royce Lewis and Brooks Lee, and with Correa signed for the long term they seem like possible trade chips.
The Twins' starting rotation is filled with solid pitchers but doesn't feature an ace. If the season started today, a five-man rotation would likely feature some combination of Sonny Gray, Joe Ryan, Tyler Mahle, Kenta Maeda, Bailey Ober, Josh Winder, Simeon Woods Richardson and Louie Varland.
Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen. His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011. Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play. Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers. Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.