Some of them are pitchers:

17 Jose Berrios R/R
21 Tyler Duffey R/R
44 Kyle Gibson R/R
59 Stephen Gonsalves L/L
39 Trevor Hildenberger R/R
52 Zack Littell R/R
68 Matt Magill R/R
65 Trevor May R/R
49 Adalberto Mejia L/L
58 Gabriel Moya L/L
12 Jake Odorizzi R/R
38 Blake Parker R/R
33 Martin Perez L/L
35 Michael Pineda R/R
43 Addison Reed L/R
55 Taylor Rogers L/L
77 Fernando Romero R/R
53 Kohl Stewart R/R
71 Lewis Thorpe R/L
62 Andrew Vasquez L/L

What a weird bunch. There are twenty names there, and though I'd love for them to finally start carrying fewer pitchers, it seems like it's more likely that MLB will expand roster size before teams reverse the staff creep on their own. So, we've got to get to thirteen guys from there, and maybe it's best to eliminate some of them first?

Thorpe and Littell seem like future rotation candiates so if they're probably not breaking camp unless they make the rotation. Thorpe definitely won't and Littell probably won't. Though that math changes if he's out of options, which I can't seem to find out. Ditto Mejia, but if our exercise here is to cut down then let's assume both of them have MiLB options and will be sent down eventually. Mejia is more likely to help out of the pen, but there's a weird depth of actual LHP relievers who are pretty good on the roster already with Rogers and Moya and Vazquez knocking on the door. So minus Thorpe, Littell, and Mejia makes seventeen.

Magill and Hildenberger are purely RH relievers for this team and I think they'll have to prove it, so let's assume they... won't? I like Hildenberger but Tom Hackimer is moving up in the MiLB system and is basically a better version of him. So now we're down to fifteen.

The points of flexibility here are some guys who are competing for rotation depth and/or coming off of injury and therefore may be stashable in Rochester for a bit. I used to love Martin Perez and I like the signing as a scratch-off but I don't think he's got it any more. Fourteen. We get down to thirteen by dropping one of Kohl Stewart, Fernando Romero, or Tyler Duffey. All three of them could help the bullpen, as Romero could be a late-inning reliever right now; Duffey's had sustained moments of success in both relief and the rotation; and Stewart actually looked like a first-rounder for the only time in his career last year. I suspect it will come down to whoever has options and/or they can dream on becoming a starter. Or if they just decide they've seen the best of Tyler Duffey. I'll bet that's the case. So now we're at thirteen.

Berrios, Gibson, and Odorizzi are rotation locks, I suppose. Healthy Pineda is in, so that's four. No lefties in there and nobody thinks he's gonna be a reliever, so let's say that this is Gonsalves' year. That makes:

Rotation:
Berrios
Gibson
Pineda
Odorizzi
Gonsalves

Pen:
Romero
Vazquez
Rogers
Stewart
May
Moya
Parker
Reed

That's kind of "eh" all the way through. It's one of those staffs where you look at it and say, "that could be okay if everything breaks right" which sounds reasonable but if we're going to cross our fingers I'd really rather have "great" than "okay". Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel are sitting at home waiting for a team right now, and outside of Berrios, I'd probably kick anybody off of this staff for them.

Here are catchers:

64 Willians Astudillo R/R
15 Jason Castro L/R
18 Mitch Garver R/R

Castro and Garver are the safe and most likely choices here. They've both been above-average hitters and capable-to-good defenders, and they even complement each other with the R/L bat pairing. Still, this thread is entirely in the tank for Astudillo so I'm not giving in on the second overall post. He's making the roster. If you're not as thoroughly smitten about him as I am, look at what he plays during spring training. If they keep making an effort to move him around the diamond like they did in-season last year, that's our cue that they're trying to find roster space for him. There was a rumor this morning about the FO talking to Marwin Gonzalez, who I actually rather like, but it seems like he's looking for a deal based on 2017 Marwin Gonzalez and not...literally every other year Marwin Gonzalez. I would take any other year Marwin Gonzalez, but not at 2017 (when he went .303/.377/.530) prices, particularly if it bumps our man Willians Astudillo. Now, if the Twins actually think he can play shortstop as a capable backup, then maybe the coinflip is over Gonzalez or Adrianza - and I'm on the fence about that. I love Adrianza's glove but he's... not gonna hit and I doubt his glove is going to get better as he approaches 30. So if Gonzalez can stand in at short without harming the infield defense badly, and Nick Gordon is a phone call away at Rochester if Polanco gets hurt, then I'm willing to say "welcome" to Marwin. (Sorry) But we're not doing the "who breaks camp?" thing with guys who aren't even under contract yet, so that's math for another day.

With the roster at sixteen, here are some infielders:

13 Ehire Adrianza S/R
2 Luis Arraez
31 Tyler Austin R/R
24 C.J. Cron R/R
1 Nick Gordon L/R
11 Jorge Polanco S/R
22 Miguel Sano R/R
16 Jonathan Schoop R/R
19 Ronald Torreyes R/R

This one is easier, though CJ Cron and his dumb, position-less bat is lurking in there making shit difficult. Scratch Arraez, Gordon, and Torreyes and there are six guys here. Polanco, Sano, Schoop are locks. Unless Sano is still hurt, but they're not going to account for that with a longterm roster move so assume he's in either way. Adrianza is a lock because they want a backup SS. That leaves Cron and Austin. I .... kind of can't believe they intend to break camp with Sano, Cron, Nelson Cruz, and Austin because they're basically four identical players except for varying upsides and Sano's ability to play third.

I feel like it's meaningful that CJ Cron had a career year last year and nobody but the Twins wanted him. This is the part of me where my awareness of how runs are scored and teams win has gotten old and tired, but it's really hard to break out of stuff that you *know* but we're all ultimately bound by time. I just don't understand the point of a right-handed, first-base-only power hitter who doesn't draw walks. And maybe they know something, like that Cron's power will play up in RH-friendly park like Target Field, but I'm stuck in 2007 and in 2007 he'd be entertaining a different line of work. So since this is my post - fuck CJ Cron. He's out. That gives up Sano, Austin, Schoop, Adrianza, Polanco.

Here are some outfielders (and a DH) to fit into our unwieldy 21-person roster:

5 Byron Buxton R/R
60 Jake Cave L/L
8 Zack Granite L/L
26 Max Kepler L/L
30 Michael Reed R/R
20 Eddie Rosario L/R
73 LaMonte Wade L/L
23 Nelson Cruz R/R

I mean, Buxton, Kepler, Rosario, and Cruz. Done. That's twenty five, but it's a really unsatisfying twenty-five. If they keep Adrianza *and* Astudillo, it will be justified by the fact that they've given both of those guys outfield time but really who wants to watch either of them play outfield, except in the "holy shit, Willians Astudillo is playing outfield!" sense. Marwin Gonzalez would work here because he jettisons Adrianza and provides insurance in case Schoop is done, which is possible. I hope none of Cave, Granite, Reed, or Wade is out of options because they'd all be really nice bench options to have. Oh well.