For much of the last five years, Emmanuel Rodriguez has looked like the kind of young player the Twins would eventually build around. He signed as an international free agent in 2019, kept producing at every level, and by 2023 had settled in as a top-100 prospect across baseball.
This season, when he’s been healthy, the numbers have backed up the hype: a .916 OPS with Triple-A St. Paul, a much better strikeout rate, and the two hardest-hit balls Statcast has tracked for Twins prospects.
And yet, here we are in September with expanded rosters, and Rodriguez is still in St. Paul.
That’s the part that stands out. Many around the team expected Rodriguez to be the extra bat Minnesota called up, especially once Walker Jenkins had already reached the majors. Instead, the Twins promoted Ben Ross on September 1, and when Byron Buxton went on the shelf and opened another spot, Gabriel Gonzalez got the nod.
Gonzalez is a legitimate prospect too, and nobody is arguing he didn’t earn a look. But Rodriguez’s situation is starting to feel harder to explain.
He’s already on the 40-man roster, and after this season he’s out of minor-league options. If Minnesota still sees him as part of the long-term plan, this was the moment to find out what he can do against big-league pitching.
The problem is that the Twins’ outfield picture is crowded in a way that doesn’t leave much room for Rodriguez to force the issue.
Buxton remains the centerpiece. He’s under contract through 2028, and even with the injury that ended his season and will require offseason hip surgery, he isn’t going anywhere.
He also didn’t want to be dealt. Jenkins is next in line as the organization’s top prospect since being drafted in 2023, and the Twins hope he grows into that kind of franchise player over the next few years.
Then there’s the current major-league group. Trevor Larnach is still there.
Luke Keaschall has already shown he can hit at a high level, even though he’s not even a year older than Rodriguez. Kody Clemens has carved out an everyday infield role with Keaschall spending more time in the outfield, and his glove at multiple spots plus his bat have made him too useful to sit.
Larnach’s defense is limited, and a winter move is possible, but he could also stay and split time between the outfield and designated hitter again next season.
The pipeline behind them is moving, too. Gonzalez is part of it, and so is Hendry Mendez, who has been raking since coming over to Minnesota at last summer’s trade deadline. Mendez could be ready to help sometime next season, even if first base ends up being his more likely home than the outfield.
There’s another wrinkle: left-handed bats are stacking up everywhere. Rodriguez, Jenkins, Larnach, Clemens and Mendez all hit left-handed.
That means Rodriguez has to separate himself from a group that keeps getting deeper. He’s no longer just trying to pass the players ahead of him on the depth chart.
He’s also trying to hold off the next wave.
That’s why the lack of a call-up says so much. Rodriguez is talented, but talent only gets a player so far. Injuries have interrupted him, strikeouts have popped up at different points, and while the tools are still obvious, he hasn’t yet become the star many expected.
For a prospect who spent years as one of the brightest names in the system, this September should have been his chance. Instead, he’s still waiting in St. Paul while Minnesota keeps finding room for others.
At this point, it’s fair to wonder whether his future with the Twins is already nearing the finish line. If he’s moved this winter, it would be because the front office got an offer it liked. And given everything that has happened over the last week, that possibility feels more real than the idea that Minnesota is still waiting on the right return for Larnach.
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