The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of prospect Brooks Lee. Infielder Royce Lewis has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right adductor strain, opening an active roster spot for Lee. To get him onto the 40-man, right-hander Brock Stewart has been transferred to the 60-day IL. Declan Goff and Darren Wolfson of SKOR North first reported Lee’s promotion on X. The club’s president of baseball operations Derek Falvey says that Lewis has a Grade 2 strain and will be out at least through the All-Star break, per Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press on X.
Lee, now 23, was selected with the eighth overall pick in 2022 and signed with an overslot bonus of $5.675MM. Since then, in short, he has mashed his way up the minor league ladder. That started right after he was drafted, as he got into 31 games in 2022, seeing time at the Complex League level, High-A and then Double-A. He produced a line of .303/.388/.451 in those games, walking at an 11.5% clip and striking out just 14.4% of the time.
He returned to Double-A last year and carried that kind of production over in his 87 games there in 2023. He had 11 home runs, a 10.3% walk rate, 15.8% strikeout rate and .292/.365/.476 batting line. He was promoted to Triple-A and his numbers dipped, though the rates were still good and his batting average on balls in play dropped from .325 at Double-A to .258 at the level above.
This year, a lower back strain put him on the minor league injured list to start the year. He didn’t make his season debut until May 20, getting some rehab games at the Complex League level and Single-A. He then was bumped to Triple-A and has hit seven homers in just 20 games there, walking 9.6% of the time and striking out at only a 13.8% clip. He currently sports a monster line of .329/.394/.635 in those 20 games for the Saints this year, which translates to a 159 wRC+.
That almost constant barrage of offense has him unsurprisingly ranked as one of the better prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him in the #28 spot, FanGraphs at #49 and MLB Pipeline at #13. ESPN put him 27th in their May update while Keith Law of The Athletic had him 31st coming into the year.
Lee has largely played shortstop in his career thus far, though there’s some disagreement about whether he’ll stick there. His speed is only average but he is considered to have a reliability at the position that makes him passable there. With Carlos Correa pretty firmly implanted at that spot for the Twins for now, it’s been speculated that Lee may be ticketed for a move to either second or third, with his arm considered strong enough for the hot corner.
For much of the recent past, the Twins have had too many infielders to find time for everyone, so much so that Jorge Polanco was flipped to the Mariners in the offseason. Even with him out of the picture, they’ve had Lewis, Carlos Santana, Alex Kirilloff, Edouard Julien, José Miranda, Willi Castro, Kyle Farmer and Austin Martin in the infield mix alongside Correa.
But that picture has gotten a bit less crowded as the season has gone along. Julien struggled and got himself optioned to Triple-A. Kirilloff is on the injured list. Farmer is a glove-first bench player who isn’t hitting much this year. Castro and Martin have been bouncing between the infield and outfield.
Lately, the club has been rolling with a primary alignment of Santana at first and Correa at short, while Lewis and Miranda have shared third base and the designated hitter slot, with second base duties rotating between Castro, Farmer and Martin.
Getting Lee into that mix is easier now that Lewis is headed for yet another stint on the injured list. The incredibly talented but oft-injured player has hit .303/.361/.584 since his May 2022 promotion, but with various injuries limiting him to just 94 big league contests. He was removed from last night’s game with some groin tightness and Dan Hayes of The Athletic relayed after the contest that Lewis was headed for an MRI.
Time will tell exactly how Lee is used, and whether or not this is a brief stint to cover for Lewis or if he is in the majors for good. In the long term, their infield logjam is likely to continue into the future. Of the aforementioned group, only Santana and Farmer are slated for free agency after this year. Farmer has a mutual option on his deal but those pacts are almost never triggered by both sides.
For now, Lee will get a shot against big league pitching and will try to cement himself as a key part of the long-term infield in Minnesota, as well as helping them return to the postseason this year. The club is currently 48-37 and in possession of a Wild Card spot in the American League. If Lee is up for good, he will qualify for arbitration after 2027 and free agency after 2030, though future optional assignments could alter those timelines.
As for Stewart, his transfer was a formality as he’s already been on the IL for 60 days at this point. He was placed there May 2 due to right shoulder tendinitis. He is scheduled for some upcoming bullpen sessions, per Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune on X, but will need some more time to ramp up.
Lee for Gunnar Henderson
Henderson for judge
Why would the Orioles do that? Pay an extra 300 mil for the same production.
Lee, Julien, Festa and Larnach for –
Kjerstad, Mayo and Povich
Win, win for both sides
future ace Povich back to his original club
Orioles would be overpaying there just to get even more clogged at SS/2B and corner outfield
Twins don’t really have an incentive to trade Lee right now and orioles have no incentive to get more offense
Pablo Lopez for basallo and Norby would work but why would the twins trade for prospects when they are in win now mode these teams don’t need to trade with each other
orioles turn the chi sox head w/ that same offer for crochet. i think they could do a bit better than lopez, a top 35-45 pitcher, for those two prospects
Basallo and Norby isn’t getting Crochet.
It’s a baseball crime Royce Lewis can’t stay healthy – talented player.
Well deserved. He couldn’t be ignored with the MiLB stats he continued to post. Can’t wait to see what he can do.
Where is Lee going to play? Does he have enough experience at 2nd? 3rd if Lewis gets injured again? Correa has SS locked down for the next 4-5 years
He’s 6 1 205. I haven’t seen him play but that’s a big body for the shortstop position. That’s more of a 3b build.
Carlos Correa, 6’4” 220 lb. Corey Seager the same. Size doesn’t matter, be good enough with the bat and they’ll find a spot for you.
In addition to the guys jdeuce pointed out, Elly is 6’5″. Oneil Cruz is 6’7″.
It’s height and weight combined. Like I said 6 1 205 is a different build. It’s thick.
What era are you in that’s to big for short?
It’s not the height knuckleheads it’s the weight. 205 at 6 1 is big it’s not a rangy athletic frame it’s a big thick frame. Like a 3b would have. I could name numerous 3b with that build. Still waiting for someone to name a shortstop with that build.
Matt Chapman
Nolan Arenado
Evan Longoria
David Wright
All of them are 6 foot or 6 1 and all weigh or weighed between 200 and 215. Just like Brooks Lee.
I will say it again he’s built like a 3b not a shortstop.
You just said it’s not the height so why reference the height of those 4 players then?
Pena is 202 lbs at 6’0″. That’s even less weight distribution. Witt Jr. is 201 lbs at 6’1, just 4 lbs less than Lee. Gunnar Henderson and Correa are both 220 lbs. One is 6’4″, the other is 6’3″. Oneil Cruz and Corey Seager are both 215. Bogaerts is 6’2″ 218. Adames is is 6’1″ 220. Story is 6’2″ 210.
Are all those guys “built” like 3B?
It’s both height and weight combined goofball. Like I said.
Witt has long been rumored to move to 3b
Henderson plays a lot of 3b already
Bogarts has already moved off of shortstop
Story can’t stay healthy
Correa can’t stay healthy
Seager can’t stay healthy
He’s built like a 3b. Under certain circumstances they would keep playing him st short but these aren’t those circumstances.
Lee is probably too big for SS unless he has great speed which I don’t think he has but 6 feet 205 pounds leads to a 27.8 BMI, Henderson is playing exclusively at SS and is elite defensively with a 27.5 BMI, Alex Rodriguez was a good shortstop with a 28.5 BMI then moved off because of Jeter
My point is your height/weight has some correlation to every position but other factors like speed and arm is what truly makes the best SS not just BMI
Henderson was playing half his time at 3b and half at short last year. And Rodriguez of course ended up playing 3b later in his career.
I think Lee COULD play shortstop if they needed him to. But he has a frame better suited for 3b and it would be an easy transition for him. That and the fact that the Twins have Correa locked up for years means he’s probably moving to 3b. But maybe Correa slows down a bit and Lee goes back to shortstop who knows.
Alex Rodriguez was the best overall shortstop in baseball history. He played around 230 lbs. Only moved to third to accommodate the ego of Jeter. Ca Ripken the Iron Man of Baseball played at 225 lbs. He played 2632 consecutive games at short. Please go on about how a shortstop can’t be over a certain weight.
How can Lee be at 3rd if lewis has 3rd? Assuming Royce doesn’t stay in the Byron buxton purgatory of the injury list the only clear path in the future is 2nd, but Lee would have to battle people like Julien
Arod was much slimmer in his earlier years. Cal Ripoen was a freak.
Who said shortstops can’t be over a certain weight?
Without digging too deep:
Trevor Story
Xander Bogaerts
Willy Adames
Bobby Witt jr
Jeremy Pena
Brandon Crawford
When is 205 at 6’1 heavy? Is that a joke?
No, you literally said “It’s not the height knuckleheads it’s the weight”
I copied and pasted exactly what you said. You can’t keep changing what you said.
Witt is a great defender. He’s 100th percentile OAA at SS this season.
Orioles have said Henderson is the full time SS now. He hasn’t started a single game at 3B this season.
Bogaerts moved off of SS after 10 seasons there. No reason to think Lee can’t last that length, too.
Story can’t stay healthy but it has nothing to do with playing defense. His latest issue came swinging the bat. That would’ve happened whether he was playing SS, 3B, 2B, RF, DH, you name it.
Correa, sure. I’m not aware of how his injury history is reflected so I can’t say it didn’t come playing D (outside of the foul ball of his leg or foot, whatever it was, that cost him time). That being said, he was an above average defender throughout the entirety of his Astros tenure and is still dominating at SS with 82nd percentile OAA, so why can’t Lee also be that? I don’t think moving Correa to 3B is going to be the difference in him staying healthy or not.
As for Seager, simply going over his injury history would tell you that he would be injury prone regardless of position played and probably even if he DHd. One of his major injuries came when he strained his hamstring running the bases. Tommy John came from throwing the ball (which he would have had to do with more emphasis if he were playing 3B), being HBP, etc.
He’s 45/50 speed depending on the outlet but he’s also 55-65 field with 60 arm depending on the outlet. You don’t necessarily need speed to have great range at SS. Instincts, first step, positioning, and arm can all make up for lack of foot speed.
To be an elite defensive SS you need great speed but you can be kind of slow but still dominate
Brandon and j.p. Crawford are above average (or used to be) defensive shortstops despite not stealing many bags
Correa doesn’t know what a stolen base is, Seager is slow, there are many examples of slow shortstops
Point was still proven either way. You refusing to read the rest of the comment shows you’re not here for discourse so threatening to mute me is silly. Just do it. It’s not like it’s some loss for me lol probably would be better that way actually.
I agree with that. Dansby Swanson is probably the outlier. He’s having a down year defensively but we know who he is and he’s still 94th percentile OAA while barely running above average foot speed.
All I said is he’s built more like a 3b than a shortstop. That’s what I said and it’s true. Sure you can find examples of big guys playing shortstop. But generally speaking that build is one of a 3b. Most importantly the Twins already have a shortstop that’s why he’s going to be playing 3b and perhaps 2b eventually.
I saw him in St Paul a couple weeks back and he’s got shortstop hands and instincts but he’s got a corner body. He’s by all accounts very smart so he can do the Cal Ripkin positioning thing and buy himself some time at the spot, but it really looks more like a 33 year old body than a 23 year old. The solid heavy thighs, not great foot speed, but he does make plays.
Which prospects do you consider overrated?
Royce Lewis just can’t stay healthy and I stopped paying attention if Byron Buxton is on the field. Trainers, strength coaches and nutritionists in the Twins organization should all be canned
“Damn – Royce Lewis is made of glass!”
– Byron Buxton
Buy low. He’s the 13th rated prospect in baseball.
He stays up, if playing well, and when Lewis comes back Martin goes down to AAA or Farmer is let go