Kyler Fedko

The Twins announced that they have selected the contract of outfield prospect Kyler Fedko from Triple-A St. Paul.  Infielder Orlando Arcia was designated for assignment, creating space for Fedko on both the 26-man and 40-man rosters.

Arcia signed a minor league deal with Minnesota in Janury, and his contract was selected to the active roster on May 19 when Royce Lewis was optioned down to Triple-A.  With Lewis now back in the Show for over a week, the Twins will shuffle their position player alignment once more in bringing Fedko up as depth for both the outfield and perhaps in the infield mix.  Fedko has a good deal of experience as a first baseman, and he had his first two professional appearances as a second baseman while playing for St. Paul this year.

A 12th-round pick for the Twins in the 2021 draft, Fedko isn’t ranked by either MLB Pipeline or Baseball America as a top-30 prospect within Minnesota’s farm system.  Nevertheless, Fedko has now earned his first ticket to the majors on the strength of some very impressive hitting numbers over the last two seasons, including a .278/.364/.532 slash line and 23 home runs over 426 Triple-A plate appearances.

The 26-year-old Fedko can play all three outfield positions, and he has 47 stolen bases (out of 59 attempts) over the last two seasons at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.  With a lot of his offensive production coming against southpaws, the right-handed hitting Fedko provides a natural complement to Trevor Larnach or Kody Clemens in the corner outfield slots.  With Fedko now on hand, Clemens might get moved back to more regular infield duty rather than playing on the grass.

Arcia hit .271/.300/.354 over 50 PA for the Twins, which isn’t far off the .240/.292/.369 slash line he has posted over 3587 career PA over 11 Major League seasons.  Formerly a regular with the Brewers and Braves, Arcia’s long career has included a World Series ring with Atlanta in 2021 and an All-Star appearance as recently as 2023, but he is best known as a defensive specialist in his heyday.

Since Arcia has more than enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment, he’ll get to make the next call on his future if he clears waivers.  He can choose to remain with the Twins as a Triple-A depth piece, or elect free agency in lieu of an outright assignment and look for an opportunity elsewhere.  For what it’s worth, Arcia already declined an opt-out opportunity in his minor league deal when he didn’t make Minnesota’s Opening Day roster, so he could be content again to stick with the organization and wait for his next selection.