With the depth of the Twins system, they will have several players that need to be put on the 40 man roster this winter to avoid the rule 5 draft. Are there so many that the Twins should consider trading some of them this summer? How many spots will reasonably be available this winter?

With the DFA of Tim Stauffer, the Twins currently have 40 men on their 40 man roster. There is one spot available as Ervin Santana will not count until he return in July.

The Twins will have some players entering free agency following the season. Those spots will be open. Those players include

Torii Hunter

Blaine Boyer

Mike Pelfrey

Brian Duensing

Any of those players can be replaced. The Twins should not feel the urgency to extend them this summer. They might consider trading them for whatever the market will return. That is 4 spots.

The remaining 36 are under team control in some form or another. Some will be eligible for arbitration. The Twins may elect not to take them to arbitration.

Trevor Plouffe

Jordan Schafer

Tommy Milone

Shane Robinson

Eduardo Nunez

Casey Fien

Eduardo Escobar

I would think that Plouffe, Fien and Escobar would be offered arbitration. If Milone isn't traded, he may also be offered arbitration. I would think Schafer, Robinson and Nunez can be replaced.

Adding those three that is 7 spots

The Twins have some players on the 40 man roster that might be considered close to replacement level. They include

A.J. Achter

Logan Darnell

J.R. Graham

Ryan Pressly

Caleb Thielbar

Aaron Thompson

Michael Tonkin

Jason Wheeler

Chris Herrmann

Josmil Pinto

Doug Bernier

Aaron Hicks

Darnell and Wheeler are lefthanded and may not make it through rule 5 but have little upside. The Twins really need to see what they have in Achter, Thielbar and Tonkin this season. At their age, if they don't feel Achter and Thielbar are worth a long look on the roster, they probably feel like they can be replaced. Pinto now has red flags due to concussions. If he can't catch does he have a spot? Among this list, I think Graham, Pressly, Tonkin, Pinto and Hicks are safe. The rest can be thrown with the group that will need to be put on the 40.

That is 7 more spots for a total of 14.

You could probably add Suzuki, Mauer and Nolasco to the performing near replacement level list but they have too much money tied into their contract. The Twins could free up a spot if they found a way to dump their contracts.

There are two players that don't need to be added to the 40 until the following year, but could get called to the majors in 2015. Buxton and Berrios. They would not be a good candidate for a September call up because of the 40 man status. The only reason to call them up would be to help the team soon. I think they will call up Buxton. With Ervin Santana's return, I don't think we will see Berrios until 2016.

13 spots

These are the players will be eligible for the rule 5 draft if they are not put on the 40.

Bard, Luke

Baxendale, D.J.

Duffey, Tyler

Haar, Bryan

Harrison, Travis

Hicks, Dalton

Jones, Zack

Melotakis, Mason

Muren, Alexander

Polanco, Joel

Rogers, Taylor

Valera, Rafael

Vielma, Engelb

Wade, Logan

Walker, Adam

Michael, Levi

Johnson, Cole

Goodrum, Niko

13 spots for those and players above not yet added.

I think adding Baxendale, Duffey, Harrison, Jones, Rogers and Walker are givens.

7 spots

Achter, Thielbar and Herrman should be safe.

4 spots

In summary...

Hunter, Pelfey, Boyer, Duensing, Schafer, Robinson, Nunez, Darnell, Thompson, Wheeler and Bernier were removed

Buxton, Baxendale, Duffey, Harrison, Jones, Rogers and Walker were added

There are 4 more spots. Are there more than 4 players that urgently need to be added? Do the Twins need to trade away prospects due to 40 man roster decision this winter?

Note: Thanks to TD and the organizational report. It is very likely I missed something or someone in doing this article. Any help would be appreciated.

Edit: Schafer released. Buxton added to 40. Bernier removed. Fryer added. I would remove Fryer at end of season.