The Minnesota Twins moved Brooks Lee from shortstop to third base after optioning Royce Lewis to Triple-A St. Paul on Tuesday, and Lee started back-to-back games at third after sitting two straight contests on the bench.
Lee’s shift is not cosmetic: Minnesota is planning for Lewis to be in the minors for a while and is likely preparing to promote Kaelen Culpepper soon, a change that would put Culpepper at shortstop and Lee at the hot corner. Culpepper, MLB Pipeline’s No. 39 overall prospect, left Friday’s Saints game with a bloody lip but returned to the lineup Saturday, leading off and playing shortstop.
The defensive numbers that pushed this move are stark. At shortstop in 2025 Lee posted -8 Defensive Runs Saved and -1 Outs Above Average. This season he has recorded -7 Defensive Runs Saved and -6 Outs Above Average. Even his time at third base has been uneven: last year Lee posted -6 Defensive Runs Saved and 0 Outs Above Average at the position.
Those figures, and the immediate roster choreography that followed Lewis’s demotion, explain why the Twins are preparing for Culpepper’s arrival rather than forcing Lee to carry the infield. Many Twins fans wanted Culpepper promoted over Orlando Arcia when Minnesota optioned Lewis, and the club has decided Culpepper should receive more playing time in Triple-A before a call up; he has also logged innings at third base this season.
Putting Lee at third with Ryan Kreidler, Tristan Gray and Arcia available to handle shortstop duties creates a different defensive look for Minnesota. The team’s calculation is simple: the infield should be better with Lee at third and the other pieces shuffled up the middle, even though Lee’s numbers at third last year were not strong.
There is real friction in that logic. Lee’s defensive metrics have been negative at both shortstop and third, which raises the question of whether moving him will actually solve the Twins’ defensive problems or merely shift them. Separately, some question whether Culpepper is a long-term shortstop; promoting him now would force the organization to answer that question on a big-league field rather than in Triple-A.
The roster moves already reflect a commitment from Minnesota: Lewis is headed to St. Paul for an extended stay, the Twins want Culpepper to play more in Triple-A, and Lee has to adapt to a new primary position in the majors. If the Twins do promote Culpepper, the club says it plans to use him at shortstop; if they follow that plan, Lee’s role at third will define how much daily infield stability the team actually gains.
Given the evidence on hand, Minnesota’s most likely path is clear. Moving Brooks Lee to third and preparing Culpepper for a promotion to shortstop is the roster shake-up that best fits the club’s stated intentions and the defensive numbers that drove the decision. It is a pragmatic fix — one that accepts short-term uncertainty about both players in exchange for a line-up the front office believes will be more workable defensively.
