After revolving door weekend, Twins still have a question at shortstop

FORT MYERS, FLA. – The Twins had a solid starting shortstop for fewer than 24 hours with Isiah Kiner-Falefa going through a revolving door — acquired from Texas on Saturday, traded to the Yankees on Sunday.

So who will play short?

While there are almost surely more moves to come, manager Rocco Baldelli said the position at this moment will be a mix of Jorge Polanco and Gio Urshela, with younger guys like Nick Gordon also in the picture.

"We have multiple options," Baldelli said. "We're going to take a look at them this spring, too, and let them get their work in and see how everything shakes out there."

Polanco played shortstop before moving to second base when Andrelton Simmons was signed last season; but after a string of seasons hampered because of ankle injuries, Polanco finally found momentum in 2021 on defense and at the plate, hitting .269 with 33 home runs and 98 RBI. He said he is fine with either position.

Regardless of where he plays, it's still unclear whom he will be turning double plays with once the season starts. He never even had a chance to meet Kiner-Falefa, let alone work with him, before he departed.

"We've just got to wait and see who's going to start from now, and we go from there," Polanco said. "… I don't think it takes long to build chemistry."

Players aren't the only things coming in and out of the Twins' clubhouse. Beards are also on the move.

The Yankees have a policy of not allowing players, coaches or staff to have any facial hair except mustaches or long hair past their collar. Kiner-Falefa posted Instagram videos of him shaving off his beard. Donaldson showed up to his first day as a Yankee nearly unrecognizable with his clean-shaven face.

The new Twins who are ex-Yankees — Urshela and Gary Sanchez — didn't quite grow a full beard overnight, but they do have the autonomy to if they could. Baldelli, for instance, hasn't been without his beard for something like six to eight years, he said.

Urshela said he doesn't really like himself with a beard, so he'll stay fresh-faced. Sanchez, though, is ready to change up his appearance after 6 1/2 years in New York.

"I'm going to let it grow," he said in Spanish through an interpreter. "I'm kind of a little upset that I shaved [Sunday], and now I'm here."

Perhaps the player most unaffected by MLB's 99-day lockout was Kenta Maeda, whose career is on hold after he underwent elbow surgery in September. The Twins introduced Maeda to a rehab trainer near his Los Angeles home before the lockout began, so the veteran righthander simply kept working with him when the team cut off communications.

Maeda said the new ligament in his right elbow is healing as scheduled, and he's getting excited about his progress. "I'm really happy that there's no pain in the elbow," he said through interpreter Daichi Sekizaki. "That's a really great feeling."

Maeda is careful not to make any promises about returning to a major league mound this season.

"Obviously, I'd like to be able to pitch, but I know [rushing back] isn't a thing I should do. So we'll see where the rehab process takes me, and if it turns out I can't, I won't be too upset. I know the whole process," said Maeda, the Twins' Opening Day starter last spring. "Even if [an early return] is possible, it would be toward the end of the season."

The only players who have yet to check in and go through their physicals are pitchers Juan Minaya and Sonny Gray. The Twins anticipated Minaya's delay with some travel/visa holdups. Gray should be at camp Tuesday morning after his trade from Cincinnati.

Staff writer Phil Miller contributed to this notebook.