February 26, 2021 11:57 AM : Kiriloff appears set to have a legitimate shot to compete for an Opening Day roster spot, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.
Analysis: Teams typically hold their top prospects down for the first few weeks of the season to steal an extra year of service time, prioritizing their future balance sheet over their present win total, though that's not quite a universal practice. The Twins are saying all the right things about trying to win, suggesting Kiriloff could get a shot to break camp with the team. Of course, Kiriloff has to prove this spring that he does indeed give the team the best shot at winning, something that shouldn't be hard to do when the top alternative in left field is someone who fits best in a bench role like Jake Cave. Kiriloff has yet to play a regular-season game above Double-A, but he made his big-league debut in the postseason last year, which couldn't be a much clearer sign that the team views him as one of its best 26 players.