Should the Twins Try Their Own Bullpen Brother Act?

[Ted Schwerzler]

When the Minnesota Twins entered this offseason, they knew there were a few critical areas to improve the roster. Much of the bullpen is expected to carry over from last season, but they need reinforcement there. Why not start with a familiar name?

Image courtesy of © Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

It's a familiar surname, anyway: Gus Varland is the older brother of Twins pitcher Louie Varland. The pair are Minnesota natives who played collegiate baseball for highly respected Team USA coach Mark McKenzie. Thinking Varland could be available doesn’t take too much of a leap either, and the Los Angeles Dodgers may find something usable from Minnesota’s farm system.

The Dodgers left the elder Varland unprotected for the Rule 5 Draft a season ago. He was a 14th-round pick by the Oakland Athletics during the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft and reached Double A for Los Angeles in 2022. Having transitioned from a starter to a reliever, Varland saw a big jump in his strikeout rates, but was held back by walks and the long ball.

Despite some questions about how it would work, the Milwaukee Brewers took Varland in the Rule 5 Draft, and he made their 2023 Opening Day roster. Working just 8 2/3 innings for the Brewers while dealing with some injury concerns, he allowed 11 earned runs and tallied a 6-to-8 (not a misprint) strikeout-to-walk ratio. Ultimately, Varland returned to the Dodgers and resurfaced for 11 2/3 innings at the major-league level, in which he allowed just four earned runs and had 14 strikeouts against eight walks.

Varland is still far from a polished product, but his work at Triple-A Oklahoma City makes him intriguing for the Twins. Across 33 1/3 innings of work in the Pacific Coast League last season, he tallied a sparkling 2.16 ERA. The strikeout stuff has been there for the duration of his time as a reliever, and he also started to turn a corner when it came to command.

Now 27 years old, Varland still has three minor-league options available, but he would need to be added to the Twins' 40-man roster. They can make room, and the bullpen could reflect something that the San Francisco Giants have done by employing both Taylor Rogers and Tyler Rogers. Minnesota has already worked through a transition of Louie to relief, and although that may not stick for 2024, he has flashed triple-digit heat that made him a real weapon down the stretch.

Gus is not the same pitcher as his brother, but allowing the Twins to work with his stuff could unlock another level in his game. At the big-league level last year, Varland averaged 95.8 mph on his fastball, while mixing in a changeup and a slider. The Twins have long fancied that pitch mix, and Louie also found himself adding a cutter out of the bullpen.

Suppose Rocco Baldelli will be given additional arms for the bullpen beyond those already established. In that case, the expectation should be for them to be low-level additions or minor-league deals. Minnesota could again find a diamond in the rough, as they did with Brock Stewart last year, but the acquisition cost for Varland shouldn’t be substantial either. He could immediately be placed in low-leverage spots with an ability to work extra innings as Cole Sands was asked to do starting out the 2023 season.

Derek Falvey may determine that the bullpen is set and the blueprint already constructed is the way they want to go. That said, pairing the Varland brothers is appealing, if the Twins want to get creative and try to grab someone with stuff to work with.

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[Karbo]

They better get more pen help. Depending on cost, I think getting big brother would be a gamble worth taking!

[mickster]

And leave Louie in the 'pen.  I understand he prefers to start, but his career path for success is in the bullpen. Just ask Glen Perkins

[old nurse]

It would depend on what the Dodgers have in their system for relievers they can shuttle and develop. If the answer is not many then the price would be too high. If it is fairly full it would still take a decent prospect. It is a step above looking through the available AAA, AAAA  pitchers that are available that still have options. Not much of a one. 

[JD-TWINS]

No opposition to this - seems like anybody that throws 95.8MPH on average with 3 options left could/would/should be a value to support the bullpen depth!

Not sure why Dodgers would move him?

[Ted Schwerzler]

4 hours ago, mickster said:

And leave Louie in the 'pen.  I understand he prefers to start, but his career path for success is in the bullpen. Just ask Glen Perkins

Strong agree here

[Ted Schwerzler]

4 hours ago, old nurse said:

It would depend on what the Dodgers have in their system for relievers they can shuttle and develop. If the answer is not many then the price would be too high. If it is fairly full it would still take a decent prospect. It is a step above looking through the available AAA, AAAA  pitchers that are available that still have options. Not much of a one. 

They left him Rule 5 eligible last year and just traded two 40 Man guys just to clear space for Ohtani/Kelly

[Ted Schwerzler]

3 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

No opposition to this - seems like anybody that throws 95.8MPH on average with 3 options left could/would/should be a value to support the bullpen depth!

Not sure why Dodgers would move him?

They already let the Brewers take him in the Rule 5 a year ago.

[ashbury]

1 hour ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

They already let the Brewers take him in the Rule 5 a year ago.

Judging by his 2023 game log on b-r.com, the Dodgers also didn't trust him in high-leverage situations - lots of middle innings in games that weren't close.  The one high-leverage outing was in the 11th inning, and he allowed the game-losing run, albeit unearned.

At age 27, unless the Twin think Pete Maki is capable of suggesting a tweak that the Dodgers overlooked, Louie's older brother doesn't look like any kind of sure contributor.

It's a nice thought.  Next?

[Rod Carews Birthday]

For the right (low low) price, sure.  It would be a flyer on a potentially useful piece.  Low risk.  I wouldn't trade anything more than a flyer back for him. 

[DocBauer]

3 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

Strong agree here

Really? 

I think he could be a really, really good RP. But I also think he could be a really good mid rotation starter as well.

Just because he looked good in a few BP appearances, we want to put him in the pen this soon?

Look, I'm all about using your assets. But the 2 time milb pitcher of the year had a nice 2022 audition. He was very solid his first 6 games or so in 2023...he had an outstanding game against the Astros in late May...before the wheels came off a bit.

So we automatically want him in the pen because he might be great there?

I AGREE he might be outstanding in the pen. I just keep being frustrated that a kid who might be a legitimate #3 starter should be thrust in to the pen already. 

Again. I believe in building the best EVERYTHING from lineup, rotation, AND pen, but should we really move a kid with solid rotation ability to the pen this soon? 

[DocBauer]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

Judging by his 2023 game log on b-r.com, the Dodgers also didn't trust him in high-leverage situations - lots of middle innings in games that weren't close.  The one high-leverage outing was in the 11th inning, and he allowed the game-losing run, albeit unearned.

At age 27, unless the Twin think Pete Maki is capable of suggesting a tweak that the Dodgers overlooked, Louie's older brother doesn't look like any kind of sure contributor.

It's a nice thought.  Next?

 

3 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

They already let the Brewers take him in the Rule 5 a year ago.

So maybe he's a flier they pick up when rosters get set after ST. 

Worth looking at. No offense to the Varland family 

He might turn out great brought on board. But he's not his brother.

A flier to watch for.

 

[Fatbat]

It cant hurt to have another arm in the pen. Also seems like Lou is gonna get a chance to start. He can always be moved to the pen if starting doesn’t work out. 

[Althebum82]

Lovely sentimental hometown idea.  Really, it is.  If you can't have Taylor and Tyler (real twins, by the way)....what the heck.  Guess this is the next best thing.

It is interesting that LA apparently had regrets about letting Gus get away, though.  That leads one to believe that they may be a little unwilling to part with him a second time so easily.  Apparently they are looking for starting pitching:  Dodgers' remaining needs after Shohei Ohtani deal (mlb.com)  

By the way, this has once again become a need for the Twins as well.  The closest thing that they may have to offer is Headrick?  He did have twelve starts in Saint Paul last year and has historically been a starter before his utilization change at the big league level.

LA may be open to that exchange, but I don't at this point think it would in the Twins best interest.  

I am not willing to part yet with Sands, and LA is not likely going to want to invest in him as a starting option anyway after having only bullpen experiences in 2023.

Great idea for an article, though!

[old nurse]

12 hours ago, Ted Schwerzler said:

They left him Rule 5 eligible last year and just traded two 40 Man guys just to clear space for Ohtani/Kelly

What they did last year with Varland really has no bearing as they did move him to the 40 man roster Yes the Dodgers made the trade of 2 players off the 40 man roster for 1 that does not need to be on the 40 man. In that process they traded a reliever. That does not necessarily mean they have more they want to move on from.  They also just turned a reliever that appears to not be a late innings pitcher and a low ranked AA prospect who was on the 40 man into a higher ranked prospect.  It would not be unreasonable to think they would want to do the same with Gus Is he worth that kind of capital? Your own statements would say not. 

[Paul Walerius]

20 hours ago, mickster said:

And leave Louie in the 'pen.  I understand he prefers to start, but his career path for success is in the bullpen. Just ask Glen Perkins

I agree, as a starter Louie wasn't great IMO, wasn't bad either.  But in pen he was very good.   Lopez, Ryan, Ober and Paddock is a good start for rotation.   Go get one more good arm and they are set.   

[jmlease1]

He's the sort of player that's worth taking a flyer on to see if you can unlock something through coaching/refinement. he's not the sort of player that's worth spending trade capital on. No offense to the Varland family or anything, but Gus is in the throw-in territory for a bigger trade.

Twins are going to need someone to fill that middle relief role where they can make 50-60 appearances and throw 60-70 innings. Is Gus Varland better than Balazovic, Sands, or Winder? That's where we're looking.

Bullpen right now looks like: Duran, Thielbar, Jax, Stewart, Alcala, Balazovic, Funderburk, and Winder. I think the Twins will try to find another guy by bringing in someone to compete for one of those middle relief roles with Balazovic and Winder (If Alcala is healthy, he's going to get a shot and Funderburk showed enough last season to be in the bullpen as a second lefty). I'd love for there to be one more righty in the 'pen that is more than a middle/long relief guy from day one to keep Stewart and Jax (especially Jax) from getting overworked, but it's also not where I would put significant resources.

[Blyleven2011]

13 hours ago, DocBauer said:

 

So maybe he's a flier they pick up when rosters get set after ST. 

Worth looking at. No offense to the Varland family 

He might turn out great brought on board. But he's not his brother.

A flier to watch for.

 

I'll agree , he's a flier to watch and the dodgers could dfa him in spring training to make room on their 40 man roster ...

 

[KBJ1]

We need a proven reliever like Devin Williams, not some flyer.

[specialiststeve]

5 hours ago, KBJ1 said:

We need a proven reliever like Devin Williams, not some flyer.

Overpaying for someone like Williams with the quality arms we have not would not be very smart. We would need to give up an A list type prospect at a minimum... no thanks. 

Cantarino has great stuff but like others doesn't seem to have the stuff physically to be a starter so I would expect he be on the relief staff..

There are a ton of relief arms to pick up. 

[nicksaviking]

I'm not a big fan of grabbing local guys just because they're local guys as they seem to get a longer rope. There has to be a few dozen arms just like him they could speculate on without having to wait on the Dodgers to release him.