As Twins Bullpen Struggles, Louis Varland Is Unlocking Another Level in Toronto

[bunsen82]

First off Varland is the 1 trade I have consistently said I wish we wouldn't have done.  He could have been the closer we needed.  

However lets look at the big picture.   Last year he was a 0 WAR after the trade deadline.  With a good month he has a .9 WAR.  We received 2 decent prospects an outfielder that shows some decent bat skills,  ok defense,  but is now on his 2nd minor injury stint since being with the Twins.  Rojas - has some real talent.   This trade as it stands now still slightly favors the Twins.  However had Varland remained on the Twins last year, I don't think its inconceivable we win 4-6 more games and we likely aren't picking 3 in this draft.  All of this ties together.   

If Varland was in this bullpen he would really solidify it.  We don't have that 1 shut down guy we need.   

[Doctor Gast]

I'm a big Louie Varland fan, even when everyone was down on him. I knew he'd be very good in the pen & didn't understand the Twins keeping him in AAA wasting his bullets trying to force him to be a starter (starting out in the pen doesn't mean you can't graduate from there). Being a Minnesotan added to his fan value, so why alienate the fan base? I didn't get the trade because Varland was so valuable to the Twins for the center of the trade Rodon (like we really needed another LH  cOFer) & unproven Rojas. Just on face value, IMO, we lost the trade. You could debate & say it was a fair trade but for an impact arm at the deadline, you need to kill the trade. We didn't come close. They wanted to hold on to Jax instead, but he wanted out, so they got Bradley (IMO, the best sell-off trade).

Our greatest need is a RH closer; Varland would have been the difference in lost games. His presence could have staved off many of our steady slumps.

 

[Otto von Ballpark]

Would the Twins have been better served by trading Glen Perkins in 2011?

In 2011, Perkins was a local boy experiencing his big league breakout in his first full relief season while his team sat around 6 games under .500 in late July, just like Varland in 2025. Both turned 28 those years, and although Perkins only had two years of club control remaining versus Varland's five, Varland is expected to have four years of arbitration eligibility and Perk ultimately gave up his first two free agent years in a modest extension that offseason.

Perkins was very good for the Twins the next few years, becoming an all-star and marketable leader, although the Twins somewhat predictably failed to return to contention. We finally snuck in a wild-card chase just as Perkins began losing his effectiveness in the second half of 2015.

It's often said that it's better to trade a player too early rather than too late, and the Twins appear to have taken that approach with Varland.

[Doctor Gast]

40 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I'm a big Louie Varland fan, even when everyone was down on him. I knew he'd be very good in the pen & didn't understand the Twins keeping him in AAA wasting his bullets trying to force him to be a starter (starting out in the pen doesn't mean you can't graduate from there). Being a Minnesotan added to his fan value, so why alienate the fan base? I didn't get the trade because Varland was so valuable to the Twins for the center of the trade Rodon (like we really needed another LH  cOFer) & unproven Rojas. Just on face value, IMO, we lost the trade. You could debate & say it was a fair trade but for an impact arm at the deadline, you need to kill the trade. We didn't come close. They wanted to hold on to Jax instead, but he wanted out, so they got Bradley (IMO, the best sell-off trade).

Our greatest need is a RH closer; Varland would have been the difference in lost games. His presence could have staved off many of our steady slumps.

 

Varland's dream was to pitch for his Twins. His heart was to win games for them. It broke my heart to see him crushed after he was surprised that he was traded. Heart isn't on the spreadsheet, so it's not appreciated.

[soyouresayingtheresachance]

As other have said, the Varland trade is the one I disliked the most. He was breaking out as dominant here. With him, maybe, just maybe we are able to close out some of these games the bullpen has lost for us. In theory, his success and energy could have potentially elevated the performance of some of the other guys as they feed off each other. 

Acquiring Roden made zero sense at all and mostly due to injuries, his performance has made this trade seem worse. At this point, we need Rojas to be a very high end starter just to come close to evening this trade out. 

[killercarewoliva]

7 hours ago, Bangkok Twins Fan said:

Yeah, Varland is looking lights out in Toronto thus far this season. Sigh. I didn't like that trade at that time (most of those trades the Twins made last year I was fine with, but I hated the Varland trade) and now I like it less, obviously. Sure, Rojas may  turn into a very good MLB pitcher, and perhaps Roden can stay healthy and become productive too, but man, I sure wish we had held onto Varland. 

with the others they went before him and was like 5 seconds left. they took away their only chance they have some kind of relief pitching this year, especially at the end of the game. if we can actually hold a lead. The guy's a superstar oh we love Louie but we couldn't pass this up. well you sure should have. now we have no full pen. we have no chance for a winning team and the starter should all want out. we can't get a win because nobody can keep the runs from coming across once the starter leaves. this is ridiculous. twins fan nearly 60 years. never seen anything this stupid.

[Twins_Fan_in_NJ]

Let's see what happens with Roden and Rojas. Maybe the Twins wind up 'winning' the trade one day in the future. But, for the present, it was a terrible trade and Lou is the exact kind of player that rebuilding teams try to keep. It didn't make sense when it happened and makes even less sense when you consider how they handled the bullpen this off-season.

[Taildragger8791]

1 hour ago, bunsen82 said:

First off Varland is the 1 trade I have consistently said I wish we wouldn't have done.  He could have been the closer we needed.  

However lets look at the big picture.   Last year he was a 0 WAR after the trade deadline.  With a good month he has a .9 WAR.  We received 2 decent prospects an outfielder that shows some decent bat skills,  ok defense,  but is now on his 2nd minor injury stint since being with the Twins.  Rojas - has some real talent.   This trade as it stands now still slightly favors the Twins.  However had Varland remained on the Twins last year, I don't think its inconceivable we win 4-6 more games and we likely aren't picking 3 in this draft.  All of this ties together.   

If Varland was in this bullpen he would really solidify it.  We don't have that 1 shut down guy we need.   

I don't think you can say it favors the Twins until players that result from the trade actually perform at the big league level. 4-5 years of team control on a cheap, solid, young reliever is pretty valuable and they didn't get that much in return. If they'd held him for a year and he took off like this they'd have gotten a Duran-like return instead. Or they'd have won 3 more games this year and be in better shape for a competitive rebuild. Either way it was a poor use of resources to throw Varland into the firesale.

[bunsen82]

3 minutes ago, Taildragger8791 said:

I don't think you can say it favors the Twins until players that result from the trade actually perform at the big league level. 4-5 years of team control on a cheap, solid, young reliever is pretty valuable and they didn't get that much in return. If they'd held him for a year and he took off like this they'd have gotten a Duran-like return instead. Or they'd have won 3 more games this year and be in better shape for a competitive rebuild. Either way it was a poor use of resources to throw Varland into the firesale.

I've always said the firesale was to ensure a higher draft pick.   

[USAFChief]

7 minutes ago, bunsen82 said:

I've always said the firesale was to ensure a higher draft pick.   

Good lord let's hope not. 

Surely no front office could be that idiotic.