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Twins Add Another Bullpen Lottery Ticket in Taylor Rashi Trade

Cody Christie

By Cody Christie
in Minnesota Twins Talk

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Cody Christie GOAT

Cody Christie

Twins Daily Contributor
Posted
Posted

The Twins have spent much of the 2026 season searching for answers in the bullpen. On Monday, they added another intriguing arm to the mix, acquiring right-handed reliever Taylor Rashi from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for cash considerations.

Minnesota had room on its 40-man roster after designating outfielder James Outman for assignment over the weekend, making the move relatively simple from a roster-management standpoint. Rashi also has minor league options remaining, giving the Twins flexibility to stash him at Triple-A St. Paul while evaluating whether he can become a contributor at the major league level.

The move fits a familiar pattern. Rather than investing heavily in relief pitching, the Twins have spent the season collecting arms with intriguing traits and hoping one or two emerge as reliable options. Earlier additions such as Yoendrys Gómez and Justin Lawrence followed a similar blueprint. Minnesota's front office has taken a quantity-over-certainty approach after dismantling much of its bullpen depth at last year's trade deadline.

Rashi is the latest name to join that list. At 30 years old, he isn't a traditional prospect, but he has shown enough flashes to warrant attention. Over parts of the last two seasons, Rashi has appeared in 13 major league games, posting a 5.40 ERA while striking out nearly 30% of opposing hitters across 20 innings. The results have been uneven, but the ability to miss bats has remained consistent.

His work at Triple-A Reno this season has been far more impressive. Rashi owns a sparkling 1.03 ERA in 26 1/3 innings while holding opposing hitters in check throughout the year. He has paired that success with a solid 25.5% strikeout rate, though his tendency to issue walks remains a concern after posting a walk rate near 12%.

Those command issues, combined with a lack of overpowering velocity, likely explain why Arizona was willing to part ways with him despite dealing with its own bullpen challenges. Rashi's fastball typically sits around 91 mph, well below the league average for modern relievers. Instead of relying on velocity, he attacks hitters with a deep secondary mix that includes a slider, curveball, and splitter.

For the Twins, the appeal is easy to understand. Minnesota's bullpen has struggled for much of the season and currently ranks among baseball's least effective groups in ERA. While the relief corps has shown improvement during the past month, the underlying numbers still reveal concerns. The Twins continue to battle one of the highest walk rates in the league, creating frequent traffic on the bases and placing additional stress on the pitching staff.

Recent success stories such as Gómez and Anthony Banda have demonstrated that imperfect relievers can still provide value when deployed correctly. The Twins have leaned heavily into matchup-based bullpen management, searching for favorable situations rather than relying on established late-inning options.

Rashi now becomes the newest candidate in that experiment. The acquisition is unlikely to generate headlines, and there is no guarantee he ever throws a meaningful inning at Target Field. However, teams rarely build bullpens through blockbuster moves alone. Sometimes a successful relief unit is assembled through a series of small transactions that uncover unexpected contributors.

The Twins are hoping Rashi becomes the next name on that list.

 


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CoachDW Prep Ball

CoachDW

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Wash, rinse, repeat...

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

 

h2oface Wichita Wind Surge

h2oface

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

They keep grabbing guys, that if they were already in St Paul, they wouldn’t even think of rostering him. But this stranger at least has a good recent AAA stat line, even with lower velocity. 

Cris E Draft Eligible

Cris E

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, CoachDW said:

Wash, rinse, repeat...

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

 

OK two things:

1. You're a bad person for doing that. And you skipped over them picking up Yoendrys Gómez; it's not all bad, it's somehow worse when there's a 1% chance of being Brock Stewart.

2. You seem to be confusing different metaphors that come on rolls. You typed Lottery Ticket but may have meant TP. 

DocBauer All-Star

DocBauer

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

A poorer version of Laweryson?

This one confuses me, unless it's for AAA depth, but I guess he's already on the 40 man.

I sorta get the idea of Klein bouncing around between AAA and the Twins, just to keep him stretched out for multiple innings, but where does it stop? Morris has been given a chance to be a late inning option and has started to show real promise there. (I still think him starting a BP game recently was a bad choice). But Klein, similar to Morris, and BOTH remind me of better versions of Jax at the same point in development. They have the stuff to be set up men, or quality 1-2 middle relievers at worst. 

Rashi will be around for a week or two. Laweryson is probably better once he gets another inning or two under his belt. There's really nothing to see here.

BillyBallLives College Ball

BillyBallLives

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, Cris E said:

OK two things:

1. You're a bad person for doing that. And you skipped over them picking up Yoendrys Gómez;

He included the Gomez pickup.......May 6th is in the list.   I think the point is how flawed the overall process is. Even a broken watch is right twice a day. That's the process the Twins are taking in building a bull pen.

bean5302 Cedar Rapids Kernels

bean5302

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

I think my topic on this was more accurate (subject line wise), though this thread could be saved by changing it from "lottery ticket" to "$1 scratch off ticket"

 

jaimedude First Round Pick

jaimedude

Verified Member
Posted
Posted

Time to cut Lawrence, bring up a triple AAA pitcher. Saints took Culpepper out in the 5th inning tonight. Wonder if he is being called up to the show. DFA'ing Lawrenc seems like a no-brainer decision after today's game. Wonder if Twins will option Keaschall or cut one of the three Utility players?. 

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