How Does A.J. Minter Slot into Minnesota’s Late-Inning Bullpen Mix?

[DJL44]

52 games left on the schedule. Minter could provide 20-25 innings and an extra win compared to using Taylor Rogers for those situations.

[strumdatjag]

5 hours ago, mickster said:

Fundy should go down for now.   Get Hancock on board with the offer of ERod, Martin and Wallner.   Hopefully they bite at this and then Zebby to pen.

If a lefty is dropped, it’s probably Taylor Rogers.    Fundy has been more effective overall and Kendry Rojas is also going to provide help in the pen from the left side in the playoffs (if the Twins make it) 

[Road trip]

5 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

To me, Anderson has looked really good - not sure what his achilles might be?

 

Well, his fastball averages a mere 90mph.  That is Bailey Ober-level-slow, but he isn't a starter.  For a non-lefty, non-submarine-throwing reliever, it is almost so slow as to be without a comp in 2026 MLB baseball.

That doesn't mean that Anderson can't be effective, but it's somewhat unlikely over the long term.  He would be an extreme outlier.

[Cris E]

Those are some funky numbers for Anderson. But hey, good news, with pitches in the 80mph range those exit velo numbers are going to stay low too. And check out those Chase numbers!

Seriously, this is maybe not sustainable, but like Ober his well-executed Jamie Moyer impression might be unique enough to sneak by for a few months. However in the playoffs the bar is raised and better teams with a bye week are going to spend some time preparing for these guys and it could get rough. More room for error at 97+.

[Cris E]

33 minutes ago, strumdatjag said:

If a lefty is dropped, it’s probably Taylor Rogers.    Fundy has been more effective overall and Kendry Rojas is also going to provide help in the pen from the left side in the playoffs (if the Twins make it) 

I don't know, Rogers hasn't been bad with the walks the way Funderburk has. I think limiting the free  passes is sort of required to be a serious team. 

[Linus]

For me, they can’t send Fundy down fast enough. Me no likely relievers with a 1.5+ whip. 

[twinfan]

You can easily look at this as getting an experienced reliever for a pair of non-prospects. However I don't see this moving the needle much. Rogers is just as good and has been pitching better of late. It can't hurt and we'll probably lose him after the season but I'd like the team to do more- especially on offense with a rh bat which is what we need most. I'd also like to see us bring up a minor leaguer or 2 who can hit lefties. 

[IndianaTwin]

6 hours ago, DocBauer said:

I'm a little down on moving Amick. Still only his 2nd full season and a former 2nd rounder. He's shown he can make contact and hit without much power, and he's shown he can make poor contact with a lot of power. If he can put together bits of both the Mets might have a .240-.250 hitter with potential 30HR power. Still, he's not a primary prospect and he's behind a lot of other good bats. I like that the Twins seemingly didn't haggle over $, thus keeping the prospect cost down.

Minter basically replaces Banda. I like that. Rogers now goes back to the "Coulombe" role of 1 out or 1 inning in the middle portion of the game. I like that too. It deepens the entire pen.

I don't mind Nance as the 5th or 6th man in the pen, but that only happens with another addition, which I expect happens soon. I wouldn't mind if it was someone who had another season or two of control, but that also costs more to acquire. And that's fine if it happens. But I keep thinking back to Sergio Romo in 2019. He didn't cost much, still had some decent stuff, had tons of experience, and was brought back to help in 2020. Nothing says rentals can't be brought back next season if they're a good fit.

Banda is still under team control and can reclaim his spot in 2027. Minter back, replacing Rogers, in that middle innings role sounds intriguing to me.

But someone better than Nance not only deepens the pen, but maybe takes a little pressure off Morris and Gomez.

Not sure who goes though. Fundy has been much better lately, but do we need a 3rd LH? Adams has been the best I've ever seen him as if late, but is it for real? And while it's been SSSS, I like the couple of times I've watched Anderson throw.

We aren't where we need to be, but we're also miles from where we started. 

Yep -- I've posted several times I'm hoping for a couple Romo for Diaz-level trades. And yes to the possibility of bringing Minter back if things go smoothly.