The Twins’ Deadline Additions Have Made an Immediate Impact

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

It’s been almost three weeks since the 2026 MLB trade deadline, and the Twins have already gotten plenty of production from the four pitchers they added in an effort to make a run at October baseball. Minnesota added three relievers (left-hander A.J. Minter and right-handers Tommy Nance and Jeff Hoffman), while also bringing in right-handed starter Dean Kremer. None of the four were household names, but all of them have made notable impacts since arriving in Minnesota. The pitching staff has looked sharp since the deadline, and that’s not a coincidence.

Let's start with Kremer. Aside from his sixth inning against the Phillies, he’s been lights out. Over three starts with the Twins, Kremer is sporting a 3.12 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP across 17 1/3 innings. He’s allowed just nine hits and five walks, while striking out 15 batters. Of the six runs he’s given up as a Twin, four came in that sixth inning against Philadelphia on Sunday. Outside of that one frame, Kremer has been darn good, and arguably, he should have been out of there before some of the damage he absorbed.

Part of that success can be attributed to a slight adjustment he’s made since joining the Twins. Kremer has raised his arm angle slightly, allowing him to get more ride on his fastball, and his splitter has been playing beautifully off of it. His cutter has also been effective. In Sunday’s start against Philadelphia, the pitch generated six whiffs on seven swings, giving Kremer multiple pitches that are playing at a high level. Considering the Twins were looking for another reliable starter to stabilize the rotation, they have to be pretty pleased with what they’ve gotten from Kremer so far.

As for the bullpen additions, let’s start with the first of the trio: Nance. Nance was kind of the first move of the deadline, as the Twins acquired him on July 10, a little under a month ahead of time. Like Kremer, he’s performed extremely well since arriving in Minnesota. Over 13 1/3 innings as a Twin, Nance has allowed just two runs. He’s given up 12 hits and five walks, while punching out 16 batters.

That strikeout production is particularly notable, because Nance’s strikeout rate has jumped nearly five percentage points compared to his time in Toronto. His slider, which has been his primary pitch both in terms of usage and in generating swing-and-miss, has played up since joining the Twins. In his most recent outing on Wednesday, Nance generated six whiffs on 16 pitches. He’s been a monster. In fact, I’d argue Nance has been better than his former (and now current, again) teammate, Hoffman.

Hoffman has been good since arriving in Minnesota. He’s allowed just a pair of runs over seven innings, while striking out 10 batters. But some of the same issues he had in Toronto have followed him to Minnesota. Hoffman has issued six walks, an 18.2% walk rate. I think that’s a big part of the reason Derek Shelton has used him the way he has. Hoffman has primarily been a seventh-inning arm for the Twins since arriving in Minnesota. Because of his swing-and-miss ability, he’s someone you want to utilize late in games, but the consistency you crave from such a pitcher hasn’t been there.

As far as pure stuff goes, the Twins don’t have anyone who can compare to Hoffman. His ability to miss bats is impressive, and when everything is working, he looks like a dominant late-inning reliever. But there’s a reason Louis Varland took over his closer role in Toronto, and there’s a reason Hoffman’s ERA and underlying data don’t always line up. 

Last but not least, there’s Minter. Minter had been extremely productive in New York before the deadline, and that hasn’t changed a bit since coming to Minnesota. Over 10 appearances with the Twins, Minter has allowed just one run in 8 2/3 innings. He’s given up only five hits and two walks while striking out five batters. While his strikeout rate is down, he’s made up for the lack of whiffs with extremely impressive contact quality.

There have been 26 balls put in play against him. Minter’s opponents' average exit velocity is just 81.5 MPH. Only five of those balls have been hard-hit. The Twins didn’t trade for Minter to be a swing-and-miss machine. They traded for a consistent, reliable left-handed option. That’s exactly what he’s been.

While none of the four pitchers the Twins acquired were flashy additions, they’ve all done their jobs. Fresh off a sweep of the Braves, Minnesota currently holds the final American League Wild Card spot. If the Twins are going to make a legitimate run at October baseball, they’ll need that pitching staff to continue performing at a high level. Based on what these four additions have done so far, there’s plenty of reason to believe they can.

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[LA Vikes Fan]

Wow, we actually have a lights out bullpen now. One where if we can get a lead after 6 innings, you feel like we should win 80-90% of the time. All without giving up a lot other than Dasan Hill (that may bite us later). Actually, pretty impressive work by the FO. 

[SE23]

Honestly, it's hard NOT to be optimistic about Twins' pitching going into 2027. If Pablo and our other injured pitchers are healthy by spring, and a few of the younger guys mature as they could, our pitchers will keep us in a LOT of games next year. The bats and the defense that will be the decisive factors, IMHO.

[GNess]

Yes, the post deadline bullpen is doing great. I'd sure like to see the Twins invest more in. the BP in the offseason. There is a decent core already in place for 2027 - Gomez, Hoffman, Morris, Funderburk, Nance.

[90stwinskid]

I'm not sure I would describe our bullpen as "lockdown," but they have certainly gotten the job done. It's also allowed Shelton to pull starters before their 3rd time through, potentially saving them from more meltdowns (especially during the Braves series). 

For once, we have reasons to be optimistic about our pitching staff -- and that feels really good.

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

Minter isn’t flashy but gets the job done. I would love to sign him to a 1 or 2 year contract.  

[AlLagoon]

Pete Maki, Luis Ramirez, and Latroy Hawkins seem to find tweaks to make these guys better, consistently.

Our pitching coaches deserve a lot of credit.

[IndianaTwin]

2 hours ago, GNess said:

Yes, the post deadline bullpen is doing great. I'd sure like to see the Twins invest more in. the BP in the offseason. There is a decent core already in place for 2027 - Gomez, Hoffman, Morris, Funderburk, Nance.

I’d add Banda. 

[IndianaTwin]

50 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

Minter isn’t flashy but gets the job done. I would love to sign him to a 1 or 2 year contract.  

He’s been on my wish list for several years. 

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

3 minutes ago, IndianaTwin said:

I’d add Banda. 

I’d add Jack Anderson as one of your last 2 spots. 

[IndianaTwin]

4 minutes ago, Hawkeye Bean Counter said:

I’d add Jack Anderson as one of your last 2 spots. 

In various posts, I’ve suggested that this year’s task for the bullpen was to “sift and sort,” churning through guys with the goal of identifying at least one player per month that they can go into the offseason feeling good about. They sped up the process with some trades that appear to be working well, but if we consider Gomez, Hoffman, Morris, Funderburk, Nance, Banda and Anderson, that’s ahead of pace.

That also doesn’t include some of the young ‘tweeners who will be Nos. 9 or 10 in the starting pitching derby and switched to the pen. There’s also guys like Sands and Paredes.

And then we do a similar exercise with the rotation…

Me likey where the pitching staff is at come November.

 

[USAFChief]

Careful. There's a group here awfully ticked off they didn't get their wish for a deadline sell-off.

[jmlease1]

8 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Careful. There's a group here awfully ticked off they didn't get their wish for a deadline sell-off.

I'm happy to ignore them. I want as many chances at the playoffs as possible, and we still have a shot at it this season. Throwing that away for theoretical value would have been a waste.

I disagree with one thing in this piece: that none of the acquisitions were "flashy". I think Hoffman was a flashy one, a pitcher that I suspect a lot of teams were interested in. He's a former closer with high level postseason experience and elite stuff. The only way he's not a flashy acquisition is if you don't consider any reliever a flashy acquisition, IMHO.

So far the deadline deals have worked out pretty well. They addressed the biggest needs and filled the biggest holes. Hopefully the offense can hold up its end, we get Ryan back healthy, and catch a few breaks.

[offensive_loons_fan]

10 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Careful. There's a group here awfully ticked off they didn't get their wish for a deadline sell-off.

I probably would have counted myself erring on the side of selling rather than buying, but more importantly I had just wanted the team to pick a lane. Either admit to a full rebuild and commit to it, or believe you are truly contenders and spend to win. The idea that we could contend, but just with the pieces we already had, felt plainly incorrect and frustrating.

I feel increasingly like the lane has been chosen, and even though I would have been selling, I'm mostly happy to see where the commitment will take us. Can't stop at just this trade deadline, though!

[MinnInPa]

no doubt feel much better about innings 6-9 now... Now need starters to keep the runs low for 5-6 innings. We need Ryan back for 3 man playoff rotation .. Ryan, Bradley , Kremer... i really dont think Matthews , Ober or Preilip are gonna cut it in the playoffs.. If, we get there.. 

[DocBauer]

Hoffman still has great stuff, but he's a different level arm if he can get the BB down. And as mentioned, Banda is under team control and can be part of the 2027 pen as well. In fact, only Minter is a FA IIRC. And I'd really like to see him brought back.

Banda, Minter and Funderburk from the LH side. Gomez, Morris, Hoffman, and Nance from the RH side. That's 7 arms with some nice balance that gets me excited for 2027. And I see enough internal options that I don't think you'd need to spend $ on a FA to fill the 8th spot.

[LA Vikes Fan]

35 minutes ago, DocBauer said:

Hoffman still has great stuff, but he's a different level arm if he can get the BB down. And as mentioned, Banda is under team control and can be part of the 2027 pen as well. In fact, only Minter is a FA IIRC. And I'd really like to see him brought back.

Banda, Minter and Funderburk from the LH side. Gomez, Morris, Hoffman, and Nance from the RH side. That's 7 arms with some nice balance that gets me excited for 2027. And I see enough internal options that I don't think you'd need to spend $ on a FA to fill the 8th spot.

Right on. I would make re-signing Minter a priority for next year. He, Banda and Funderburk form a solid to very good LH side of a bullpen. Add in RHs Morris, Gomez, Hoffman, and Nance, and we have everything except a long(ish) man with several existing guys to choose from and to create depth. Hey, Adams was bad to start the season but much better lately. He could be that guy. So could Matthews. I'm with you, if we can re-sign Minter we don't have to spend any FA money on the bullpen and can go into 2027 with the bullpen as a strength.  We can spend any FA money we have on another need, like Jeffers or another starting Catcher, a RH OF with pop, or a starting 2B. What a change from last off season. 

[DocBauer]

1 hour ago, LA Vikes Fan said:

Right on. I would make re-signing Minter a priority for next year. He, Banda and Funderburk form a solid to very good LH side of a bullpen. Add in RHs Morris, Gomez, Hoffman, and Nance, and we have everything except a long(ish) man with several existing guys to choose from and to create depth. Hey, Adams was bad to start the season but much better lately. He could be that guy. So could Matthews. I'm with you, if we can re-sign Minter we don't have to spend any FA money on the bullpen and can go into 2027 with the bullpen as a strength.  We can spend any FA money we have on another need, like Jeffers or another starting Catcher, a RH OF with pop, or a starting 2B. What a change from last off season. 

We seem to see the same things.

Currently, without the Twins trading Ryan in the offseason,  which I'm betting doesn't happen, the biggest questions remaining are:

1: Do the Twins believe enough in Ober to bring him back as a solid #4-5 option pitching "old school", but doing so generally effective and doing so well enough he's worth bringing back? That almost sounds like an insult, but it's not meant to be. He is so smart, and has so much control, that he has viability still.

I'm just afraid that for whatever reason, the 92mph fastball is gone. And it's a mystery why a 30yo should suddenly lose that velocity. If, by chance, it comes back, someone will get a steal. But as is, the Twins have to decide if he's worth bringing back as a 4th or 5th option...or worse.

CURRENTLY, we're looking at Lopez, Ryan, Bradley, Abel...coming off injury...Prielipp as well as Kremer. So everyone healthy, maybe Abel starts at AAA to sorta rehab and get in full swing? Beyond that we have Matthews...who has shown real growth this season but might end up in the bullpen at some point...and Rojas...same as Matthews...and Gallagher...still figuring it out, but maybe close to ready...and then Paredes, who saved the Twins Ass this season, but who we hope never has to actually start a game again.

Leaving Festa out of any future plans, because we have to currently. I still like the rotation depth for 2027.

FUTURE:

I also kinda like Anderson, (I think I said Andews previously, My Bad) and Acton as possibles for the pen. I like Anderson  more because I've seen a sneaky nice breaking pitch that I like

Raya might be about ready to.come up again. And we shouldn't dismiss CJ Culpepper in the pen as well.

IF the Twins bring back Minter...and despite production, I believe age and loss of velocity will make him far less expensive than his last deal...the Twins can also bring back Banda for a decent deal...injury applies this season in arbitration...and they could have a great 3 some from the port side. That's a luxury most teams don't have.

With Gomez, Morris, Hoffman, and Nance under control the question remains about the 8th spot, with some rather obvious depth talent. 

But haven't I already stated this previously?

Resign Minter unless you see a better option. Otherwise, the 2027 bullpen looks pretty damn good with what's on hand, and further development from the young arms, and the potential of Matthews moving to the pen, or Sands getting his crap together.

Depth isn't an issue, IMO, it's KEEPING Minter, or.signing someone better, and then figuring out who is the 8th man in the pen. The 8th man could be a CLOSER like Matthews suddenly put in that position. It could be a Festa, suddenly healthy and ready to contribute. [I have hope but serious doubts about Festa]. 

But I really like the 2027 rotation, and I think the 2027 bullpen is really close to being very good.