Jeremy Zoll Admits the Bullpen Fell Short. Will the Twins Spend to Fix It?

[Sam Caulder]

Image courtesy of Jordan Johnson - IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In case you hadn’t heard, the Twins’ bullpen was somewhat of a talking point this season. After the complete fire sale at the 2025 trade deadline, when the Twins shipped out a handful of bullpen arms including (but not limited to) Jhoan Duran, Louis Varland and Griffin Jax, there wasn’t much done to replace that talent last offseason. That approach clearly didn’t work.

The Twins tried to piece together a bullpen on the fly this season, and while there were some success stories along the way, the group was far too inconsistent for a team that wanted to compete. Now, the Twins have another opportunity to address the problem. And this winter can, and should, be different.

When Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll was asked about building the bullpen this offseason, he pointed toward the importance of involving the organization’s coaching staff in the acquisition process.

“When an organization is operating healthily, your major-league staff is able to weigh in on acquisitions and profile strengths and weaknesses,” Zoll said.

That’s an interesting wrinkle considering the Twins will have a new pitching coach and assistant pitching coach next season, with Pete Maki and Luis Ramirez both departing. Zoll also said he expects the new pitching coach group to be “integrated into the acquisitions process,” including when the Twins are looking at free agents and waiver claims.

That makes sense. If the organization believes its coaches can identify certain traits or help unlock something in a pitcher, it makes sense to bring them into the process before the player is acquired rather than after. But Zoll’s comments don’t exactly scream that a major bullpen investment is coming, either.

When discussing how the Twins will build the unit, Zoll said, “I think you have to be open to all different avenues to accomplish that.”

He pointed to the number of success stories the Twins had while trying to build the bullpen on the fly, but acknowledged that “at the end of the day, the best moments were too short and there were too many times of inconsistency from that group.” That’s probably the most important part of the quote.

Zoll openly acknowledged that the Twins “fell short” in trying to build the bullpen this way. But there was no indication that the solution is necessarily going to involve spending big money on an established late-inning arm. Indeed, their track record suggests the opposite. The biggest free agent reliever signing the Twins made last year was brining back Taylor Rogers for $2M - and their need last year was at least as big as it will be next year.

Plus, there are certainly reasons to believe the Twins can improve without spending big money. Yoendrys Gómez was purchased from the Rays midseason and emerged as a legitimate late-inning option. Andrew Morris, a nominal starting pitcher prospect in 2025, moved to the bullpen and was dominant for most of the year. Left-handed reliever Kody Funderburk put together a strong second half after struggling earlier in the year. Those are meaningful developments, and Zoll is right to point toward them as foundational pieces. But they don’t change the fact that this unit needs more help. The question then becomes: how much are the Twins actually willing to invest in fixing it?

On one hand, there’s a pretty compelling argument that they should spend fairly aggressively on the bullpen this offseason. With a salary floor very likely to be implemented, the Twins have a significant amount of ground to make up. The initial MLB proposal called for a $171.2 million floor, while Minnesota’s payroll this season was roughly $115 million. That means the Twins would have to spend money somewhere. Why not use some of that money to fix one of the biggest weaknesses on the roster?

There should be quality arms available, too. Adrian Morejon and David Bednar are among the relievers currently lined up to reach free agency, while Andrés Muñoz could hit the market if his club option is declined. Aroldis Chapman has a mutual option, and Ryan Helsley has an opt-out that could put him back on the market as well. That doesn’t mean the Twins need to sign one of those specific players. There are plenty of different ways to improve a bullpen. But if they’re serious about becoming a legitimate contender again, this seems like a pretty obvious place to allocate some resources.

The Twins already made one significant commitment to the bullpen at the trade deadline by acquiring Jeff Hoffman from Toronto. Hoffman is set to make $11 million next season, although the Blue Jays are covering $3.75 million of that, leaving Minnesota responsible for $7.25 million. And honestly, that should make adding another established late-inning arm even more reasonable.

Hoffman can help stabilize the back end of the bullpen, while Gómez gives the Twins another intriguing option. But after watching so many late-inning leads disappear this season, I don’t think the answer should be hoping those two are enough. If Tom Pohlad is serious about turning this team into a championship-caliber club, as he has said he is, there’s no reason for the Twins to limit themselves to bargain-bin additions and internal improvements.

Minnesota has already seen what happens when they try to build an entire bullpen on the fly. There were flashes of success, but there was also too much inconsistency, especially when the team needed outs most. They don’t need to abandon the development model that has produced plenty of successful relievers. They just need to supplement it. The Twins have an opportunity this offseason to rewrite the script. They have internal options, and they should have room to add payroll. The biggest question is whether they’ll actually use that flexibility.

If the goal is to build a team capable of competing for a championship, the bullpen needs to be more than a collection of intriguing possibilities. It needs to be a strength. And that should start with the Twins thinking bigger this time around.

View full article

[bean5302]

I don't think Gomez is remotely intriguing as a significant bullpen option for a team looking to compete. Zoll had his opportunity to build the bullpen prior to the start of last year and he skipped it following the Falzoll bullpen philosophy.

Involving coaches in the process of acquisitions makes some sense, but that's honestly why you have scouts. If coaches are involved, it should be at a final sign off or a direction of what they feel offers opportunity. 

Sounds to me like Zoll isn't ready for an upper role.

[gman]

If they reach the 171 mil floor, they almost have to sign some relievers. They would have to add about 55-60 mil to the payroll. Minter could be retained at a probable minimum of $11mil. Assuming they get in the Jeffers sweepstakes at $16 -20mil and that leaves them with around $33mil to spend. Hopefully they don't tie it all up long term to keep some flexability for future years. So this year they could sign several relievers for up to 10 mil each for 2-3 years. They will have some younger players to pay in 2028 and going forward. I hope they would spend more in future years but I would be happy to see them get to $171mil for next year.

[tony&rodney]

I'm going to suggest that a salary floor of $170M is a ridiculous thing. The owners want the fans of mid to lower market teams to push for a cap/floor system because it favors them. MLB and MLBPA should negotiate in private. We know they won't.

Cleveland and multiple other teams are not going to add $100M to their payroll. It seems much more judicious to consider the needs of the team (Twins) and the possible money the Pohlads can support on spending. My guess is $140-160M. Even then the money needs to be apportioned in a wise manner. 

[mike8791]

If Zoll expects his new pitching coaches to participate in pen(or any pitching decisions) he'd better sign them up quickly.  He has a narrow window, given that, I believe, new coaches cannot be inked until a few days after the WS(meaning end of October), giving him just the month of November to make transactions before the Dec. 1st lockout.

What he does in this 2 month window will go a long way in determining how far the Zoll apple falls from the Falvey tree.  Pohlad says they will be very agressive early in the offseason.  We shall shortly see if this is the usual BS or if Zoll is cut from a different cloth.

[The Great Hambino]

I don't know if this needs to be pinned to the top of every single thread where the floor of $171MM is referenced, but that is an inflated figure because it uses MLB's version of payroll used for competitive balance calculation purposes (luxury tax, etc).  This includes things like player benefits, contributions to the pre-arb balance pool, and other adjustments.

By this calculation, the Twins' 2026 payroll was $137MM, not $116MM (according to Cot's Contracts).   So when people start talking like they have to spend to this hypothetical and far-from-official floor, the amount of spend to reach it is potentially much less than it appears

Cot's currently projects the Twins' current 2027 competitive balance payroll to be over $141MM.  This assumes everyone is brought back at their projected arbitration figure, so it in reality is probably lower.  But I'd seriously recommend pumping the brakes on the idea that a floor is going to trigger some $50MM+ spending spree this offseason