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The Minnesota Twins have doubled down on their stated intention to support the existing roster and make a push for the postseason. On Friday night, they made the biggest move for a starting pitcher of the trade deadline period to date, scooping up Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer for minor league outfielder Jhomnardo Reyes . Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic broke the initial trade news on Twitter.
Kremer is a seven-year veteran who has been a fairly durable mid-rotation innings-eater with a career ERA of 4.37 and a 7.8 K/9 strikeout rate. He avoided arbitration with the Orioles by signing a $5.75M contract, but started the year in AAA after losing the fifth starter job to Zach Eflin. He was recalled on April 13th when Eflin underwent Tommy John surgery.
In Kremer's first two starts this year, he struck out 16 before a right quadriceps strain shelved him until July. His results since returning have been uneven. He beat the White Sox with a six-inning, one-run outing on July 1, then surrendered four solo homers to the Cubs, lasted just four innings against Houston, and gave up 14 runs over his last two outings. His 6.50 ERA looks worse than the arm behind it: a 38:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 36 IP suggests a pitcher throwing better than the runs indicate. The thirty-year-old's biggest problem this year has been home runs; he's given up 12(!) in 36 IP.
He has a five-pitch mix, with a fastball and a cutter that he throws about one-third of the time, then a splitter he throws another third, and then a sinker and curveball to round out his options. His fastball averages about 93 mph, which is slightly lower but still in line with his career average.
In addition to his contributions to this season's postseason push, the Twins can offer arbitration to Kremer next year, too. He doesn't qualify for free agency until after the 2027 season.
But that remains to be seen. He was acquired this year to help a rotation that has grown increasingly thin, starting on the first day of spring training when staff ace Pablo Gomez was sidelined with a sore elbow that required Tommy John surgery. They've also lost Mick Abel, David Festa, and Mike Paredes to injuries, and Simeon Woods Richardson was released. The three most reliable starters - Bailey Ober, Taj Bradley and Joe Ryan - have all dealt with injuries or arm fatigue. Those move have necessitated callups for Zebby Matthews, Conner Prielipp, and Kendry Rojas, who have all had some success but also have their own usage limitations.
Kremer, at the very least, provides some additional and necessary depth in case there are any further injuries. He may also allow one of the recent call-ups to be moved to the bullpen, which helps the bullpen, providing a potentially high-octane arm.
In return for Kremer, the Twins sent the Orioles Jhomnardo Reyes, who is not in Twins Daily's Top 20 Prospect List, but he made Limestone Pipeline's 7/20 update as the 16th overall Twins prospect. True to form for the prospects that tend to get moved at the deadline, he's got "steam." The 18-year-old Dominican outfielder excelled in the Complex League the first half of this year, posting a 950 OPS, and was recently promoted to Low A Fort Myers. He's got a very long way to go, but there is plenty of potential there.
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