The Twins Aren't Serious About Rebuilding The Bullpen

Any time you unload three or four controllable, high-leverage relievers, it’s safe to assume that the bullpen being bad will transcend multiple seasons, as Twins fans did following last year’s trade deadline. Despite their choice to do so, the Twins insisted 2026 was a continued push to contend. We all know they didn’t do enough to address the bullpen in the offseason, but it’s the way they operated in-season following the deadline, and how they continue to operate, that is the real problem.

When the Twins unloaded their controllable bullpen at the trade deadline, a big talking point from the front office was how many of the names they traded away had been developed internally, and how they would look to do so again. This was a fair point, as Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Louie Varland were all developed internally after coming up through the system as starting pitchers. This strategy became even more important when they invested less than $5M in the bullpen in the offseason. Unfortunately for all of their talk of rebuilding the bullpen internally, their actions haven’t backed it up.

It was far from an infusion of youth following the trade deadline as many had hoped. The team looked like they were running out the clock on the season rather than using that valuable time to evaluate for the following year. Innings were allocated to pitchers like 35-year-old Erasmo Ramirez and Michael Tonkin. Waiver claims were made on players like 31-year-old Brooks Kriske. A few younger names, like Travis Adams, were called up, but many bullpen spots were dedicated to veterans who had no chance to stick on the roster for 2026.

This, paired with a quiet winter, led to an underwhelming Opening Day bullpen, and they’ve performed as expected. As the team has continued to lose games on the backs of their relievers, they’ve made a few moves and call-ups to shake things up, but a lot of their behavior remains the same.

Thursday, the Twins demoted John Klein to make room for waiver claim Yoendrys Gómez (who, to their credit, could have some multi-year upside at 26 years old). The right-hander may not have had a good season thus far, but at 24 years old with a mid to high 90s fastball and intriguing offspeed pitches, Klein is the exact type of arm the Twins should want around if they’re serious about internally rebuilding the bullpen. Instead, he was sent back to St. Paul, while several veterans who look like they have nothing to offer now or in the future remain on the roster.

The Twins' continued deferral to veterans is one problem, but the way they’re preparing some of their arms in Triple-A is another. Klein was on the growingly common pitching plan of throwing around 65 pitches every four days in Triple-A, in a sort of hybrid bulk-inning role. In theory, this is meant to keep pitchers ready to pitch 3-4 innings if they are called upon to start, while also limiting exposure to opposing lineups. The problem is that this plan leaves many pitchers ill-prepared for whatever role they may be needed in if they get called up to the Twins.

Klein is unable to pitch back-to-back days, just as Andrew Morris is after he was on a similar plan. As a result, the Twins can’t afford to hamstring themselves by carrying both after Klein pitched yesterday. It’s been difficult to foresee Klein finding himself in the MLB rotation for some time now, but because the Twins have kept him in the “just in case” role, he’s now headed back to St. Paul despite being one of the prime candidates to help them achieve their self-stated goal of internally rebuilding the bullpen.

This hybrid plan makes sense in some cases, such as limiting innings and exposure for arms like Connor Prielipp. For pitchers like Klein or Travis Adams, who was one of the first in this role last season, it just doesn’t make much sense. Unless they’re called up to be a long reliever, they aren’t prepared to enter the rotation or serve as a traditional reliever. They’re essentially only prepared to be long relievers who are likely to be sent back down after they pitch. The result is that interesting arms like Klein can’t stick at the MLB level for an extended period because he can’t pitch on back-to-back days like someone such as Luis Garcia, even if the latter is allowing runs in both outings.

If the Twins send Klein back to his hybrid role in Triple-A to keep him stretched out but unable to pitch on back-to-back days, they’re doing him and themselves a disservice. For high-pedigree arms such as Kendry Rojas, this role can be justified. For pitchers like Klein, who have little chance of being even a back-end starter, they’re simply failing to prepare him for any role at the MLB level other than fungible long reliever. It’ll keep interesting young arms in limbo while keeping veteran arms with no upside in the bullpen. It’s a lose-lose situation.

The Twins have failed to back up their talk over the last year. It’s time to start doing so when it comes to internally rebuilding the bullpen. Give the young guys a shot so we don’t wind up with this situation again in 2027.