Two Free-Agent Relievers Who Address Twins Bullpen's Most Pressing Actual Need

For the first time since 2018, the Twins' go-to southpaw reliever likely will be pitching somewhere else in 2025. Caleb Theilbar’s season was a bit of a roller coaster, but he was still serviceable against lefties with a .653 OPS and 18.0% K-BB rate. Theoretically, the Twins could bring back the Northfield native. That may be a cheap, viable route to go if they can’t move other contracts (i.e., Chris Paddack, Christian Vázquez, and/or Willi Castro) to open up some money. Steven Okert was another reliable option who faced 63 left-handed hitters in 2024, but he is now with the Astros after agreeing to a minor-league deal last month. Even with those two gone, the Twins still have some effective options to get lefties out.

Griffin Jax, Jhoan Durán, and Cole Sands were three of the best relievers for the Twins last year and, even as right-handed pitchers, they were very good against opposite-handed hitters. Facing 363 left-handed batters, the trio combined for a .630 opponent OPS, 23.7% K-BB rate, and a 2.73 FIP. The incumbent for Thielbar’s vacancy is Kody Funderburk, who has a career 3.13 FIP and 18.5% K-BB rate against same-handed hitters. Justin Topa is another name who can at least be serviceable against lefties. However, after those two, the Twins currently don’t roster anyone who can confidently be deployed to get a left-handed hitter out. Nick Nelson looked at a handful of names to fill this need earlier in the offseason, and I'm going to look at two more names I like. Instead of strictly focusing on left-handed relievers, I'll widen the scope to relievers who can get left-handed hitters out regardless of their throwing hand. The Twins will likely need to move at least one of the contracts mentioned above to put together a realistic offer for either of the names below.

Chris Martin
The 39-year-old has announced that the 2025 season will be his last, but he was still an effective option out of the Red Sox bullpen for the last two years. Despite being a righty, he held batters to a .668 OPS and posted a 27.7% K-BB rate against left-handed hitters in 2024, while being equally effective against right-handed hitters. Martin doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but he has elite command of the strike zone, walking just three hitters and producing elite chase rates in 2024. While he limits quality of contact, my one concern about his fit would be that he is a ground ball pitcher. Minnesota's infield defense has quite a few question marks heading into 2025. On the other hand, maybe he can help with that.

If Aroldis Chapman is getting $10.75 million on a one-year deal, I’d expect Martin to get quite a bit less than that, given his age, lesser velocity, and less glamorous expected role.

A.J. Minter
From a cost perspective, Minter is a bit of a long shot to end up with the Twins, as MLB Trade Rumors predicted the left-handed setup man to get $16 million over two years. That said, a hip surgery in August may scare some teams off from the 31-year-old and (for better or worse) this regime has taken these types of risks again and again in their tenure. Minter has already been linked with a few other teams at the Winter Meetings, but it's not too late to swoop in.

Over his career, Minter has dominated lefties with a .602 OPS and 22.5% K-BB rate, while also neutralizing righties with his changeup. His mid-90s four-seam fastball has been one of the better pitches in baseball, with plus vertical movement and pinpoint control of his cutter. While he’s another ground ball pitcher, he’s a bit of a better fit than Martin as an actual southpaw who could be had on a one-year, “prove-it” deal.

While much ado has been made about the Twins' lack of left-handed options, I think we need to shift our mindset to the crux of the “problem”. While left-handed relievers provide a different look, they’re largely deployed to get out left-handed hitters. which is the root of what the Twins are missing as their bullpen currently stands. Instead of focusing on left-handed relievers exclusively, the Twins need to consider how they plan on getting left-handed hitters out in 2025, and either Martin or Minter would present a viable solution to that need.

Are you interested in either reliever for the Twins bullpen?