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What a mess. It’s been a few days since the Twins decided to commit ritualistic sacrifice on their entire bullpen. I’m not sure that I have any more clarity on how to square that as a whole. What has gnawed at me since Thursday is a lack of coherence between some of the trades made. A lack of coherence on which light is starting to be shed.
If the Twins had stopped trading players away prior to the Griffin Jax and Louie Varland deals, there’s a good chance fans view the deadline in a different light. In that reality, you have two high-leverage arms around which to build your future bullpen. It’s also a more explicit statement of intent around competing in 2026, one that makes acquiring Taj Bradley and Alan Roden more palatable.
That’s not what the Twins did, though. They traded Griffin Jax to Tampa Bay for Taj Bradley in a puzzling one-for-one swap, adding to their stable of almost-very-good young MLB starting pitchers. Varland was flipped to the Blue Jays in a stunner for outfielder Alan Roden and left-handed pitching prospect Kendry Rojas.
This is a trade of tensions for me. For some, trading a hometown kid made good, under team control until 2030 hurt. For others, trading a former 15th round pick who came to the organization throwing 90 mph and left touching 100 mph was the source of the regret. Both of those feelings resonate with me on some level. I also think the Twins got good value.
The front office has been criticized for not being cold and calculating enough during their tenure. Whether that was sticking with veteran players when younger ones deserved more playing time, or not catalyzing even moderate turnover of a stagnant hitting core. That’s why this trade felt tough. We went from no change, to all the change.
I believe bullpen arms are volatile and expendable. I believe you should trade them at peak value. I don’t believe bullpen arms are expendable to the point you should trade them all at once. Even today, we are learning that Griffin Jax requested a trade. I’m guessing more revelations are afoot. This won’t be a defense of the organization's approach at the trade deadline. Rather, a simple appraisal of the value that Varland returned.
Let’s start with Kendry Rojas, who will make his debut in the Twins organization starting for the Saints on Thursday. Rojas signed with the Blue Jays out of Cuba in 2020 for $215,000, and has enjoyed a convergence of improving stuff and excellent results at each stop on his minor league tour to date.
22-years old and listed at 6’2, 190 pounds, Rojas has a lean frame with some projection left. It’s a clean, repeatable delivery with some moderate crossfire in his stride. Rojas has a longer arm stroke and keeps the ball hidden well behind his head, adding to some deception in his delivery. In 41 2/3 innings of work in Toronto’s system in 2025, he’s managed a 3.46 ERA (2.45 FIP), struck out 37.1% of hitters, walked just 5.4%, and maintained a ground ball rate north of 51%. That’s extremely impressive production.
If we want to crudely compare Rojas with Mick Abel, you’re getting more strikes and consistency with the former, more explosive stuff with the latter. But what of Rojas’ stuff? What might the Twins focus on with him?
It’s currently a sinker/slider dominant profile (yes, the Twins seem to be leaning into that more and more), with a more sparsely used four seam fastball and changeup to round out a four-pitch mix. Both varieties of Rojas’ fastball sit 94 mph but will touch 96 mph. Rojas’ changeup is thrown hard, around 87 mph. It generates some cut and plenty of swing and miss, although there’s likely room for more velocity separation between his fastball and changeup. Finally, the power slider, which averages 87 mph doesn’t have a ton of depth to it and results in ground balls more than swing and miss.
That’s a really strong platform on which to build. I can see the Twins adding a tick or two more to Rojas’ fastball, tweaking the shape of his slider, and even toying with adding an additional pitch prior to 2026. I’d expect him to get plenty of run at Triple-A throughout the remainder of this season. He’s a borderline Top 100 type prospect for me, with the upside of a mid-rotation starter who should get a look in the majors in 2026.
Alan Roden, from a bird's eye view, seems like a weird fit. The Twins now have Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach, Roden, James Outman, and DaShawn Keirsey Jr. as left-handed hitting outfield options in, or close to the majors. My bet would be that this portion of the acquisition makes more sense after the bookend of offseason roster moves which result in a couple of the aforementioned names no longer being in the organization.
Roden was Toronto’s third round pick in 2022 out of Creighton, and does a lot of things well. In three minor-league seasons in Toronto’s system, he’s managed a wRC+ of 151 (2023), 138 (2024), and 150 (2025). In 125 games between AA and AAA in 2024, he walked 12.1% of the time and struck out just 14.2% with a .388 wOBA. He gets on base, and he can hit.
There are supplementary tools here too. Roden has a good arm (86th percentile arm strength) and is likely around an average defender (which makes him better than both Wallner and Larnach). There’s also above average speed (66th percentile). While you’re not getting slug, you’re getting a little bit of everything else. If Roden is a productive major league starter, there’s plenty of value there.
This value is, of course, dependent on the Twins being right. I think anyone can be forgiven for not feeling confident about that right now. While the Varland trade was a shocker given the context, the return of an everyday player and a back end starter is the type of value I expected to recoup in other deadline deals (Brock Stewart cough). For me, it’s a trade where I can see the logic in the value, if not the logic in the timing.
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