The Minnesota Twins kept attacking their pitching staff Friday, landing right-hander Dean Kremer from the Baltimore Orioles in another deadline move aimed at stabilizing the staff.
The deal was first reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal shortly before Minnesota’s game against the Seattle Mariners. The players headed back to Baltimore were not immediately known.
Kremer arrives as an experienced rotation option, even if the numbers attached to his 2026 season are rough. The 30-year-old is 1-4 with a 6.50 ERA in seven starts, and he has given up 38 hits, 12 home runs and 11 walks in 36 innings while striking out 38.
Minnesota is clearly betting on the bigger sample. Kremer has spent the last several seasons as a regular part of Baltimore’s rotation, and the Twins are hoping that track record carries more weight than a small, injury-hit season.
The move also came just hours after Minnesota added veteran left-handed reliever A.J. Minter from the New York Mets, giving the Twins two notable pitching additions in one day.
Kremer’s season never really got on track. Baltimore optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk before Opening Day after he had been a fixture in the Orioles’ rotation in previous years. He returned to the majors in April, then went on the injured list with a right quadriceps strain.
He did not come back until July 1.
There were brief signs of life after the return. Kremer threw six innings of one-run ball against the Chicago White Sox, but the good stretch did not last. He gave up six runs against the Boston Red Sox on July 22, then was tagged for eight runs on eight hits in four innings during Baltimore’s 14-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.
Across five July starts, Kremer posted a 7.56 ERA and allowed eight home runs.
That’s the risk Minnesota is taking. But the Twins are also buying into the larger body of work.
From 2020 through 2025, Kremer made 123 starts for Baltimore and put together a 4.26 ERA over 671 2/3 innings. He won 13 games for the Orioles’ 101-win American League East champion in 2023 and has shown he can handle a full rotation workload.
He is also under control beyond this season, which makes him more than a short-term fix. Kremer is making $5.75 million this year and remains under team control through 2027, giving Minnesota a chance to evaluate him during the stretch run without losing him right away.
The Twins now have options with him. They could put him in the rotation, use him out of the bullpen as a long reliever, or give him time to work through the home run problems that have defined this season. Target Field could help, too, since it offers a more forgiving setting than Camden Yards, though Kremer still has to keep the ball in the park wherever he pitches.
Baltimore’s side of the move makes sense given where the club sits. The Orioles are below .500 and far behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East, so moving Kremer opens up more rotation opportunities for other starters and adds another piece to the organization.
Minnesota, meanwhile, is sending a clear message. After adding Minter to the bullpen and Kremer to the rotation mix, the Twins made it obvious that pitching was the priority before the deadline. Kremer is not coming in at his best, but Minnesota is banking on a fresh start to help an experienced starter find the form that once made him one of Baltimore’s most dependable arms.
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