Aaron Rozek has become one of those Saints players fans notice before they even know his numbers. The glove perched on his head between pitches, the warmup soundtrack tied to Disney’s 1999 Tarzan, Phil Collins’ “Strangers Like Me” rolling before every home start - it all fits a pitcher who’s turned himself into a familiar face at CHS Field.
And Rozek’s year with St. Paul came with a little extra twist.
He was taken by the New York Mets in the Minor League Rule 5 Draft last December, stayed with them through spring training, then got cut. A week and a half later, he was back in the Twins system at Double-A Wichita.
“The week, week and a half of free agency to being back a Twin, it’s been fun,” Rozek said. “It’s always fun.
I love it here. I’ve told everybody, from the coaching staff to the front office, I love being a Twin.
Obviously, it’s the hometown team, so it just means more playing in front of family and friends, so it’s nice.”
Once he returned, Rozek settled into a season that showed exactly why the Saints trusted him. He put together his best stretch in a St.
Paul uniform after coming back to the organization, logging six strong outings with the Wind Surge and posting a 2.45 ERA. Then came the promotion to Triple-A, where he ended up as the dependable arm on a Saints staff that didn’t have many traditional starters to lean on.
He led the team with 110 innings pitched and handled just about every job the Saints asked of him. Some nights he worked like a true starter and covered six innings, doing that three times.
Other times it was a shorter turn, around four innings on a four-days-on, four-days-off plan. He also mixed in several long relief appearances.
For most pitchers in the system, that kind of role doesn’t come around. For Rozek, it became the assignment.
“He’s a constant pro,” said Dinkelman. “Going to another organization and not being where you want to be there, and then we signed him back.
He was willing to do anything between Double-A and Triple-A, and start, four-day, out of the bullpen, whatever you ask of him, he’s been great about it. He competes every night he goes out there.”
By the end of the season, Rozek had a 4.19 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. He also finished with an 8.9% walk rate, an 18.9% strikeout rate and a .265 opponents’ average. The big issue in 2026 was leaving contact pitches in the zone, but there were also long stretches when he looked as sharp as he ever has.
From June 2 to August 4, Rozek ran a 3.13 ERA with a 1.34 WHIP, a 9.1% walk rate and a 17.7% strikeout rate, while opponents hit .251. Even when hitters were still putting the ball in play, he limited the damage once runners got on.
“I think it’s really being comfortable in my own skin as a pitcher on the mound this year,” Rozek said. “I’m not going to blow anybody away with velocity. I’m going to be kind of a funky, weird slot, like an annoying at-bat, and it’s just fully embracing that and not trying to reach outside of my bounds.”
Now Rozek is headed back into Minor League free agency this offseason, and he has no plans to walk away anytime soon. If the MLB lockout stretches into late March and pushes the league’s season back, the MiLB season is still set to begin on time. That would mean Opening Day for the Saints on March 26, 2027, goes on as scheduled unless a winter storm gets in the way.
If the lockout is still in place when that opener arrives, the Saints would also be without any 40-man players the Twins plan to option to Triple-A to start the year. That could leave plenty of room around the league for veterans who need a place to play, and it could make a return to St. Paul a fit for Rozek again.
For now, though, he’s not getting ahead of himself. He’s focused on the usual offseason grind and finding a team that gives him a chance. If that happens to be the Twins again, he’s ready to keep taking the extra innings and the extra chances that have followed him since he signed with the organization in 2021.
“I mean it’s just extend the playing career one year at a time,” he said. “So taking it day by day, just like anything.
Obviously, No. 1 goal is going to be velocity, but it’s like building the base that I have. Obviously, would love nothing more than to sign back here, but who knows.
So just taking it day-by-day, see what happens, and putting my head down on the work in the off-season.”
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