Leading up to the 2026 trade deadline, the Twins made their choice clear: they were buyers. Minnesota added four arms to the pitching staff and tried to give itself a real push toward October.
The postseason chase ended over the weekend, but the deadline story is a little more complicated than the final result. Most of the newcomers have helped, and three of the four are expected back next season.
With the season winding down, it’s worth taking another look at each move and judging it with the benefit of hindsight.
The first deal was Nance, and for a stretch it looked like Minnesota had pulled off a real bargain after bringing him over from Toronto. August was the kind of month that makes a bullpen pickup feel like a lifeline: a 1.74 ERA over 10 1/3 innings, 14 strikeouts and only two walks. That was exactly the kind of impact the Twins needed from a relief arm.
Then September hit, and the numbers turned fast. Nance has an 8.64 ERA over 8 1/3 innings this month, a rough finish after looking like one of the more dependable options in the bullpen.
Even so, this move still gets a B. He has multiple years of team control left, and August showed what he can bring when he’s right.
One ugly month doesn’t wipe that away.
The Twins also have catching depth in the minors, and while Sprock could become something later on, the appeal here is the proven arm with years of control. Even with the volatility that comes with relievers of his type and his age, it’s hard to see him sticking around forever.
Of the four deadline swings, the A.J. Minter deal is the one that looks roughest now.
Minnesota got him from the Mets for Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani, and at the time the logic made sense. The problem is that the trade was built around a goal the Twins never really came close to reaching.
Minter is a free agent after this season, which changes the whole feel of the move. Maybe he returns, maybe he doesn’t. Either way, Minnesota gave up two infielders with upside for an aging bullpen piece while still coming up short of the playoffs.
To be fair, Minter has done his job. He has a 2.70 ERA with the Twins and has given them the dependable left-handed relief they wanted.
The issue is what comes after 2026. If the Twins want him back in 2027, they’ll have to pay for it.
If they don’t, then this becomes a trade of two prospects for essentially two months of a middle reliever. Amick and Agbayani still have plenty to prove, but they also have upside, and that makes the deal tougher to love now than it did in the middle of a pennant race.
Kremer, though, looks like a win. He was struggling badly in Baltimore, carrying a 6.50 ERA before the deal.
Since landing in Minnesota, that has fallen to 3.80, with a 3.82 FIP to match. The biggest difference has been the quality of contact he’s allowing; Kremer has done a much better job keeping hitters from squaring him up.
The contract side matters here too. Unlike Minter, Kremer isn’t just a rental.
He’s under team control for next season as well, and if the Twins tender him a contract and pay the $7-8 million he’s in line to make, they’ll have a rotation stabilizer beyond 2026. For a club that has dealt with so many pitching injuries in recent years, that’s no small thing.
Minnesota sent outfield prospect Jhomnardo Reyes to get him. Reyes is only 18, so it’s far too early to know what he’ll become.
Baltimore could absolutely get something out of him. But when the choice is between a teenager with upside and a starter who has already shown he can help at the big-league level, the safer bet is Kremer.
The final deadline move, and the priciest, was Jeff Hoffman. It also looks like the best one.
Hoffman has been outstanding since arriving, posting a 2.12 ERA and a 1.98 FIP over 17 innings, with 26 strikeouts and 10 walks. He has quickly become one of Minnesota’s most trusted late-inning arms, and unlike a pure rental, he’s under contract beyond this season.
The Twins didn’t just get help for a couple of months; they added a reliever who should still matter in 2027.
The cost was steep. Dasan Hill is the prospect I’d be most hesitant to part with, because left-handed starters with that kind of ability don’t come around often, and there’s a real chance he becomes a valuable major-league pitcher.
Toronto will also have to sort through some command issues with him. The same goes for John Klein and Dameury Pena, the other two prospects in the deal.
All three have upside, and prospect development is always hard to predict once players leave an organization.
Still, Hoffman has already shown exactly why the Twins wanted him. He brings the kind of filthy stuff that plays late in games, and Minnesota gets him beyond this season.
So yes, the Twins fell short of the postseason. But that doesn’t make the deadline a failure across the board.
Three of the four players they brought in should be back next year, and all four have offered something that could help going forward. The new arrivals weren’t the reason Minnesota missed October, and there’s only so much the front office could have done at the deadline to tilt the odds any further.
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