The Twins did not come away from the deadline looking like a club that had solved everything, but they did manage to line up a few useful pieces for the future. Jeff Hoffman gives them a relief ace who is set to be back in 2027, Dean Kremer is also under club control for that season, and A.J. Minter emerged as the kind of left-handed setup arm that fits neatly into the picture.
That matters because the bullpen outlook beyond Hoffman gets thin fast. Yoendrys Gómez and Andrew Morris are the next names projected to matter in the back end, but both ran into rough stretches after strong first halves.
Gómez finished with a 7.71 ERA, and Morris was at 6.86. That makes it tough to trust either one as a stable part of a late-inning trio right now.
Minter, by contrast, already showed he can handle the job. When Minnesota acquired him from the New York Mets at the deadline, the goal was clear: add the top lefty option the club had originally hoped Taylor Rogers would be. The Twins wanted a hard-throwing southpaw who could miss bats against lefties and still survive against right-handed hitters.
With the Mets, Minter posted a 2.35 ERA and struck out lefties at a 26.6% clip. He did allow a couple of homers, which pushed left-handed opponents to an .810 OPS across 11 innings, but he was much steadier against righties. He limited them to a .204 batting average and didn’t issue a walk, which is exactly the kind of profile a manager can lean on in tight spots.
After the trade, Minnesota gave up Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani to get him, and Minter’s splits settled into a more familiar shape. Lefties managed just a .554 OPS against him, while righties hit him for a .807 OPS. Even with that right-handed damage, the overall package still worked.
In all, Minter finished with a 2.49 ERA for the Twins in mostly high-leverage work, the best mark in the bullpen and just .01 better than Hoffman. He also had the lowest WHIP on the staff at 1.11, and of the four home runs he allowed, two were solo shots and one came with a runner aboard for two runs.
The underlying numbers back up the results. Minter’s 4.4% walk rate stood out, along with an 87.2 MPH average exit velocity and a 37.1% hard-hit rate. For a veteran reliever, that’s the sort of profile a team can trust.
That’s why a reunion makes so much sense. The Twins can feel good about Hoffman as their main late-inning weapon, but they still need dependable help around him. Minter fits that need better than most available options, especially if payroll matters.
He just finished a two-year deal with the Mets worth $11 million per season, so a return would likely come at a lower number. A one-year contract in the $6-8 million range seems more realistic, and if that’s the market, the Twins should have a hard time talking themselves out of it.
Minter also brings the kind of track record that matters in a bullpen built to win games late. He closed out the World Series for the Atlanta Braves in 2021, and he has already shown he can handle pressure. For a Twins club with limited options in 2027, that kind of certainty is worth pursuing.
In Other News...
Twins May Have Just Seen A Painful Goodbye Behind The Plate
The Twins closed their 2026 season with a 6-4 win over the Rangers, and for Mitch Jeffers, it may have also marked the end of the line in Minnesota for now. Jeffers wrapped up his final game of the year with the club, then looked back on a career that brought both staying power and a strong individual season, even with injury setbacks interrupting the run.
What comes next is the part Minnesota has to brace for. Jeffers is set to hit free agency this winter, and the Twins are left weighing an uncertain future behind the plate while also sorting through other roster moves. For a team that values stability at catcher, the possibility of moving on from Jeffers adds another significant decision to an already busy offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Coaching Shakeup Feels Like The Start Of Something Bigger
The Twins wasted little time starting their offseason overhaul, moving on from pitching coach Pete Maki and assistant pitching coach Luis Ramirez after the regular season ended. The shakeup also reached the training room, where assistant athletic trainer Jason Kirkman is no longer with the club, even as head athletic trainer Nick Paparesta and top assistant Masamichi Abe are staying put.
For Minnesota, the staff changes feel like more than routine turnover. Replacing both leaders of the pitching program suggests the organization wants a fresh direction on the mound, and the front office has now put the coaching side of that conversation squarely on the table as it heads into next season. [Read more 🡒]
Former Twins Pitchers Are Suddenly All Over This Postseason
The Twins may be on the outside looking in this October, but plenty of their old pitching inventory is still very much in the postseason mix. A list of 11 former Minnesota arms has surfaced across the 2026 MLB playoffs, a reminder of how much turnover can ripple through a pitching staff and how often ex-Twins end up scattered around the bracket. Caleb Thielbar is with the Cubs, Jhoan Duran is in Philadelphia, and Tyler Mahle is part of Atlantas rotation picture, giving the postseason a distinctly Minnesota-flavored subplot even without the Twins themselves involved.
What makes it especially notable is the sheer reach of it all, with those former Twins tied to multiple series and matchups as the playoff schedule unfolds. For a fan base that has watched a lot of arms come and go, this is one of those October snapshots that says as much about organizational churn as it does about the players themselves. The full list stretches well beyond the biggest names, and the spread of destinations makes it clear just how many different contenders are carrying a little bit of Minnesota pitching history with them. [Read more 🡒]