Last year around this time, the Twins were staring down a deadline that could have unraveled everything. They were slipping out of contention, bracing for the worst, and then they shipped 10 players off the 40-man roster before the month was out.
One of those moves ended up mattering more than the rest.
Minnesota sent Griffin Jax to the Tampa Bay Rays for Taj Bradley, and the deal has turned into one of those rare trades where both sides can point to real reasons for satisfaction. Jax has moved into Tampa Bay’s rotation, Bradley has looked the part of a top-of-the-order starter, and the Twins may have found a third piece of value by turning Andrew Morris loose in the bullpen.
Morris wasn’t some overnight discovery. Minnesota brought him up last April after drafting him in the fourth round in 2022.
At Texas Tech, he went 8-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 16 appearances, 15 of them starts. The Twins, though, were drawn to what sat underneath the surface.
In five minor league seasons, Morris went 22-13 with a 2.98 ERA in 68 appearances, 62 starts, and piled up 307 strikeouts against limited walks across 320.1 innings.
That profile made him a logical candidate to climb fast. The bullpen chaos Minnesota created last summer made the opening.
Twins fans still have plenty of reason to grumble about the departures of Jhoan Duran and Louis Varland, but Jax was a major loss too. Over five seasons in Minnesota, he went 23-29 with a 4.06 ERA, including a 3.34 ERA as a reliever from 2022 to 2025.
Now in Tampa Bay, he looks like a pitcher who simply needed the switch to starting. In 61.0 innings over 14 starts, he has a 2.80 ERA.
As a reliever, he posted an 8.00 ERA in nine innings across 11 games.
That kind of turn gives the Rays a real weapon, especially with another year of team control left on his deal. Jax could matter in the AL-leading Rays’ pennant chase and beyond, into 2027.
Bradley has helped make the sting easier to take. Entering the All-Star break, he was 9-3 with a 3.59 ERA in 102.2 innings over 18 starts.
He’s also six years younger than Jax, though he’s scheduled to hit free agency after the 2028 season. Locking him up figures to be a priority, and that could happen as soon as next offseason.
Even with Bradley’s success, Morris has become an important bonus from the trade. He struggled at first after stepping into the bullpen, putting up a 5.28 ERA with 31 strikeouts and 11 walks in his first 20 appearances. Since then, though, he’s settled in and taken off, riding a 17-inning scoreless streak into the All-Star break.
The stuff has jumped, too. During Sunday’s outing against the Los Angeles Angels, Morris touched triple digits, according to Baseball Savant.
His chase rate of 27.5% and whiff rate of 23.3% aren’t eye-popping on their own, but both are moving in the right direction. He also generated six swings and misses to get saves.
Minnesota may still view Morris as a starter down the road, and that could matter with Joe Ryan’s future becoming a real question beginning next winter. But if Morris keeps thriving in relief, the Twins could change course. The organization has not had much success developing relievers since Jax left, which only makes Morris’s run more valuable.
For now, Minnesota has Bradley performing in one lane and Morris flashing in another, and both are helping the club chase a playoff spot. The trade that sent Jax to Tampa Bay may already have given both teams something to claim.
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