The Twins don’t look like a team that needs to go shopping for rotation help this winter. Pablo Lopez is expected back after missing the entire 2026 campaign, and he’ll slide into a group that already includes Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Dean Kremer, Bailey Ober, and Connor Prielipp as the most likely names to fill out the 2027 rotation. Mick Abel, Zebby Mathews, Kendry Rojas, and David Festa are also in that mix.
The real pressure point is the bullpen, where the front office may need to do some work in free agency. Minnesota’s current projected relief corps has obvious gaps, and the left-handed side is especially thin. Right now, Kody Funderburk is the lone lefty in the group, but he profiles more as a middle reliever and has had issues with walks and too many baserunners.
That’s why Brock Burke makes sense as a target. He may not be the splashiest name available, but he checks a lot of boxes for a team looking for a useful arm without spending big.
Burke, 30, has six major-league seasons under his belt and has pitched for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels, and Cincinnati Reds. He landed with Cincinnati last winter in a three-team trade that sent him to the Reds, Josh Lowe to the Angels, and Gavin Lux plus minor league pitcher Chris Clark to the Rays.
In his first season with the Reds, Burke was excellent. He posted a 2.30 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP over 74.1 innings, and his 77 appearances led all National League relievers. He leaned heavily on a 96.2 mph four-seam fastball, which he threw 41% of the time, and his 6.8 feet of extension helps his pitches play a little quicker than the radar gun says.
What stands out most is how well he keeps the ball off the barrel. Opponents produced only a 32.7% hard-hit rate against him, which ranked in the 89th percentile.
His 88 mph average exit velocity also came in at the 66th percentile. Burke added plenty of swing-and-miss too, with 28.7% of his pitches generating whiffs, and he paired that with a 23.6% strikeout rate, good for the 59th percentile, even though his chase rate sat at just 28.2%.
Zoom out, and Burke’s résumé looks like that of a steady, trustworthy reliever. Since debuting in 2019, he owns a 3.53 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, along with 4.4 bWAR. He’s also been durable, reaching at least 50 games in four of his six seasons.
That kind of profile comes at a manageable price. Spotrac projects Burke for an annual average value of $4 million on his next deal, which puts him squarely in the range of a practical bullpen upgrade for Minnesota.
In Other News...
Twins Could Face A Tough Ryan Jeffers Decision This Winter
The Twins are heading into the winter with a familiar kind of uncertainty behind the plate, and it starts with Ryan Jeffers. Minnesota has already put a qualifying offer on the table, but if Jeffers decides to move on, the front office will have to sort through a catcher market that is thinner than it looks at first glance. That puts a premium on fit, cost and whether the club wants to chase a veteran stopgap or explore a longer-term solution.
Among the names being weighed are Victor Caratini and Tyler Stephenson, along with other possibilities that could come via free agency or a trade. Each brings a different mix of offense, defense and contractual complexity, which is why this decision feels so important for a team that would prefer stability at a position where continuity matters. For now, the Twins are still in evaluation mode, and the real question is how aggressive they want to be if their current catcher ends up elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Offseason Urgency Is Already Showing Around Ryan Jeffers
The Twins are already moving with purpose as the offseason opens, and much of the early focus has centered on Ryan Jeffers. General manager Jeremy Zoll said the club remains in contract discussions with the free-agent catcher, who is weighing the qualifying offer Minnesota extended to him. It is the kind of early hot stove business that can shape the rest of the winter, especially for a team trying to line up its next steps before the market really starts to move.
Minnesota also filled out part of its coaching structure, promoting Jonas Lovin to major-league assistant pitching coach. He will join Brian Reith and LaTroy Hawkins on the staff, another sign the organization is laying groundwork on multiple fronts while the offseason is still in its opening stretch. For the Twins, the Jeffers situation and the staff adjustment both point to the same thing: there is already a sense of urgency around what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Trevor Larnach Just Added A New Twist To Twins Trade Talk
Trevor Larnachs offseason took another turn this week, adding a fresh layer to a situation that had already put him in the middle of Twins trade chatter. The outfielder had been viewed as a possible move candidate, and a potential deal with the Astros was already off the table, leaving his status in Minnesota worth watching even before the latest update.
Now comes the health piece: Larnach is set for arthroscopic surgery on his left wrist after soreness lingered from a sprain that cost him the final two weeks of the season. General manager Jeremy Zoll has framed it as a minor cleanup and does not expect it to affect Larnachs availability when Spring Training opens, but for a player whose name had already been floating in trade discussions, it adds one more variable to an already unsettled winter. [Read more 🡒]