The Minnesota Twins went into the 2026 season with a bullpen problem, and they never really fixed it. After last year’s trade deadline fire sale, the front office left itself with work to do, and the season played out exactly like that kind of unfinished business tends to do. The relief corps is better now than it was a year ago, but there are still some clear gaps to patch.
Tom Pohlad and the front office get another shot this winter, and if the Twins want to be in the mix in 2027, adding dependable late-inning help has to be near the top of the list. Three free-agent relievers stand out as possible fits: left-hander Alex Vesia, right-hander Bryan Abreu and right-hander Kevin Ginkel.
Vesia looks like the priciest name of the three, but he also may be the safest. With Taylor Rogers and A.J.
Minter both headed for free agency, the Twins could use another steady lefty in the mix. Vesia has carved out that role with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and his 2026 season backed up the reputation.
He posted a 2.64 ERA with 74 strikeouts in 58 innings, and the deeper metrics were just as attractive. His whiff rate and strikeout rate both sat in the 95th percentile or better, while his hard-hit rate, barrel rate and average exit velocity all checked in within the top quarter of the league.
Part of what makes Vesia effective is the way he throws. He comes almost straight over the top, carrying a 69° arm angle that helps his four-seam fastball create a lot of run at the top of the zone.
That fastball also makes his other pitches more difficult to handle. His slider and changeup do not jump off the page in terms of movement, but hitters still miss them because they have to stay honest against the fastball first.
Abreu is the name with the highest-end bat-missing profile, and Minnesota nearly landed him once already. At the trade deadline, the Twins and Houston Astros reportedly had a deal lined up that would have sent Trevor Larnach to Houston for Abreu, but it never got done. Even with that missed chance, he still makes sense as a winter target.
His 2026 season was below his standard, finishing with a 3.73 ERA after four straight years of averaging a 2.27 mark. Still, the underlying numbers remain strong.
His whiff rate and strikeout rate both ranked in the 91st percentile or higher, and all three of his pitches produce sharp vertical movement. The stuff is still there for high-leverage work, which is exactly what the Twins need.
The issue is command. Abreu’s walk rate finished north of 15%, and Vesia’s also topped 13%, which is a problem for a Minnesota bullpen that already has too many arms who struggle to find the zone.
Even so, Abreu’s walk rate was the worst of his career, so there’s reason to think he can clean that up. Coming off a down year, he might also come at a more manageable price than he would have after another dominant season.
Ginkel is the more affordable lane, though his name probably comes with a little less immediate buzz. He has spent his entire major league career with Arizona, and the last two seasons have produced mixed results: a 7.36 ERA in 2025, then a 4.12 mark this year.
But those surface numbers do not tell the whole story. Shoulder issues limited him to 25 2/3 innings in 2025, and he still finished with a 3.64 FIP, a sign he pitched better than the ERA suggested.
The encouraging signs kept coming in 2026. Ginkel ranked in the 77th percentile or better in strikeout rate and whiff rate, and his chase rate landed in the 94th percentile.
He continued to get swings and misses and to pull hitters out of the zone. He also brings something the Twins need: strikes.
In each of his last two healthy seasons, his walk rate has been 6.2% or better.
His mix is simpler than the others on this list. Ginkel is basically a two-pitch reliever, leaning heavily on a slider and a four-seam fastball.
That narrower arsenal has still worked well enough to make him effective, and given the last two seasons, Minnesota might not have to spend top dollar to get him. There’s risk because of the shoulder history, but the underlying numbers point to a pitcher worth considering.
Vesia gives the Twins the most dependable production, Abreu offers the loudest strikeout upside, and Ginkel could be the value play with room to beat his recent results. If Minnesota lands the right combination, its bullpen could look a lot different in 2027.
In Other News...
Jeff Hoffman Gives Twins A Real Bullpen Question For 2027
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The question, of course, is whether the Twins can trust that profile in the ninth inning over a full season. Hoffmans command wavered enough to leave the door open for a long look at other options, and Minnesota is expected to spend part of the offseason strengthening the bullpen with established arms. Even so, his arrival gave the club a real decision to make for 2027, and that alone is a meaningful development for a team that has spent too much time searching for certainty at the back end. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Offseason Could Hinge On Two World Series Targets
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Gary Snchez of the Brewers and Freddy Peralta of the Rays both fit obvious needs for the Twins, even if in different ways. Catching remains a spot to watch, and pitching depth is always part of the conversation in Minnesota, with Peralta standing out as the sort of arm worth considering for a longer-term deal if the front office decides to get aggressive. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Suddenly Have A Tough Anthony Banda Decision This Offseason
Anthony Bandas offseason case is more complicated than a typical bullpen decision. The left-hander went down with a lat injury in July 2026, and the Twins now have to sort through both his medical outlook and his place in a relief group that is already likely to see plenty of movement. His past work in the bullpen gives Minnesota something to weigh, but so does the reality that the club cannot make a clean decision until it has a better read on where he stands physically.
There is also the money side of the equation, which makes Banda harder to file away as a simple non-tender or keep decision. He remains arbitration-eligible, and the Twins have to decide whether the potential value outweighs the cost while they juggle other roster priorities in the bullpen. For now, Banda sits in that awkward winter category teams know well: useful enough to consider, uncertain enough to complicate everything. [Read more 🡒]