The Twins didn’t sit around waiting for the Mariners to make the first move. With a three-game set in Seattle about to begin and the trade deadline looming Monday, Minnesota jumped early and landed left-handed reliever A.J. Minter from the Mets, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
New York gets two minor league infield prospects in the deal, Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani.
It’s a telling swing from the Twins at exactly the right moment. Minnesota showed up at T-Mobile Park two games ahead of Seattle, and both teams are still grinding for an AL playoff spot. Rather than let the weekend play out and hope for the best, the Twins attacked their bullpen problem head-on.
That bullpen has been a real issue. Minnesota’s relief corps ranked 26th in the majors, and Minter gives them a proven late-inning arm with a 2.35 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 23 innings this season. He’s been through the October fire before, with World Series and postseason experience, and he’s spent much of his career handling big outs for teams with real expectations.
He’s not the flashiest name available, but he’s the kind of addition that matters now.
The matchup in Seattle also makes the move even more interesting. The Mariners entered the trade-deadline window with an MLB-worst .631 OPS against left-handed pitching, and now the Twins have added a seasoned southpaw who can be used right where that weakness lives. In a series this important, that’s not a small detail.
Seattle still needs help in the bullpen too. Matt Brash is sidelined and was most recently projected to return in mid-to-late August.
Cooper Criswell is on a longer timeline. Carlos Vargas hasn’t pitched all season and, as the source notes, may not be seen until 2027.
The Mariners have gotten some solid work from their relief group in spots, but the bigger issue is building a reliable bridge from the rotation to the ninth inning.
That’s where the uncertainty sits, and the Mariners don’t have much of a safety net there. Minnesota did, and still acted.
There is one caution flag with Minter. He was excellent to open the year, putting together 12 scoreless appearances before allowing his first earned run on July 3.
Since then, the results have been uneven. His July ERA is 5.23, which puts a little shine off the season-long 2.35 mark.
Even so, the fit is obvious for Minnesota in this series. Seattle’s preference has been for a right-handed leverage reliever, and that remains the cleaner roster match. But the larger point hasn’t changed: the Twins saw a weakness and addressed it with one of the better arms available to them, while the Mariners’ need is still sitting there.
Passan also reported that Minter is just the start of the Mets’ selloff, not the finish. That should keep New York near the top of Seattle’s list, with right-handers Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán still standing out as more natural targets. Weaver also brings the added wrinkle of having previously pitched in Seattle.
For the Mariners, the message is simple. They have to handle Minnesota on the field, and they have to answer the Twins’ move in the front office too.
In Other News...
Mariners Linked To A Deadline Move That Could Cost Plenty
If the Mariners are going to make a real run at the deadline, the bullpen is one place where an upgrade could change the shape of the roster in a hurry. ESPNs Jeff Passan floated a high-end target from San Diego, pointing to a closer who has been one of the most dominant relievers in baseball this season, with a tiny ERA and a pile of saves to match. He is also not just a short-term fix, since he remains under club control through 2029.
That kind of profile is exactly why he would come with a steep price, and it is why this is more than a simple deadline rumor. Seattle has enough talent to enter that conversation, but whether the Padres would even entertain the idea is another matter entirely. For a Mariners club trying to balance urgency with long-term value, the real question is not whether the fit makes sense, but how far the front office would be willing to go if the market actually opens up. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Just Changed What Mariners Can Demand From The Angels
The Angels and Rangers just made a deal that could matter beyond the AL West rivalry, because Texas sent back a modest prospect return for catcher Logan OHoppe and right-hander Chase Silseth. Angel Arredondo was the piece going to Los Angeles, and the early read from prospect outlets is that he does not sit near the top of either organizations farm system, which is the kind of return that can reset expectations for what a seller might ask in a follow-up move.
For Seattle, that matters because the Mariners are still in the mix and may have reason to keep watching the Angels roster for help. If one division rival just accepted a lighter package for established big-league pieces, it can change the market for anyone else trying to pry away pitching, catching, or a useful bat from Anaheim, and the names that could come up from there are the sort that would shape the rest of the deadline conversation in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Shohei Ohtani Suddenly Out Against Mariners And Fans Want Answers
Shohei Ohtani being out of the Dodgers lineup for Thursday night against the Mariners is the sort of late-breaking change that always gets attention, especially when Seattle is trying to track one of the sports biggest stars in a series that already had plenty of juice. Ohtani has still been serving as Los Angeles designated hitter even while dealing with injury-related concerns, and the Dodgers have been careful about how they manage his workload since he stopped pitching in early July.
The bigger question around Ohtani now is how much of this is a one-night rest situation and how much it reflects the broader physical maintenance the Dodgers have been navigating behind the scenes. Manager Dave Roberts and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman have both pointed to the same issue as the main reason he has not been on the mound, while also leaving open the possibility of a later-season return to pitching, which keeps every update on his status relevant for a Mariners club that may see him again before long. [Read more 🡒]