The Twins’ latest bullpen move only puts a brighter spotlight on the trade that sent Louis Varland to Toronto.
Minnesota is trying to fix a relief group that has been a real problem all season, and the addition of A.J. Minter from the New York Mets late Thursday night fits that mission. The Twins gave up prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick for a left-hander who has been effective in late innings this year, even if the deeper numbers suggest he hasn’t quite been dominant.
Minter has a 2.35 ERA in 23 appearances, with 20 strikeouts and just two walks. His 4.02 FIP and lower-than-expected strikeout rate hint at some regression, but the Twins are not shopping for perfection here. They need dependable arms for Manager Derek Shelton, and Minter gives them another option.
That urgency makes last year’s Blue Jays-Twins deal look even more consequential. Toronto went to Minnesota on July 31 and landed Varland and infielder Ty France in exchange for prospects Kendrys Rojas and Alan Roden. One year later, that trade still looks like a win for the Blue Jays, and Varland’s 2026 has turned it into something close to a showcase.
Varland is now third among MLB relievers with 73 strikeouts, and he has allowed just 11 runs, six earned, over 55 innings. That adds up to a 0.98 ERA and a 1.51 FIP, the kind of production that belongs in the elite closer conversation.
He wasn’t doing this with the Twins. He was useful, sure, but nothing like this version.
Nobody could have predicted this exact breakout, so Minnesota can hardly be blamed for making the move at the time. Still, it’s easy to see how different things might feel now if Varland were still in the Twins’ bullpen.
The numbers around Minnesota’s relief corps explain why the club is acting now. The Twins’ bullpen owns a 4.93 ERA, which ranks 26th in the majors, and its .305 BABIP against ranks 27th. For a team still hanging around both the division race and the Wild Card picture, that kind of performance is a deadline problem.
Toronto, meanwhile, looks like the clear winner of the 2025 swap at this point. Varland’s value is only growing because he won’t reach free agency until 2031, giving the Blue Jays a long runway with a reliever who has become something much bigger than the arm they acquired.
The Twins haven’t gotten much immediate help from the other side of that trade. Roden has struggled badly, hitting .189 with a .415 OPS in 16 games. Rojas has shown more promise, posting a 2.51 ERA and 3.56 FIP in 11 appearances, including four starts, and he could still work his way into Minnesota’s rotation picture.
So while Minnesota is now patching holes with Minter, Toronto’s bet on Varland looks smarter by the day. What once looked like a reasonable bullpen gamble now reads like one of the Blue Jays’ best moves.
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