Minnesota Twins: 5 controllable players the front office should pursue before the trade deadline
By Nate Palmer
Raisel Iglesias, Closer, Cincinnati Reds
The Twins invested a lot of their offseason moves when constructing the 2018 Twins on bullpen additions. They added Addison Reed, Zack Duke, and Fernando Rodney all to the back end of their bullpen. This signalled that the front office still had and may still have questions about some of the relief pitchers that appear to be ready to join the majors but have yet to be called up and are still pitching in the minors.
By the end of the trade deadline, both Duke and Rodney could very well be on another team. That would leave opportunity for the Twins to see what some of their young arms have to offer the major league bullpen. It could also be the perfect opportunity for the Twins to usher in their closer of the future if they could acquire Cincinnati Reds closer Raisel Iglesias.
Iglesias, much like Realmuto, has been one of the more coveted controllable assets on the market. Since 2016 he has been a very dominant relief pitcher. Last season as he took full claim of the role as the Reds closer as he put together an excellent season. He logged over 76.0 innings as he recorded a 2.49 ERA, 92 strikeouts for a 10.9 K/9, and 28 saves. This season Iglesias has pitched 47.0 innings and has a 2.11 ERA, 49 strikeouts for a 9.4 K/9, and 21 saves.
While the right-hander has allowed his highest rate of home runs with 1.15 HR/9, he is also missing bats at the highest rate in his career. Iglesias’ swinging strike rate has steadily risen through his career. In 2018 his swinging strike rate sits at 14.9% which is up from 13.9% in 2017. That would be the type of makeup that would likely make for a much calmer experience than the Fernando Rodney experience has brought to the end of Twins games in 2018.