Minnesota Twins: Five potential bullpen targets at the MLB trade deadline
By Chris Schad
The Minnesota Twins will be looking for bullpen help at the MLB trade deadline, but who could help the Twins ahead of July 31?
Odds are if you have watched a Minnesota Twins game this season, you’ve probably said some bad things about their bullpen. Entering Tuesday, the Twins ‘pen ranks sixth in the American League with an ERA of 4.27, but those numbers don’t tell the complete story.
Over the past couple of months, the Twins bullpen has shown cracks as relievers who were solid at the beginning of the season such as Blake Parker and Matt Magill have taken a turn for the worse. In addition, other relievers such as Trevor May and Tyler Duffey, don’t inspire complete confidence heading into the offseason.
This is an issue because in previous seasons, the bullpen has been key to allowing teams to ride to deep playoff runs. In 2015, the Kansas City Royals rode their pen to a World Series title and the following year, Andrew Miller nearly took the Cleveland Indians to their first championship since 1948. Even last year, the Milwaukee Brewers almost exclusively used their bullpen to nearly head to the World Series for the first time since 1982.
Although history has been littered with strong pitching performances, the bullpen matters and the Twins will be on the lookout for help in the coming weeks.