Minnesota Twins throw in the towel on the Cody Allen project

The Minnesota Twins released the reliever after acquiring a pair of relievers prior to Wednesday’s MLB trade deadline.

The Minnesota Twins are feeling a lot better about their bullpen these days thanks to a productive (if not spectacular) haul at the trade deadline. With the acquisitions of Sergio Romo and Sam Dyson, the Twins feel like the bridge to Taylor Rogers at the end of games is more stable, which means they can pull the plug on some of their projects in the lower levels of their system.

One of those projects was with Cody Allen as the Twins were hoping that he could regain the form that made him a strong closer with the Cleveland Indians after a rough stint with the Los Angeles Angels. After about a month, the Twins decided to end the experiment on Wednesday night as they released the 30-year old via Rochester Red Wings announcer Nate Rowan.

Allen got off to a solid start with the Twins after being sent to High-A Fort Myers, throwing four scoreless innings with four strikeouts, no walks, and a 0.75 WHIP. The Twins would promote Allen to Triple-A Rochester shortly after the All-Star break, however, and that is where the issues that plagued him in Los Angeles popped up.

In eight innings for the Red Wings, Allen gave up five runs (three earned) and also walked five batters. His WHIP doubled to 1.50 in Rochester and with the Twins being able to add reinforcements at the major league level, it was time to move on and cut their losses.

With other young pitchers such as Sean Poppen, Zack Littell and Devin Smeltzer stepping up, there might be more upside going with that trio if needed than waiting on Allen. With the new faces arriving in Minnesota, it’s clear that the bullpen is in better shape than it was a week ago.