Minnesota Twins' All-2000s Team: Building a pitching staff

As we enter 2025, let’s take a look at some of the best Twins of the quarter century so far. We already started the All-2000s Minnesota Twins team by creating a lineup. It’s now time to lay out a rotation and bullpen to complete the roster.

Ace: Johan Santana

An easy choice, Johan Santana had a dominant run with the Twins in the mid-2000s. The lefty won two Cy Young awards with the club in 2004 and 2006, winning a pitching Triple Crown in the latter season. He led the league in strikeouts in three consecutive seasons, won the ERA title three times, made four all-star teams, and even sprinkled in a gold glove to ice the cake.

He was ultimately traded by the Twins to the Mets in his prime prior to the 2009 season in exchange for a package headlined by Carlos Gomez. His Mets tenure was highlighted by a no-hitter against the Cardinals in 2012, hurling a whopping 134 pitches to finish the job.

Unfortunately, injuries hindered his career, as he missed the entirety of the 2011 season before multiple injuries kept him from returning to the field after 2012. If not for the injuries that stripped him of longevity, Santana would have likely built a strong Hall of Fame argument and made it in with a similar case as C.C. Sabathia, who was just inducted this year. 

Santana is the perfect arm to lead this All-2000s rotation.

Rotation: Brad Radke

Innings, innings, innings. Brad Radke was a workhorse for the Twins in the early 2000s. He was as reliable an innings-eater as they come, pitching his entire 12-year career with the club from 1995-2006. He threw over 200 innings while making over 30 starts in nine of those years, racking up the fourth most wins in franchise history.

It wasn’t sexy or overpowering, but it was effective to the tune of 45.3 career bWAR and a 4.22 ERA while walking very few batters. Radke was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2009, adding to a resume worthy of earning a rotation spot on our all-2000s squad. 

Rotation: Scott Baker

Continuing the theme of reliable, Scott Baker will join our rotation. Baker had an underrated tenure with the Twins, proving to be a solid starter for seven seasons in the Twin Cities. He was a winning pitcher across his nearly 1,000 innings with the club, going 63-48 for a winning percentage of .571 with a respectable 4.15 ERA.

Baker’s best season came in 2008, where he led a rotation that missed the division crown by just a single game, racking up 4.4 bWar with a 3.45 ERA and an 11-4 record. Baker’s consistent body of work with the Twins in the mid-2000s earns him a spot in the middle of the rotation. 

Rotation: Francisco Liriano

Only one no-hitter has been thrown by a Minnesota Twin since the turn of the century. Who threw it? Francisco Liriano. Liriano accomplished the feat against the White Sox on May 3, 2011, winning a tight 1-0 ballgame and throwing 123 pitches.

Although the rest of his 2011 season wasn’t necessarily impressive, his previous year was one of the strongest of his career. He started all 31 games and recorded a 3.62 ERA while throwing the most innings of his career. His single all-star appearance came with the Twins in 2006, where he threw to a 2.16 ERA while splitting time between the rotation and the bullpen, accumulating a career high 4.5 bWAR and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting.

Liriano will be a bit of a wild-card choice and serve as a second lefty in our all-century rotation. 

Rotation: Jose Berrios

While his time in Minnesota was fairly short lived, Jose Berrios’ success with the Twins is often forgotten. Berrios spent his first six seasons in Minnesota as a promising young starter. After struggling his rookie campaign, he had five solid seasons, never throwing above a 4.00 ERA.

He was flipped to the Blue Jays at the 2021 trade deadline in a blockbuster deal that landed them top-rated prospects in Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson. Both have carved out roles for the Twins, but we’re yet to fully see if the Twins won or lost the trade.

Berrios’ strong stint in Minnesota lands him the last spot in this hypothetical rotation. 

Closer: Joe Nathan

Why not close out the game with the best closer Twins fans have ever seen?

Joe Nathan owned the ninth in Minnesota for seven seasons, racking up some of the best seasons of his illustrious career. Four of his seven seasons with the club featured an ERA under 2.00, including three consecutive from 2006-2008. Nathan recorded four seasons of 40-plus saves and five more of 30-plus. He retired as undoubtedly one of the greatest closers of all time, racking up the 10th most saves in history with 377, a Rolaids Relief award, and six all-star appearances.

He probably should’ve gotten more than just one year on the Hall of Fame ballot, but Twins fans will gladly have him shutting the door for the all-2000s team. 

Bullpen: Jhoan Duran

From the greatest reliever to the most talented reliever, Jhoan Duran is one of the most entertaining and exciting arms in the game today.

He can run his fastball up to a mind-blowing 103 mph, coupled with a splitter that can touch triple digits, something I refuse to believe should be humanly possible. His baseball savant page is a bright red joy to behold, matching his intimidating bullpen walk out.

The 2024 season wasn’t his best, as he struggled to find consistency. Still, across his three big-league seasons, he’s got an ERA of 2.59, including an incredible 1.86 rookie season while proving himself in both the closer and setup role. Duran is untouchable at his best and should easily have a bounce-back season in 2025, cementing himself as a key building block for the franchise’s future.

Bullpen: Glen Perkins

Why not add another hometown hero to the squad?

Born in St. Paul, Glen Perkins spent the entirety of his 12-year career with the Twins before becoming an analyst for the club. His career took off once he moved to the bullpen and became a trusted late-inning arm. Perkins had three straight all-star seasons where he recorded 30-plus saves.

Perkins will provide the solid left-handed arm to balance out our all-century bullpen. 

Bullpen: Eddie Guardado

Sure, Guardado debuted in 1993 and pitched in seven seasons with the Twins before 2000, including his 1996 season where he pitched in a mind-blowing 83 games. But it’s his four seasons with the team after the turn of the century that earn him a spot in our bullpen.

Those four seasons were quite possibly the best of his career, where he made two all-star teams, led the league in saves in 2002, and recorded back-to-back 40 save seasons with a sub-three ERA. You cannot often call a reliever a "workhorse,” but Guardado fits that bill with eight consecutive seasons of 60-plus games pitched out of the pen, with three of those eclipsing 70 appearances. His 116 saves with the Twins rank him fourth in the club’s history.

Guardado’s early 2000s peak and commendable availability make him a solid addition to close out the all-2000s bullpen.