After eight months and 157 games, Justin Topa will finally be making his season debut with the Minnesota Twins. He was acquired back in January as part of the Jorge Polanco trade with the Mariners, and was hailed as a key addition to the bullpen.
Injuries delayed his arrival, though. Topa started the season on the IL after hurting himself in the final week of Spring Training, and then suffered two different setbacks in rehab assignments. It was starting to look like he wouldn't play at all this year, but the Twins are emptying the tank in an effort to claw back into the postseason picture before it's too late.
Topa joins the Twins in the same way that Donald Glover's character on Community entered a room on fire with a stack of pizzas. Minnesota's season is on life support after losing 23 of its last 34 games, including an embarrassing 4-1 loss to the hapless Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
Credit goes to Miami for actually showing up, which is all the more frustrating considering they haven't had anything to play for in months. The Twins, on the other hand, are still alive in the AL Wild Card race and have a path back in if they can catch some breaks.
Part of that will be the Royals losing most of their remaining games, but the onus is on Minnesota to take care of business on their end.
Justin Topa finally joins the Twins bullpen, but it's costing Matt Wallner's season
As the weird french guy in The Matrix Reloaded once said, every cause has an effect. Justin Topa being activated comes in a roundabout way at the price of Matt Wallner's season. Wallner left Tuesday's loss to the Marlins with an oblique strain that had landed him on the IL and ended his season early.
He could return for the postseason, but Wallner being placed on the 10-day IL means he'll miss the Wild Card round and wouldn't be back until the ALDS. This is all assuming the Twins even punch a playoff ticket, something they're two games behind doing with just five games remaining.
That's where Topa comes into play, but it sort of feels like a case of too little too late. He was the centerpiece of the Jorge Polanco trade, which right away tells you how unserious the Twins were about meaingfully adding to the roster this year. Topa is a good addition, but he's not a 1-for-1 with Polanco, or even fair value packaged with Gabriel Gonzalez. Anthony DeSclafani was filler in the deal which makes it seem better than it was, but now that deal has a chance to finally pay off for Minnesota.
If Topa can provide some relief to a taxed bullpen, and he helps the Twins make the postseason, then the trade is a winner. He's arbitration-eligible this winter so his future with the team is in flux, but a strong showing over these last five games could at the very least convince even a team as frugal as Minnesota to spend a little to keep him.
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