The Minnesota Twins had a solid bullpen last season but they could turn to a Minnesota native to add depth to the group in 2025.
KPRC2’s Ari Alexander in Kansas City reports that Nick Anderson is expected to hold a workout on Jan. 23 and KSTP’s Darren Wolfson posted on X that the Twins are “expected to have a presence” at the workout. Alexander also reports that as many as 10 teams are interested in the 35-year-old on a one-year deal as he looks to latch on with a major league club ahead of Spring Training.
Nick Anderson has been effective through injuries in MLB career
Anderson is a Crosby, Minn. native and pitched at St. Cloud State University before the Milwaukee Brewers selected him in the 32nd round of the 2012 draft. However, Anderson didn’t sign with the Brewers and spent three years in the independent Baseball Frontier League before the Twins purchased his contract in Aug. 2015.
Anderson spent four seasons in the Twins organization and made it to Triple-A Rochester, posting an 8-2 record and a 3.30 ERA with the Red Wings in 2018. But he was traded to the Miami Marlins for minor league infielder Brian Schales the following offseason and made his major league debut in 2019 before being traded again to the Tampa Bay Rays.
Anderson took off after he was traded to Tampa, posting a 3-0 record and a 2.11 ERA in 23 appearances. While Anderson posted a 42.5 percent strikeout rate with the Rays, he only pitched in 43.2 innings over three years as he battled elbow issues.
The Rays cut Anderson after he missed the entire 2022 season but Anderson returned to the majors, going 4-0 with a 3.06 ERA in 35.1 innings with the Atlanta Braves in 2023. Anderson didn’t have the same success with the Royals last season with a 3-1 record and a 4.04 ERA and his walk (9.8%) and strikeout (19.0%) took major hits before he was cut in July.
Anderson spent time in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles organizations after hitting the market but never made it back to the majors after ending the year on the injured list.
Minnesota Twins could be interested in Nick Anderson for bullpen depth
Anderson’s career falls in line with the type of players the Twins have built their bullpen around during Derek Falvey’s tenure with the team. While Minnesota has been reluctant to invest multi-year deals into relievers in free agency, they’ve taken one-year fliers on pitchers to add depth in the minors and an attempt to find a diamond in the rough.
The strategy has had mixed results. Brock Stewart was an oft-injured starting prospect before he arrived in Minnesota and became one of the Twins’ top relievers in 2023, posting a 0.65 ERA in 27.2 innings before injuries limited him to 15.2 innings last year. The Twins also tried this last offseason with Josh Staumont, who posted a 3.70 ERA in 24.1 innings but he was released in August after struggling with a larger role.
Minnesota’s bullpen ranked 19th with a 4.12 ERA but led MLB by allowing 41 percent of inherited runners to score last season. While the Twins are strong in the back end with Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran returning, they struggled in the middle innings with Justin Topa missing a majority of the season due to injury and Jorge Alcalá posting a 6.75 ERA over his final 13 appearances.
Adding depth would be a wise decision entering next season and Anderson could be a piece if he can overcome his injury history and find the form he displayed earlier in his career.