The Minnesota Twins picked up yet another struggling reliever, acquiring right-hander Yoendrys Gómez from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for cash considerations on Wednesday, the team announced. Gómez had been designated for assignment by the Rays after posting a 6.23 ERA with a 15.9% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate in 17 1/3 innings across nine appearances. Minnesota designated right-handed reliever Christian Roa, whom the Twins had claimed from the Houston Astros late last month, to make room for Gómez on the 40-man roster.
Gómez will join Minnesota's 26-man roster since he is out of minor-league options. The Twins have yet to activate the former Ray. The most likely player to lose his spot on the Twins' big-league roster to make room for Gómez is 39-year-old right-handed reliever Luis García, who has posted an awful 19.64 ERA in 3 2/3 innings across five games since joining the Twins' MLB roster.
The Twins' acquisition of Gómez represents what's wrong with the team's bullpen construction. Rather than build a bullpen with reliable arms in the offseason after trading five relievers last summer, the Twins constructed a bullpen abundant with relievers who are either past their prime or haven't proved they're MLB material. Because of the Twins' poorly built bullpen, Minnesota's relievers rank 29th out of the 30 MLB teams in ERA (5.83) and strikeout rate (18.4%), last in batting average against (.276) and 20th in walk rate (11.1%).
Here are the stats for every reliever who has logged innings with the Twins this year:
Twins 2026 relievers' stats
RHP Eric Orze — 4.86 ERA, 22.2 K%, 2.66 FIP, 11.1 BB% (16 2/3 IP, 15 G)
RHP Andrew Morris — 5.17 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 20 K%, 5.7 BB% (15 2/3 IP, 7 G)
LHP Taylor Rogers — 5.27 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 15.9 K%, 9.5 BB% (13 2/3 IP, 15 G)
RHP Garrett Acton — 2.70 ERA, 2.24 FIP, 32.1 K%, 10.7 BB% (6 2/3 IP, 4 G)
RHP Cody Laweryson — 4.26 ERA, 2.51 FIP, 30.8 K%, 7.7 BB% (6 1/3 IP, 5 G)
RHP John Klein — 0.00 ERA, 3.14 FIP, 0 K%, 0 BB% (1 IP, 1 G)
RHP Cole Sands — 4.63 ERA, 4.51 FIP, 22 K%, 8 BB% (11 2/3 IP, 12 G)
LHP Kendry Rojas —0.00 ERA, 7.64 FIP, 0 K%, 37.5 BB% (2 IP, 1 G)
LHP Anthony Banda — 8.40 ERA, 4.81 FIP, 20 K%, 7.1 BB% (15 IP, 17 G)
LHP Kody Funderburk — 2.51 ERA, 5.37 FIP, 16.1 K%, 17.7 BB% (14 1/3 IP, 17 G)
RHP Zak Kent — 4.91 ERA, 13.23 FIP, 10 K%, 25 BB% (3 2/3 IP, 2 G)
RHP Luis García — 19.64 ERA, 12.68 FIP, 0 K%, 10 BB% (3 2/3 IP, 5 G)
RHP Justin Topa — 7.88 ERA, 6.64 FIP, 13.3 K%, 10.7 BB% (16 IP, 20 G)
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