It looks like the Twins are buying! Minnesota has acquired right-handed reliever Tommy Nance and international bonus pool space from the Toronto Blue Jays, according to ESPN's Alden González and Jeff Passan. Minnesota sent Toronto minor leaguer Ryan Sprok in the deal, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. The trade is a clear signal that Minnesota has no plans to sell ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Nance, 35, has had a successful season so far, posting a 3.82 ERA with a 24.5% strikeout rate, 9.4% walk rate and .230 opponent batting average over 33 innings. The right-hander has five years of big-league experience, spending the past three seasons with the Blue Jays following stints with the Chicago Cubs and Miami Marlins, respectively. Nance has a career ERA of 4.25 with a 25.3% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate in 159 innings.
Nance's Baseball Savant Page reveals some concerns, but also some reasons to be excited. While his expected ERA (4.37) and batting average (.257) are below average, he has an elite chase rate of 36.4% (95th percentile), hard-hit rate of 35.9% (67th percentile) and ground-ball rate of 46.7% (73rd percentile). The 9.4% walk rate is a bit of a concern, but the fact that he limits hard contact and induces strikeouts and groundouts at an above-average rate shows he could be a major boost to the Twins' struggling bullpen, which ranks last among all 30 MLB teams in ERA (5.28).
Nance has thrown his high-80s slider 37.7% of the time this year, his mid-80s curveball 34.8% and his mid-90s sinker 27.8%.
Twins clearly have no plans to sell at deadline after Blue Jays-Tommy Nance trade
Of course, the Twins could end up flipping Nance at the deadline if the team falls out of postseason contention. But for now, the team clearly plans to contend this year. As it stands, Minnesota is one game back of the Seattle Mariners for the third AL Wild Card spot and two games back of the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians for first place in the AL Central.
Nance won't be able to fix the Twins' bullpen by himself, but he certainly can help improve it. Minnesota also acquired a reliever, right-hander Woo-Suk Go, from the Detroit Tigers earlier in the week.
Minnesota will have to remove someone from its 26-man roster to make room for Nance. Most likely, it will be either Travis Adams, Mike Paredes, Eric Orze or Kendry Rojas. All four of those pitchers have minor-league options remaining.
Add us as a preferred source on Google