The Minnesota Twins need to improve their bullpen. While it improved after the trade acquisitions of Yoendrys Gomez, Jeff Hoffman, A.J. Minter and Tommy Nance, Minnesota's bullpen still needs reinforcements, especially since Minter and Taylor Rogers are now free agents.
There are several top free-agent relievers the Twins can target, but would they be better off improving the bullpen by adding a starting pitcher instead?
Dan Hayes of The Athletic speculates that the Twins could spend more on the starting rotation than the bullpen this offseason, which would also improve the bullpen.
Minnesota's starting pitching depth looks like a strength, with eight legitimate big-league starting pitchers in the organization: Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Bailey Ober, Mick Abel, Dean Kremer, Connor Prielipp and Zebby Matthews. Additionally, Kendry Rojas made starts for the Twins last season and has a high ceiling. Still, adding another top starter would be a wise move for Minnesota, as the rotation struggled overall last year, largely because López missed the entire year and Ryan regressed significantly in the second half.
Twins could convert starters to relievers in 2027
Adding another starter would give the Twins more flexibility with the pitching staff. Even if they don't sign another starter, the Twins seem to have enough depth to convert one or two starters to bullpen roles. But still, signing another starter would strengthen Minnesota's rotation and bullpen at the same time.
It's doubtful the Twins are in the mix for top free-agent starting pitcher Tarik Skubal, but there are plenty of other interesting starters the team could target, including Trevor Rogers, Sonny Gray, Freddy Peralta, Tyler Mahle, Michael King and Clay Holmes.
Let's say the Twins do sign a top starting pitcher this offseason and don't trade any of their current starters. López, Ryan and Bradley would be locks for the rotation. Then, Ober, Abel, Kremer, Prielipp and Matthews would likely compete for the final spot.
Matthews, Prielipp and Abel have options, so Minnesota could keep any or all of them at Triple-A St. Paul to start the season. The Twins could also convert one or more of them to bullpen roles.
Obviously, the best way for the Twins to improve their pitching staff is to sign both a top starter and a bullpen arm. But even though they plan to increase payroll this offseason, the Twins brass should be smart about how they allocate spending. Adding a catcher and a first baseman should be another priority for the front office.
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