Perfect (Familiar) Answer to Minnesota Twins Bullpen Woes Just Hit the Waiver Wire

The Minnesota Twins bullpen blew another tied game on Wednesday night. For anyone who has been able to watch games or pay attention this summer is not surprised by that sentence. We’ve become used to it.

What was projected to be one of this club’s best assets entering the season, quickly proved to be the opposite of that. And now, it seems like every game the Twins lose is, in large part, at the hands of their leaky bullpen. On Tuesday, they claimed one familiar reliever, in Michael Tonkin. But let’s be real, he isn’t the answer.

Former Minnesota Twins reliever Taylor Rogers waived by Giants

So, how can the Twins fix player personnel issues now that the MLB trade deadline has passed? Well, it’s not easy. But Wednesday evening, it became very possible, when the San Francisco Giants waived three veteran players, in an attempt to clear salary off their books. One of the players waived was former Twins closer, Taylor Rogers.

WAIVERS: #SFGiants have placed INF Thairo Estrada, LHP Taylor Rogers, and LHP Tyler Matzek on outright waivers.

— MLB Transaction Tracker (@MLBMovesTracker) August 29, 2024

San Francisco is giving up on their season, that’s all this move means. I know your next question. Is Taylor Rogers any good anymore? Yes. In fact, he is having one of the best seasons of his career.

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In 51.1 innings pitched, the former Twin holds a 2.45 ERA, a 160 ERA+ and 2.66 FIP. He would immediately alleviate Minnesota’s middle-to-late relief issues, not to mention flip their left-handed bullpen weakness into a strength.

LHRP Taylor Rogers has been placed on waivers by the Giants, he’s been an elite reliever this year (3.44 FIP, 28.2 K%), under contract next year $12M, Mets should put a claim in here. Danny Young has been solid but Rogers would bolster this pen’ a lot. pic.twitter.com/8wVHQGexhf

— Dom B (@DomB92_) August 29, 2024

Yes, the Twins have bullpen problems. But a closer look at the numbers tells us that, overall, things aren’t as bad as they might seem, lately. Minnesota’s 3.91 bullpen ERA, entering Wednesday, was the 7th-best in the American League.

That’s not earth shatteringly low, and it will now go up after another difficult night for Twins relievers. But it’s average. Griffin Jax is one of the best setup/firemen in all of baseball, and Jhoan Duran is still (usually) lights out. Inserting a lefty like Rogers right behind those two could legitimately change everything about how Rocco, and opposing teams, view this bullpen.

Only one thing Pohlad family stands in the way of this all-too-obvious reunion…

So what is stopping the Minnesota Twins from bringing Taylor Rogers back to Minneapolis? Probably the Pohlads. In order to sign him, they’d have to get the go-ahead to pay the remainder of his 2024 salary, which would cost the Twins $2.1 million in additional payroll.

Not only that, but they’d also be on the hook for his 2025 salary, which is over $12 million. That’s not a lot of money for a high-end reliever who we know is comfortable at Target Field.

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But for an organization that has REFUSED to add any additional money to their payroll over the past 9 months, any signing that includes bringing on significant money gives me pause.

Can president of baseball operations Derek Falvey convince Joe Pohlad to sneak some cash out of his dad’s emergency stash? If so, this would be the perfect opportunity.