Veteran Reliever Joins MN Twins on MiLB Deal

This offseason, if the Minnesota Twins want any chance of competing in a weak AL Central, they need to rebuild the bullpen they ripped to shreds at the 2025 MLB Trade Deadline. Of course, the free agency conversation with the local nine always starts with money.

Despite the cash infusion provided by the new minority partners, payroll isn’t going to increase that much beyond the $100 million it’s currently projected at. That number is $50 million less than their 2024 payroll and $60 million less than what they spent in 2023, the last time Minnesota went to the playoffs.

More than likely, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey will look to add with cheap veterans off the free agent market, while also transitioning some underachieving young starters into the bullpen, in an attempt to jump start their big league careers.

Dan Altavilla signs with Minnesota Twins

Over the years, Falvey has shied away from spending tangible offseason dollars on the MN Twins bullpen. Addison Reed is the only player he ever gave a substantial contract to, and that went up in smoke.

The Twins have had far greater success converting starters to relievers and/or spending small on the open market, and finding untapped talent for bargain prices. On Wednesday night, Falvey’s latest bullpen project — Dan Altavilla — was signed to a minor league deal.

Right-handed pitcher Dan Altavilla agreed to a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins, according to a source.

Altavilla, 33, appeared at the MLB level with the White Sox in 2025, throwing 29 innings with a 2.48 ERA.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) December 18, 2025

In 2025, Dan Altavilla threw 29 big league innings for the Chicago White Sox, rising up as one of the few bright spots on yet another dismal season on the South Side, posting a 2.48 ERA.

What does Altavilla bring to Twins and will we see him in March?

But a look deeper into his 2025 numbers will tell you why he’s being relegated to an MiLB contract this offseason. A sub-2.50 ERA is really good, even for a reliever, but his 5.45 FIP and 21/15 K/BB show a deeper problem ready to unveil itself, with a larger sample size.

At 33 years old, Altavilla is no spring chicken, but he does bring eight seasons in the big league experience to the organization. In that near-decade of service time, the most he’s pitched in a single season is 46 2/3 innings (2017 with Seattle).

Dan Altavilla, Filthy Sinkers. 😷 pic.twitter.com/9WwyBX526v

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 10, 2025

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Dan Altavilla holds a career 9.4 K/9, which is plenty for the Minnesota Twins to work with. But again, he has to fix his accuracy issues. Even for a reliever, a 4.7 BB/9 is way too high.

Altavilla is a sinker and slider pitcher, who also developed a changeup last season with the White Sox. After virtually never throwing the pitch previously, he used it 23% of the time in 2025.

There are no guarantees that Altavilla makes Derek Shelton’s 26-man Opening Day roster. However, he’s coming into an organization that has virtually no bullpen at the time of his signing.