MN Twins Swing Trade for Pitching Help

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Garrett Acton
Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

We are just six games into the 2026 Major League Baseball regular season, but the Minnesota Twins warts have been on display through their first two road series in Baltimore and Kansas City. Now, the 2-4 Twins headed back to Target Field for their home opener on Friday.

So far, the 2026 Twins have been as expected. When the kids hit, the offense is capable of putting up runs in bunches, like they did today in the 9th inning of their getaway win vs the Royals. Meanwhile, the defense has been shaky, at best, and the bullpen leaky.

New manager Derek Shelton expected to have a strong starting rotation when he took the job this offseason. Unfortunately, that went up in flames when Pablo Lopez went down for the season with a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery.

Without Lopez, the rotation will rely heavily on Joe Ryan and power-throwing youngsters Taj Bradley and Mick Abel to exceed expectations, if the rotation is going to even pitch above average.

Reliever Garrett Acton lands on Minnesota Twins 40-man roster

Of course, it might not matter how good the starters pitch, after the front office blew up the bullpen last trade deadline and then did nothing to to restock it over the offseason. Instead, GM Jeremy Zoll has been stockpiling cheap longshot arms, in the hopes that a couple will stick.

And on Thursday evening, they added another, this time via trade with the Miami Marlins for right-handed reliever Garrett Acton, who they claimed off waivers in February from the Colorado Rockies.

Recently designated for assignment again, the Minnesota Twins decided to make a deal with the Marlins, instead of waiting for Acton to hit the waiver wire.

Acton still has a pair of minor league options available, but Miami opted to move on instead of using. The Minnesota Twins have placed him on the 40-man roster, and they cleared a spot by placing injured pitcher David Festa on the 60-day injured list.

More on the Whitaker for Acton swap

Miami had Acton at Triple-A Jacksonville to start the year. He made two appearances and had a 4/1 K/BB across 2 1/3 innings. A former 35th round pick by the Chicago White Sox, Acton has 6 2/3 innings of big league experience, prior to joining the Twins.

Last season, in 58 2/3 innings with Triple-A Durham (Rays), Acton posted a 3.68 ERA with a 10.9 K/9. He sits in the mid-90’s and gives the Twins another option that could prove worthy at Triple-A St. Paul.

The Minnesota Twins clearly have some level of belief in Acton, as they gave up 2024 19th round pick Logan Whitaker to complete the deal. Last season, the NC State product looked solid in 38 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A.

Whitaker posted a 2.11 ERA in 25 appearances and carried a 33/10 K/BB. Whitaker will be 26 years old this season and now heads to a Marlins organization that will be hoping for a younger version of what Acton could potentially provide right now.

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