Minnesota Twins Trade for Underwhelming Bullpen “Help”
The Minnesota Twins gutted one of the best bullpens in baseball last summer, dealing talents like Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax and Louie Varland.
Then over the offseason, they patched it back up the equivalent of rubber bands and chewed gum, with have beens like Taylor Rogers, Liam Hendriks and Andrew Chafin, along with some have nots, including Eric Orze, Zak Kent and Anthony Banda, that never took place.
Some of the MN Twins’ clearance rack finds have worked out better than others, but the overall results have been rather brutal, which is a surprise to noone, outside of Tom Pohlad.
Now 36 games into the season, their new bullpen is still struggling to define roles between relievers, which is probably difficult to do when everyone you throw out there is seemingly allergic to getting guys outs.
Minnesota Twins trade for more struggling bullpen help
Thus, the bullpen is bleeding losses on a weekly basis, pushing the Twins’ regular season record to 16-20, entering Wednesday’s matchup in DC vs the Nationals.
And now that they’ve shuffled through most of their young options Minnesota is growing more and more desperate for cheap relievers who can fill innings.
That’s why, this afternoon, they sent “cash considerations” to Tampa Bay for recently DFA’d Rays right-hander, Yoendrys Gomez — a move that essentially allowed the Twins to jump the line to be sure he wound up in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Twins are acquiring RHP Yoendrys Gómez from the Rays, sources tell @ElExtrabase.
— Daniel Álvarez-Montes (@DanielAlvarezEE) May 6, 2026
Gómez, 26, was recently DFA’d by Tampa Bay.
What do Twins see in Yoendrys Gomez?
With Tampa Bay this season, Gomez owned a ghastly 6.23 ERA (7.30 FIP) across 17 1/3 innings, allowing 5 home runs while striking out just 13 batters and walking 10, jarringly bad numbers that led to his designation for assignment, and eventually to the MN Twins bullpen.
On the bright side, Yoendrys Gomez is averaging a career-best 94.9 mph on his fastball this season. That, along with his age of just 26-years-old, is probably what caught Minnesota’s eye. He was also really good at the World Baseball Classic.
Yoendrys Gomez was dominant in his WBC yesterday for Venezuela.
— Jake (@TBRaysCentral) March 10, 2026
The velocity continues to be up. The sweeper was nasty. He had 9 whiffs and 3 Ks in 2 innings. I think he’ll be on the Rays opening day roster. pic.twitter.com/Xrga01lEya
And let’s be honest, the Twins seem to love having bad pitchers in their bullpen, which owns the league’s 28th-worst bullpen ERA, at 5.26. The group also ranks 23rd in fWAR, and at 0.3 on the season. If Gomez — who owns a 5.11 ERA in 93 career MLB innings — pitches like himself, he should fit right in here in Minnesota.
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