10:55pm: Minnesota is sending minor leaguers Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick back in return, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic.
10:49pm: The Mets are trading lefty reliever A.J. Minter to the Twins, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. It’s the first of a series of veterans being shipped out by New York, while Minnesota adds much needed bullpen help.
Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll said on Tuesday the front office was preparing to buy. The Twins have been surprisingly competitive and aren’t far off the pace in the AL Central or the Wild Card picture. Minnesota pulled off a dramatic comeback with two outs in the ninth, capped off by a Kody Clemens walk-off grand slam, to move back to .500 this afternoon. Their 55-55 record has them in third place in the division, three games back of the White Sox. They’re only a game behind the Guardians, who currently hold the last Wild Card spot.
The bullpen is the obvious priority. Minnesota relievers have an earned run average close to 5.00, the fifth-worst mark in the league. They’re sixth from the bottom in strikeout rate and have the sport’s second-highest walk percentage (better only than Cincinnati). They’ve improved from a run prevention perspective in July but still issuing too many free passes without a ton of strikeouts.
Minnesota can at least feel confident that Minter will attack the strike zone. He has only walked two batters and hit one across 23 innings on the season. Minter isn’t going to maintain a walk rate quite that low (2.2%) but has had above-average control for the last few seasons. He used to have big swing-and-miss stuff during his time with the Braves, but that hasn’t returned since he underwent season-ending lat surgery in May 2025.
More to come.