According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Twins have acquired left-handed reliever AJ Minter from the New York Mets. The Twins are sending prospects Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani in return.
Minter, 32, has spent plenty of time on the injured list the past few seasons, but has been relatively healthy of late, posting a 2.35 ERA/4.02 FIP in 23 innings so far this year. His strikeout rate is lower than ideal at just 21.7% but he’s also walked only two batters all season, leading to an elite 2.2% walk rate.
He uses his cutter and fastball almost exclusively, but will mix in an occasional changeup against righties and sinker against lefties just to keep hitters off balance. Minter is owed around $3.5M for the rest of 2026 and will be a free agent after the season.
Minter will essentially step into the role vacated by Anthony Banda’s season ending injury: a high leverage lefty who will be occasionally asked for more. Minter is still a clear tier below Yoendrys Gomez and Andrew Morris, but gives them another solid, if unspectacular, relief option at the end of games. While that may seem underwhelming, it’s important to remember that the Twins have been forced to turn to waiver wire pickup Jack Anderson in high leverage spots multiple times in the past week.
Between Minter, the acquisition of Tommy Nance a few weeks ago, and major strides forward from Travis Adams and Kody Funderburk in July, the Twins finally have the makings of a real, Major League-caliber bullpen. I would still expect them to be active on the pitching market to shore things up. That could mean another reliever, but I still think a starter is necessary for this team to make a real run at the postseason. Especially if, as expected, Connor Prielipp will have to pitch out of the bullpen over the final few weeks of the season since he flew past his career high in innings a few weeks ago.
Amick, 23, was the Twins’ second round pick back in 2024. Amick was a prolific college hitter but concerns about his swing path and lack of hit tool have proven to be correct. At AA Wichita, he has hit .217/.338/.482 with 23 home runs and a rough 28.5% strikeout rate. Without other tools to make up for it (like say, Emmanuel Rodriguez) it’s tough to see a scenario where Amick makes enough contact to be a valuable contributor. But he was drafted highly for a reason and the Mets clearly saw things they liked.
Agbayani, 19, was drafted in the 6th round in 2025. Son of former Big Leaguer Benny Agbayani, the Twins took a swing on him last year thanks to his advanced hit tool and approach at the plate. Unfortunately, injuries have kept him to just 15 total games since being drafted. Agbayani is a bigger name than some Complex League-level wildcard prospects that get tossed into trades, but he should probably be viewed equivalently at this point in his career.
Welcome to the team, AJ!
