Minnesota Twins Sign Another Depth Reliever to Minor League Deal
If there has been two constants to start the Minnesota Twins 2025 season they are losing and shuttling pitchers. Rocco Baldelli’s team is off to a 5-12 start and his seat is burning hot. They came into the season with aspirations of a division title and have gotten out of the gate just like they finished in 2024 .
A poor first trip through the rotation put the Twins a bit behind the eight ball. Bailey Ober pitching sick cost Randy Dobnak his job after he was designated for assignment and ultimately sent back to Triple-A. Darren McCaughan assumed the mop-up role and then was given the same fate .
Scott Blewett waited in Triple-A because Minnesota wasn’t looking to lose him quickly. Brock Stewart suffered a setback and another bullpen arm was needed to replace McCaughan. Guess who came over only to be DFA’d and scooped up days later ? You guess it, the Twins blew it.
Tyler Beede joins Minnesota Twins bullpen shuttle service
Presumably the Twins will need more depth at Triple-A if they are going to keep utilizing their final bullpen spot as a revolving door. There are only so many veteran players that can be castoffs, and now Tyler Beede is taking over Blewett’s spot in the St. Paul Saints bullpen.
Beede is a former first round pick , twice actually. He was selected 21st overall in 2011 by the Toronto Blue Jays but went to college. The San Francisco Giants then took him 14th out of Vanderbilt during the 2014 draft. A former top 100 prospect and Futures Game participant, Beede’s career has never really taken off.
As a 30-year-old in 2023, Beede pitched in Japan and then joined the Cleveland Guardians last season. He owned an 8.36 ERA across 14 innings. The strikeouts were there as he racked up 18 of them, but he also allowed nine walks.
He underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2020 and then threw 61 1/3 innings split between the Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2022 season. His velocity averaged 93.7 mph last year with Cleveland, which is down from the 95.8 mph he was throwing in 2022.
Related: Minnesota Twins Lose Promising Reliever to Waivers
Minnesota assumedly will have Beede working in middle relief for the Saints. He isn’t on the 40-man roster, but could be a candidate to be added if yet another arm is needed. As has been the case with the previous veterans though, he is out of minor league options and will need to be DFA’d before going back to the minors.
MN Twins pitching hasn’t been the problem
There were questions as to how good the Minnesota starting rotation may be this season. They were projection systems that tabbed the Twins bullpen as the best in baseball. Now they sit 5-12 and everything looks awful.
The reality though it that Minnesota can’t play defense and they certainly can’t hit. Over their past seven games Minnesota starters have an ERA under 1.00 . The team has gone 2-5 in that stretch. A circus broke out on Monday night against the Mets with Willi Castro hitting a runner as if the game was dodgeball, and Justin Topa making the sixth error for Twins pitchers this season.
Minnesota’s .203 batting average is just two points better than the Chicago White Sox and puts them in 27th place across baseball. Their on-base percentage (.274 -27th) and slugging percentage (.327 – 25th) are equally dreadful.
Slow starts have become something of a constant for Baldelli led teams. That said, this group collectively can’t figure out how to get out of their own way. The talent on the roster is undeniable. Instead they are having to send messages through demotions less than three weeks into the season.
It’s getting late early in Twins Territory.
