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Minnesota Twins Officially Cut Bait with Bust Reliever
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- Minnesota Twins Officially Cut Bait with Bust Reliever
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
When the Minnesota Twins swung a trade with the Seattle Mariners involving Jorge Polanco , there were a handful of reasons behind the decision. Maybe most notably was that the infielder had dealt with injury issues, wasn't getting cheaper, and the franchise wanted to cash in.
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At the time it seemed like Polanco brought back strong value in the form of major league assets Anthony DeSclafani and Justin Topa . The former never pitched for Minnesota after immediately suffering an injury, and Topa was both hurt an ineffective for much of his time here as well.
With Gabriel Gonzalez being promoted for his big league debut (the top prospect included in the deal) Minnesota pushed Topa off the 40-man roster. Now they've opted against keeping him around entirely.
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Justin Topa no longer with MN Twins
The Minnesota Twins designated Justin Topa for assignment on May 19. Despite being owed just the prorated portion of a $1 million contract , no team claimed him on waivers. Rather than allow him a spot with Triple-A St. Paul, Minnesota chose to outright release him .
According to the transaction wire, the Twins have released Justin Topa after designating the 35-year-old reliever for assignment earlier this week.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 23, 2026
It's not exactly a surprising decision, even for a team whose bullpen has struggled so mightily. Topa owns an 8.05 ERA (6.47 FIP) across 19 innings this season. He has a near-even 12/11 K/BB and coughed up 27 hits. Unable to miss bats, and nowhere near trustworthy in leverage situations, it'd be difficult for him to work his way back into Derek Shelton's good graces.
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Unfortunately for Topa, it's a big fall from grace. A year ago Topa was finally healthy pitching 60 innings for the Twins. His 3.90 ERA was backed by a 3.04 FIP and he recorded a career-high four saves. It was exactly the type of performance Minnesota hoped they were getting from a guy who owned a 2.61 ERA during his lone season with the Seattle Mariners.
With his release, it's only Gabriel Gonzalez who remains for the Twins from the Polanco trade with Seattle. Meanwhile, Polanco has since been signed by the New York Mets as the first base answer to losing Pete Alonso , and he's hurt there too .
Minnesota Twins have continued bullpen overhaul
When you rank as one of the worst bullpens in the sport ( 26th by ERA ), you're going to constantly make tweaks. They have to come on the fringes , or internally, when you don't do anything to supplement the area over the offseason. Roughly one-third of the way through the season, it's been quite the overhaul already.
Twins Opening Day bullpen:
Banda
Funderburk
Kent
Orze
Rogers
Sands
Topa
Laweryson
Twins bullpen 52 games in:
Banda
Orze
Rogers
Adams
Gomez
Morris
Woods Richardson— Ted (@tlschwerz) May 23, 2026
Thus far Derek Shelton has called upon ten different relievers to record a save. Both of them with two, including Topa ( and Luis Garcia ) are no longer on the roster. It's been a consistent mix-and-match that has helped to piece things together for Minnesota.
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The Minnesota Twins aren't likely to make the playoffs , but their hopes continue to hang on as they have been intriguing. This team has already seen several of their top prospects, and they haven't been afraid to make difficult decisions (see: Matt Wallner , Royce Lewis ).
At the end of the day, no matter what happens this season, the players on the field have kept a level of intrigue that the Pohlads weren't interested in worrying about during the offseason. The front office continues to cut the fat, and the cream keeps rising to the top.
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