MN Twins Sign Proven Reliever to Prove-It Deal
Minnesota Twins pitchers and catchers have already officially reported down in Fort Myers, FL for the start of 2026 Spring Training , but the front office has made it very clear the past week or two that they are nowhere near done building the Opening Day roster.
Since February first, they have signed a handful of semi-intriguing relievers. Arguably their most significant bullpen signings so far have both been lefties.
First, they decided to bring back Taylor Rogers for a Minnesota encore. They hope he will pair well with Anthony Banda , a LHP the Twins acquired from LA earlier this week in exchange for international signing pool money.
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Still, there’s a ton of reliever work left to do if the MN Twins are going to have a competitive bullpen by the time Grapefruit League play comes to an end.
Minnesota Twins sign left reliever Andrew Chafin
Over the past few days, however, Zoll has been throwing some interesting minor league invites at the bullpen wall. It started Thursday when the Twins announced their signing of once-dominant right-handed closer, 37 y/o Liam Hendriks , on a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.
Not even 48 hours later, they went back in on this newfound infatuation for lefty relievers, inking 35 y/o Andrew Chafin to his own MiLB deal.
Chafin has never made an All-Star game and won’t be mentioned in future Hall of Fame discussions. However, he was one of the best lefty relievers in baseball for two seasons from 2022 and 2023.
He’s also coming off a 2025 season in which he pitched 33.1 innings with a 2.41 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 177 ERA+ and 1.426 WHIP. Not bad for a minor league spring signing.
What should we expect from Chafin? Well, if the Minnesota Twins didn’t already have FOUR left-handed relievers on the 40-man who all have a legitimate shot to make the 26-man Opening Day roster, he’d pretty much be a lock.
Not only does the veteran journeyman come into camp with more big league experience than most of the other pitchers in Minnesota’s bullpen, but the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks first round draft pick (No. 43 overall) is arguably the most accomplished.
Chafin should be a lock to make MN Twins bullpen… if healthy
Over the course of his 12 year MLB career , Chafin has played for eight teams before the Twins. He’s thrown a total of 542 total innings over 643 games, posting a 3.35 ERA, 3.30 FIP, 127 ERA+, 1.284 WHIP and 9.8 SO/9.
Better yet, the Kenny Powers lookalike gets better with age. Since 2021, Andrew Chafin has averaged 53.4 innings per season, with a 3.03 ERA, 137 ERA+, 3.37 FIP and 10.1 SO/9.
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The only thing holding Chafin back in recent seasons has been his own health. Last year, missed over five weeks of the season with left tricep and right hamstring injuries.
After Derek Falvey’s departure , the pressure is on both GM Jeremy Zoll and new top dog Tom Pohlad to plug holes that remain across the roster, but especially the bullpen. After all, Tom is the one who wants us to focus on the results, not the payroll.
That’s easy to say when games aren’t being played. Come March, there will be no more hiding whatever warts the 2026 Minnesota Twins have bubbling underneath their pores. 162 games will show even the most modest blemishes.
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