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For about three hours this afternoon, leading up the to MLB trade deadline, it appeared as though the entire state of Minnesota was ready to storm 1 Twins Way like it was Area 51. Finally, Twins fans had a trade deadline where they weren’t sellers and they weren’t in between, no they were in full buy mode to give this team a better shot at winning the World Series, and what were they left with, Sergio Romo, a reliever who in his own right is a good addition to the bullpen, but by himself is a little underwhelming of a trade deadline. However, right before the clock struck zero, the Twins were able to acquire another addition to the bullpen in right-handed reliever Sam Dyson. Both Sergio Romo and Sam Dyson were featured in Twins Daily’s “Potential Twins Bullpen Target” series last month.Going into the deadline, many Twins fans had their sights set on adding a front of the rotation starting pitcher, along with a couple backend of the bullpen arms. As the deadline started to draw near it, was apparent that this wasn’t going to be the case, for not only the Twins, but for most of the teams looking to add pitching at the deadline. Some of the biggest named starting pitchers, like Noah Syndergaard, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Boyd, Robbie Ray or Mike Minor didn’t even get traded. The only big-name starting pitchers that go moved were Marcus Stroman, Trevor Bauer and Zack Greinke. Neither Bauer nor Greinke were ever really options for the Twins as the Indians weren’t going to deal Bauer to the Twins while they are in a division race together, and Zack Greinke wouldn’t waive his no trade clause for a potential trade to the Twins. This left Stroman, who was traded to the New York Mets in the biggest head scratcher at the deadline. Not only are the Mets not in contention this year, but the package they gave up to acquire Stroman could have easily been matched by the Twins with Jhoan Duran and Blayne Enlow. It sounded as though the Twins were in trade talks with the Blue Jays, but the Jays didn’t circle back to the Twins before making the deal with the Mets. It is unclear why this happened, or if the Twins were just unwilling to offer something that rivaled the Mets offer. The Twins were also reportedly interested in some of the big-name relievers on the trade market, which included Will Smith, Kirby Yates, Ken Giles, Felipe Vazquez, Edwin Diaz and Shane Greene. At the end of the day, the only one of those pitchers who actually got moved was Shane Greene, who really wasn’t much of an option for the Twins as the Tigers weren’t all that interested in making an interdivision trade. It is up for debate if the Twins could have been more aggressive to try and acquire one of these arms to assist the bullpen, but if nearly all of them didn’t get traded it probably suggests that the asking price was way too high, and could have been a trade the Twins would come to regret down the road, ala Matt Capps. Now that has been said, let’s move on from what the Twins didn’t acquire, and focus on what they did. I won’t spend a ton of time going over the Sergio Romo acquisition, as we already spent a bunch of time on that, but if you would like a more in-depth review of that trade you can find it here. The Twins also made a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers for a Double-A reliever named Marcos Diplan in exchange for cash considerations. In 2013, Diplan was consider the top available pitcher on the International Free Agent market. Fast-forward to 2019, and things haven’t exactly gone as planned for the now 22-year-old. In 57 and 2/3 innings at Double-A this year, Diplan has a 4.99 ERA (4.41 FIP) with a 9.8 K/9 and an extremely high 5.8 BB/9. The final trade that the Twins made before the deadline was perhaps their biggest, when the acquired Sam Dyson from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Jaylin Davis, Prelander Berrroa and Kai-Wei Teng. In the Twins Daily Mid-Season Top 40 rankings, Davis was ranked as the 35th best prospect in the Twins system, while neither Berroa nor Teng were ranked. In all, it was more of a quantity over quality get for the Giants, which is exactly what the Twins were looking to do as they did not want to part with some of their higher ranked prospects. So, what are the Twins getting with their newly acquired piece to the bullpen? Sam Dyson is a 31-year-old right-handed reliever who has had his fare share of ups and downs during his MLB career. So far, this year has been more up than down for Dyson. In 51 innings, across 49 appearances, Dyson has a 2.47 ERA (2.74 FIP), with a respectable 8.2 K/9 an excellent 1.2 BB/9, which is the 5th lowest among qualified relievers in 2019. This has helped Dyson get a remarkably low .902 WHIP. This is not only lower than Taylor Rogers (1.027), but also lower than Dyson’s former teammate Will Smith (.906) and ranks 11th amongst qualified relievers this season. Relievers who can keep runners off the base paths late in games are the kind of low stress pitchers that Twins fans will need as we watch some of the highest stress Twins baseball in over a decade a few months from now. Despite being reliever, Sam Dyson uses a five-pitch mix, with his sinker being his most prominent pitch, which he throws about 45 percent of the time. Despite this, Dyson’s sinker appears to be his worst pitch, as opposing hitters have a .305 average and a .343 wOBA against his sinker, while Dyson isn’t giving up a batting average above .211 and a wOBA above .232 on any of his other pitches. It wouldn’t shock me if Wes Johnson and the Twins take a similar approach with Dyson that they have with some of their other pitchers, like Tyler Duffey, and faze out Dyson’s sinkers. Whether that happens mid-season is up in the air, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear rumors of the Twins tinkering with Dyson’s pitches next spring. Dyson also features both a cutter, which he throws about 25 percent of the time, and a four-seam fastball, which he throws roughly 13 percent of the time, to go along with his sinker. If the Twins were to make some changes with Dyson’s pitch selection this season, look for those to pitches start being used more often. A few weeks ago, our own Tom Froemming made a video pitch for why the Twins should acquire Sam Dyson. You can check out the video here. While you’re at it, make sure to go ahead and subscribe to Tom’s Youtube channel. He posts a bunch of excellent video content on Twins related topics, so if you can’t get enough Twins talk, this is a great place to go. Overall, Sam Dyson is another good addition by “Falvine” to Taylor Rogers and the rest of the Twins bullpen. On my personal reliver trust rankings, I have Dyson and Romo slotted in at second and third respectively. While neither will be the lights out relief ace, they are still big improvements on the Twins bullpen from where it stood a week ago. What are your thoughts? Did the Twins do enough to make you feel comfortable about their chances to take on the Yankees and Astros in October? Let us know in the comment section down below. Related Content Twins Acquire RHP Sam Dyson from Giants Twins Trade Lewin Diaz for RHP Sergio Romo, 2 Minor Leaguers Click here to view the article

We are now just two days away from the 2019 MLB Trade Deadline. That means the rumor mill is off the charts right now with countless rumors of Team X being interested in Player Y. With the Minnesota Twins right in the tick of a postseason push, and a clear need to upgrade their pitching staff, they find themselves right in the thick of things as far as trade rumors go. It could make it quite difficult to keep up with everything, and everyone the Twins are interested in. Don't worry, we have you covered with all the latest up to date rumors surrounding the Twins.Sometimes these rumors can seem like they are just that, rumors. It is no surprise that the Twins are doing their due diligence and checking in on each and every player they are interested in potentially trading for. While most of the time these don't end up amounting to anything, it is still important to keep track of, because it can give you a good idea what the Twins are thinking, and who they might be about ready to trade for. Just take Sergio Romo for example. On Saturday morning it was reported that the Twins were interested in Romo, and by the end of the day he was the newest member of the Minnesota Twins. Things can happen that quickly. So, let's take a look at some of the rumors currently circulating around the Twins. Noah Syndergaard The New York Mets have done a fine job stirring the pot of late. They have been linked to being sellers, which would make players like Noah Syndergaard, Zach Wheeler and Edwin Diaz all available. However, on Sunday they then went out and acquired Marcus Stroman. Yet they are still saying they are interested in moving Syndergaard. This one is a real head scratch, and it is anyones guess on what the Mets will do before Wednesday, because quite frankly I don't think they know what they are going to do. LaVelle Neal of the Star Tribune reported that the Mets were interested in a package for Syndergaard that included both Royce Lewis and Alex Kirilloff. It is unlikely that the Twins would even consider moving both of them for Noah Syndergaard, but you can't really blame the Mets for starting the negotiations by asking high. Robbie Ray Jon Morosi of MLB Network posted this tweet on Saturday, siting that the Twins were among the list of teams who had inquired about Robbie Ray. There hasn't been much follow up to this over the past couple of days, so it could have very well just been the Twins asking about his price. If the Twins were to acquire Ray they would be getting a one of the top strikeout heavy starting pitchers in the game. However, what's different between Ray and other elite strikeout throwers like Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander, is Ray has a terrible time with control. Ray could be a real wildcard for the Twins if they could trade for him and the remaining year and a half left before he hits free agency. Mike Minor Much like Robbie Ray, the Twins were reported to be one of the teams looking to trade for Mike Minor. With Marcus Stroman off the table, and no real clarity on the Noah Syndergaard front, Minor might very well be the best starting pitcher available on the trade market. It wouldn't surprise me if the Twins are in on the Rangers lefty, especially given Thad Levine's ties to the Rangers organization. Ken Giles & Kirby Yates A few weeks back it was reported that the Twins had checked in on both Ken Giles and Kirby Yates, but there hasn't been much headway on those fronts in the time since. These could be two relievers to keep an eye on in the coming days if the Twins were to pull off a trade for a big name reliever. Jason Vargas Interesting development this afternoon. Still not clear who that the other team is, but could make sense as an acquisition for the Twins, so stay tuned. *Update* Vargas is reportedly heading to the Phillies, so cross his name off the list of potential Twins bullpen acquisitions. Click here to view the article