Three Playoff Relievers That Got Away From The Twins

One of the most bitter aspects of the Minnesota Twins missing out on postseason action this year is that a handful of major assets were let go by the hometown nine and are now helping their teams in the divisional series and beyond. Sure, talk to any team about their biggest need, and bullpen help usually finds its way into the first few responses. Every team needs another electric relief arm, even the powerhouse favorites.

But the good news for contenders like the New York Yankees, Cleveland Guardians, and, until Wednesday night, the Philadelphia Phillies is that you can always seem to count on the current decision-makers in Minnesota to drop one of these weapons due to underappreciation or stalled development. Not only is one man’s trash another man’s treasure, but we’re seeing how that trash can also boomerang back around to be the envy of the original owner. In this case, the OG owner envies three different relievers who used to be in Minnesota’s system, but the Twins let go for a pittance.

Jeff Hoffman - Philadelphia Phillies

Even though he coughed up a pretty tough loss in the deciding game of Philadelphia’s division series with the New York Mets, Hoffman has been a buzzsaw for the Philadelphia bullpen since they acquired him just before the 2023 season. But before that, he was with the Twins – for roughly four weeks.

The Twins had inked the righty to a minor league contract. They sent him packing when they decided he wasn’t going to fit into their powerhouse bullpen, which ended up having a middle-of-the-pack type of year. Three days later, Hoffman washed up in Philadelphia like a Wawa wrapper on the shores of the Delaware River, and the rest was history.

In his two seasons with the Phillies, Hoffman owns a combined 2.28 ERA across nearly 120 innings pitched, with a 12.0 K/9 on top of a rock-solid 7.4% walk rate. He’s become a legitimate late-game, high-leverage arm, even closing out games when called upon. That’s exactly the type of arm the Twins have needed to pair alongside Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran. Now they’re watching him pitch for a perennial contender on a bargain one-year, $2.2 million deal.

Cade Smith - Cleveland Guardians

Okay, this is a little bit of a stretch to call him a former Twin. They drafted him in the 16th round of the 2017 draft, but he ultimately didn’t sign. Instead, the rival Cleveland Guardians swooped in and landed him as an amateur free agent in the summer of 2020.

As a minor leaguer, he continually showed high-octane stuff that led to huge strikeout numbers, but he struggled with his control, walking about 4.5 batters per nine innings in those three seasons. However, Smith continued to grow at each level of the minor leagues and eventually earned a promotion to the big league club this season. Since then, he’s dazzled with a 1.91 ERA over 74 appearances. His strikeout 36% strikeout percentage is elite, as is his expected ERA and batting average against.

And he’s making the league minimum. In the playoffs. For the division rivals.

It’s so interesting to think that Smith slipped away from the original draft class of this current front-office regime. He is, quite literally, their first “one who got away,” but certainly not their last.

Ian Hamilton - New York Yankees

Unlike the first two names on this list, Hamilton appeared for the Twins in an actual game. Emphasis on the ‘an’ in that sentence, as it was one solitary game for the forgettable 2022 Twins’ club held together by chewed bubble gum and scotch tape by the end of that season. He had spent most of that year in the bullpen at Triple-A St. Paul, where he held a 1.88 ERA across 29 innings for the Saints.

But aside from a mop-up role in a doubleheader, the Twins thought Hamilton was as fungible as any of the countless names they’ve brought in over the years. And just as mysteriously as Hamilton had arrived, the righty vanished into thin air, only to resurface in the Bronx as the same buzzsaw he seemed to be in Triple-A.

Since joining the New York Yankees, Hamilton has impressed to the point where he’s relied upon to handle big innings in the postseason. He owns a 3.10 ERA in 95 innings pitched for his current club over the last two seasons, with a slider that he pairs perfectly with two different fastballs.

And now, the Yankees are relishing in the fruits of their waiver claim, paying Hamilton pennies on the dollar to get outs in the postseason. The other night, the electric righty struck out the side against the Kansas City Royals. Look for more of the same, or if you’re the Twins, maybe don’t look.