Twins fortify bullpen, nab Dyson from Giants

The Twins filled another gap in their relief corps by acquiring reliever Sam Dyson from the Giants in a last-second trade consummated five minutes before Wednesday's 4 p.m. ET deadline. The return to the Giants consists of prospects Jaylin Davis, Prelander Berroa and Kai-Wei Teng, none of whom are in the Twins' Top 30 list, per MLB Pipeline.

? Dyson was pulling tarp right before trade

Dyson will join the Twins in Miami on Thursday and slot right into the back end of the bullpen alongside Sergio Romo as options to bridge the gap to Taylor Rogers at the end of the game. Romo was acquired in a trade from the Marlins on Saturday and made his first appearance for the Twins on Tuesday night.

"We now have Dyson, Romo and [Taylor] Rogers, three guys there that have some back-end experience and can do some different things against different parts of the lineup," chief baseball officer Derek Falvey said. "[Manager Rocco Baldelli] has already proven that he's willing to use different guys in different spots based on how the matchup works. So I think it only helps that now you have guys that have been through this before and have pitched and closed out games at the Major League level. That only helps."

The 31-year-old Dyson had a 2.47 ERA in 49 relief appearances for the Giants this season, posting 47 strikeouts and only seven walks in 51 innings. Significantly, the right-hander is under team control through next season and has some postseason experience from his time with the Rangers in 2015 and '16.

Falvey and Baldelli both expressed confidence that Dyson, who heavily features a sinker and cutter and generates strong ground-ball rates, will be a late-inning option against both right-handed and left-handed hitters.

"I think this is a very nice acquisition for us," Baldelli said. "He's a hard-throwing guy, a guy with very, very good command. His fastball is a weapon in and of itself. I don't know if he calls it a sinker or a two-seamer or what he calls it, but I think he gets great action on that pitch. This is a guy that's done it, he's had a lot of success. He's a guy we're going to turn to in later-inning situations, and I'm excited to be able to call his name."

All of a sudden, the Twins' bullpen looks that much deeper and more experienced, and the addition of two veterans that have late-inning experience should take needed pressure off Rogers, who has pitched more than one inning in 13 of his 40 appearances this season. Falvey cited the Twins' 2-1 victory over the Marlins on Tuesday as an example of the moves already starting to pay off, as Romo was able to bridge the gap to a clean ninth inning for Rogers in a close game.

"The ability for Rocco to go to Romo in that situation, to get those guys, and then eventually go to Rogers to finish, that was ideal for us," Falvey said. "And now we've just added another guy to that mix that can help us."

In return, the Twins sent a trio of Minor Leaguers to the Giants, headlined by power-hitting outfielder Davis, who clubbed 25 homers for Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Rochester this season and has 67 homers in the Minor Leagues since he was selected in the 24th round of the 2016 MLB Draft.

Both Berroa and Teng are pitchers in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues. The 19-year-old Berroa was with Rookie-level Elizabethton after he was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2016 and had a 3.96 ERA with 94 strikeouts and 45 walks in 26 Minor League appearances, including 18 starts.

Teng, 20, was a right-hander with Class A Cedar Rapids and had a 2.51 ERA in 19 Minor League appearances, including 17 starts, after he was signed out of Taiwan in 2017.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Twins acquired Minor League reliever Marcos Diplan from the Brewers in exchange for cash considerations. Diplan, who will be assigned to Double-A Pensacola, had a 4.99 ERA with 63 strikeouts in 57 2/3 innings this season for Milwaukee's Double-A affiliate in Biloxi.

Worth noting
The Twins released reliever Cody Allen on Wednesday. Minnesota signed the 30-year-old right-hander to a Minor League contract on June 24 after he was released by the Angels. He made 11 appearances between two levels in the Minors, pitching 12 innings.