Through all of the ups and downs the Twins have experienced in the past 25 years or so — the many changes in managers, front office makeup and team quality — one thing has remained relatively constant: the presence of at least one All-Star caliber fixture at the back end of the bullpen.

From Eddie Guardado to Joe Nathan to Glen Perkins to Taylor Rogers to Jhoan Duran, the franchise has had a remarkable run of top-tier closers anchoring the relief corps, providing stability in the ninth inning even when the bullpens and teams around them have wobbled.

Heading into the 2026 season, the Twins bullpen — and especially the back end of it — looks as wide-open as any time in memory. As they look to reconstruct essentially from scratch, the front office needs to identify a foundational cornerstone they can build around. Right now they are short on credible candidates, but that’s not to say they have none.

Here’s a look forward at potential names in the mix to take over as Minnesota’s top late-inning option in 2026.

Cole Sands
He’s the de facto choice, since he’s the only carryover from the current relief corps with any real track record of success. If Sands could recapture his form from last year (3.28 ERA, 2.63 FIP) he’d be a fine choice as closer at least in the interim. But he hasn’t been close to that form in 2025, at least not regularly. His ERA is up to 4.63 on the season thanks to a month of September in which he has allowed 10 earned runs in 11 innings. Sands turned 28 in July and is arbitration-eligible for the first time next year. 

Taj Bradley
This is the one I’ve got my eyes on. It’s possible, or maybe likely, that the Twins won’t rush into converting Bradley to the bullpen after giving up multiple years of Griffin Jax for him. Maybe that’s the right course of action. But man, I dunno. In spite of how hard he throws, Bradley just hasn’t been able to sustain any kind of success in a big-league rotation, with a 4.91 ERA in nearly 400 innings, and he’s looked worse than ever since coming to Minnesota. Why not just flip the switch now, prepare him as a reliever next spring, and hope you’ve got your triple-digit Duran replacement on hand for the next four seasons?

David Festa
His career outlook is in jeopardy following a thoracic outlet syndrome diagnosis, but Festa expressed optimism that he can come back healthy next year and get back on track after being limited to just 53 innings this season. He’s got the stuff of a late-inning reliever and it increasingly appears he does not have the durability of a 5+ inning starter. He’ll be 26 next spring without much of a workload baseline. I actually think the decision to transition him into a relief role, if he’s healthy, is almost a given at this point. But I’m gonna be worried about that shoulder until I see him back on the mound and letting loose uninhibited.

Zebby Matthews
Matthews is another guy with a clearly high-caliber, high-velocity arsenal who has battled shoulder issues as well as performance struggles this season. Through 16 starts and 80 innings, he has a 5.56 ERA and 1.49 WHIP, with flashes of excellence muddied by bouts of inconsistency. He has a much smaller sample of lackluster output as a starter compared to Bradley, and the injury concerns aren’t as severe as Festa, so I would guess the Twins aren’t quite as ready to think about a relief route for Matthews, but the vision for him as a high-powered closer or setup man is pretty easy to project.

Connor Prielipp
Healthy at last, Prielipp was just named the Twins’ minor-league pitcher of the year. His numbers were unspectacular on paper — 1-9 with a 4.03 ERA and 1.51 WHIP in 83 innings — but very impressive for a pitcher who’d been limited to just 30 total innings since being drafted in 2022. The lefty struck out 27% of opposing hitters and finished in Triple-A. Given his long injury history and his age (25 in January), there’s some urgency to just get Prielipp up the big leagues; he’s the epitome of a “don’t waste the bullets” case. Promoting him into a relief role would seemingly be the only practical way to get a full season from him in the majors, but he’s got what it takes to thrive in a late-inning role.

Free Agent Veteran
There’s a good chance the Twins won’t want to turn the keys in the ninth over to any of these guys, at least not initially. We’ve seen them turn to free agency for short-term closer fixes in the past, although it hasn’t gone especially well with the likes of Alex Colome and Fernandy Rodney. I wouldn’t expect the Twins front office to aim remotely high if they seek a free agent closer. Emilio Pagán will be available among others. (Oh boy, did I just speak that into existence?)

Looking forward to 2026, who would you like to see take over as Minnesota’s bullpen leader? Did I miss any credible candidates? Share your thoughts in the comments below.