Twins agree to contract with ex-Mets pitcher

The Minnesota Twins may have made a nice, underrated move on Saturday, adding a veteran pitcher to the minor leagues. With the season underway, the club managed to acquire a former relief pitcher from the New York Mets.

Reports indicate that Drew Smith is signing a minor-league deal with the Twins, according to Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Smith, who is 32 years old, has six years of experience playing in the majors for the Mets. He will be joining Triple-A St. Paul immediately after playing spring training with the Washington Nationals this year.

“Twins signed RHP Drew Smith to a minor-league deal,” reported Hayes. “He’ll head to Triple-A St. Paul. He’s pitched 191 career games for the Mets, was in camp with the Nats. Struck out 7 in 5 1/3 scoreless IP this spring.”

Smith hasn’t played a major league game since 2024. In that season, the veteran right-hander finished with a 3.06 ERA and 1.528 WHIP while recording 23 strikeouts and two saves through 17.2 innings of work. He could have the opportunity to be called up at some point this season if the Twins experience injury problems in the bullpen.

In the meantime, Minnesota will utilize a bullpen consisting of Taylor Rodgers, Justin Topa, Cole Sands, Anthony Banda, Eric Orze, Zak Kent, Cody Laweryson, and Kody Funderburk. The bullpen will hope to improve moving forward, after Funderburk and Topa allowed the two earned runs the Baltimore Orioles needed to defeat the Twins 2-1 on Opening Day.

Minnesota will aim to earn its first win of the season on Saturday. The club will be facing off against Baltimore in the second contest of a three-game series.

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