The Minnesota Twins (77-85) closed the book on their 2026 season over a month ago now, finishing third in the AL Central under first-year manager Derek Shelton. Since then, all has been mostly quiet at 1 Twins Way, as MLB owners prepare to lockout their players on Dec. 1, when the MLB collective bargaining agreement expires.

We’ve seen some moves around the edges. Reliever Jeff Hoffman, who the Twins acquired at the trade deadline, is recovering from elbow surgery. Outside of that, the New York Mets claimed Jack Anderson off waivers last week and Tristan Gray and Aaron Sabato were sent down to Triple-A St. Paul.

The MN Twins also swapped out pitching coaches, cutting ties with Pete Makey and hiring Brian Reith as his replacement. On Wednesday, a report pointed to a new arm.

Minnesota Twins add a reliever on a minor-league deal

On Tuesday according to Jon Heyman (NY Post), the Minnesota Twins are signing a 29-year-old reliever Jose Espada to work with their newly hired pitching coach, at least during spring training.

It’s a minor league deal for Espada, so there’s no guarantee he’ll where a Twins uniform in a regular season game, especially considering he’s nearing his 30th birthday and has yet to pitch a half-dozen big league innings.

The Twins haven’t announced the deal yet, but it will likely come with an invite to spring training, whatever that looks like post lockout. A minor-league contract doesn’t require a 40-man roster spot, so Minnesota’s 40-man stays at 38 players for now.

Espada has pitched in three games over three MLB seasons. In limited work (5.0 IP), he’s been good, allowing zero runs on just three hits and two walks, with six strikeouts (1.00 WHIP).

Jose Espada has played baseball all over the world

A native of Ponce, Puerto Rico, Espada was a fifth-round pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015 out of Jose Collazo Colon High School in Juncos. The Boston Red Sox took him in the minor-league Rule 5 draft in December 2019.

He pitched for the independent Milwaukee Milkmen in 2022 before landing with the San Diego Padres, who gave him his MLB debut on Sept. 24, 2023. He then spent 2024 in Japan with the Yakult Swallows, going 0-2 with a 5.00 ERA in 24 games.

Espada went back to the Padres on a minor-league deal in 2025, but San Diego released him on July 22. The Baltimore Orioles then signed him four days later, and he threw three scoreless innings with four strikeouts for them that season.

His lone big-league outing in 2026 came on April 30. Baltimore designated him for assignment on May 18 and sent him outright to Triple-A Norfolk three days later, then released him on Nov. 2.

Espada hoping for his first real MLB opportunity with MN Twins

Espada spent most of 2026 in the Norfolk bullpen, going 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA and eight saves in 41 relief appearances. He struck out 49 and walked 27 in 48.2 innings, and he didn’t make a start.

Before the season, he also pitched for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, earning a win with a 0.00 ERA over 2.2 innings across two outings.

Jose Espada has yet to get a real big league shot, despite numbers everywhere he’s played that suggest he deserves one. We’ll see if he gets it with the Minnesota Twins.