Griffin Jax established himself as a cornerstone of the Minnesota Twins’ bullpen over the last two seasons. And according to the club’s new general manager, that’s where he’ll remain heading into the 2025 campaign.
“It’s something we’ve been working through heavily throughout the offseason with Griffin, his agent, his family, all those things,” Jeremy Zoll said on Wednesday. “As we’ve worked through all that, our plan is to keep Griff in the bullpen for 2025.”
There had been substantial speculation regarding a possible move back into the starting rotation for the stud relief ace, but that dream appears to be over. And if you ask me, that is the smart, rational, and correct decision for a club that must find consistency after a tumultuous second half of their 2024 season.
To his credit, Jax has stepped up for the Twins over the last few seasons, often trudging through uncharted territory for the young righty. He transformed himself from the borderline MLB-caliber starting pitcher we saw in 2021 as a rookie into one of the most electric relief weapons in the game. He’s championed a high-leverage role, changed his pitch mix, added velocity, and gained the ability to go back-to-back consistently. His raw stuff has exploded since transitioning into a reliever.
So it’s easy to see why there might be some curiosity about how it would play out if he returned to a starting role. However, the variables of this team make it more complex than it needs to be when it comes to figuring out an ideal role for the Air Force product.
Most of Minnesota’s variables are in the bullpen, where Jax is one of a few true anchors. He and Jhoan Durán appear to be safe bets to have above-average expectations, and the Twins have locked them into high-leverage roles. After that, Brock Stewart has been fantastic when healthy, but he’s hardly guaranteed to make it through the year without a health setback. Cole Sands was an incredible development in his first real crack in the bullpen and will hopefully continue on that track.
Still, I’m not positive anyone would be comfortable with him replacing Jax as a top gun in the relief corps if he left that role.
Then, you look at the depth in the starting rotation, and the picture becomes even clearer. Pablo López, Joe Ryan, and Bailey Ober cemented themselves at the top, and then a small army of enticing arms trail behind them. Most are MLB-ready or knocking on the door for a big break.
Would it be wise to have the Jax rotation experiment block someone like Zebby Matthews, David Festa, or eventually Marco Raya and Charlee Soto?
That’s a tough balance. Suppose Jax struggles to return to the starting rotation. We’ve seen this front office display the patience of a saint throughout the season when a player’s expected performance doesn’t go as planned, sometimes to the team’s detriment. I’d be worried that they would stick with their decision longer than necessary, which could hurt Jax and stunt the development of their top pitching prospects.
What the club and Jax need now is stability.
“Obviously, he was tremendously valuable in 2024,” Zoll said. “We feel like he’s one of the best relievers in the game and feel really good about that role and plan for the upcoming year, and know Griff’s excited about that as well.”
What I like about Zoll’s response and the team’s decision to keep Jax in his current role is that we’ve seen this front office operate with the belief that they can invest as little as possible into their bullpen and still find a way to be successful. Keeping Jax in the bullpen is still an investment in their relief corps.
Still, it also recognizes that they know when to stop tinkering when something has been successful.
Two things can be true at the same time. The team can be proud of their ability to transform middling, even borderline MLB-caliber starters into relief assets. There can also be skepticism that the road goes both ways if they want to turn someone like Jax back into a rotation option.
We can give them flowers for doing such a great job with this arm and be adamant that they should not dig those same flowers back up for such a risky proposition.
