Edward Thoma: Thoma column | Digging deeper into the bullpen

Aug. 7—If the best trades are the ones you don't make, the Twins had a great deadline last week.

I expected them to do something in addition to the previous week's swap of bullpen arms (Jorge Lopez to Miami, Dylan Floro to Minnesota) and was proven incorrect.

Which isn't necessarily a terrible thing.

The front office had signaled that little was likely to happen with the lineup, and I largely agree with the theory that the best fix for the hitting shortfalls is for the underperforming veterans to live up to their histories.

And the Twins did not move one of their "excess" starting pitchers, which proved a good thing when Joe Ryan conceded that pitching with an injured hamstring/groin wasn't working. Dallas Keuchel, who had opted out of his minor league deal Tuesday shortly after the deadline, wound up on the major league roster.

But the bottom line is: no relief for the beleaguered bullpen.

True, Caleb Thielbar returned from his second IL stint, which gives Rocco Baldelli a left-handed leverage arm. Thielbar joins Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax in the back end of the pen.

But that's not enough, especially if the offense continues to splutter. It's difficult to win four or five in a row if the bullpen has to constantly protect thin leads with two or three reliable arms.

So Baldelli and Co.'s goal has to be to create some bullpen depth out of what's on hand. And there are some genuine possibilities.

The best isn't readily available. Brock Stewart, who was impressive for 25 outings, isn't coming back anytime soon. The Twins shifted him to the 60-day injured list last week, which created an opening on the 40-man roster for Keuchel.

Going down the line:

—Emilo Pagán continues to scare me, but Baldelli is clearly gaining confidence in him. Pagán has whittled his ERA down to 3.31, and he has protected four close leads since the All-Star break. Still, it seems that when he surrenders a run — as he did Sunday — it's always costly.

—Floro's had success in the past, and his supporting stats suggest he's better than his 2023 line says he is. He lacks the swing-and-miss stuff one craves from a leverage arm, and his ceiling is lower than that of Lopez, but he knows what he's doing.

The biggest issue with him may be the Twins infield defense, which does not shine. Getting ground balls only works if somebody turns them into outs.

—Jordan Balazovic is young and talented, and his 2.79 ERA (entering Sunday) looks nice. Problem: Eight walks and three homers in 19.1 innings is too high. If Floro's underlying stats say he's been unlucky, Balazovic's say the opposite.

—Jovani Moran, the second lefty for most of the season, has an ERA in the mid 5s and got shipped down to St. Paul on Sunday. Thielbar's recurring injuries pushed him into a more prominent role than he merited, and at his best he's better suited to being the sixth or seventh arm in the 'pen than being the third or fourth.

The order can, and will, shift. Right now, Pagán probably ranks ahead of Floro, and both clearly merit being ahead of Balazovic. The Twins need at least one of those three, and preferably more, to seize a bigger role.

Edward Thoma is at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com. Twitter: @bboutsider.