Trade Central: Twins Add Michael Fulmer For Bullpen Help

The Twins swung their second in-division trade of the day by adding veteran reliever Michael Fulmer in a trade that involved sending a prospect who did not rank in their Top 30.

TWINS RECEIVE

Michael Fulmer, RHP
Age: 29

A starter earlier in his Tigers’ career, Fulmer has made a relatively smooth transition to being a setup man. Fulmer has fully embraced relying extremely heavily on his hard, 89-91 mph power slider. He throws it nearly 65% of the time, and he’s shown he can both throw it for strikes and just off the zone, although it doesn’t have the depth or sweep to get a lot of chases out of the zone. He immediately should fit as a key member of a significantly reworked Twins bullpen.

 

TIGERS RECEIVE

Sawyer Gipson-Long, RHP
Age: 24

A sixth-round pick of the Twins out of Mercer in 2019, Gipson-Long is a four-pitch righthanded starter with fringe-average stuff. Gipson-Long sits 91-93 mph with his fringe-average fastball. He has to locate well, as his stuff isn’t firm enough to miss bats without good location. His changeup flashes above-average while his slider and curve both need to be sharper. Gipson-Long had an excellent start to the season at High-A Cedar Rapids, but he’s struggled with hard contact since his promotion to Double-A Wichita. If he continues to improve, he profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter/swingman.