Twins add righty Anderson in deal with SF

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins added to their relief options and alleviated their outfield logjam on Thursday night by acquiring right-hander Shaun Anderson from the Giants in exchange for outfielder LaMonte Wade Jr..

Anderson, 26, posted a 5.44 ERA in 2019 in his debut, but he improved to post a 3.52 ERA in 18 appearances out of San Francisco's bullpen last season. He converted to a reliever in July 2019, and he focused more on his hard slider last season. Considering his relative success out of the bullpen and his history as a reliever at the University of Florida, he likely profiles to remain a reliever with the Twins.

That makes sense considering the bullpen was the Twins' greatest area of need this offseason, even after their recent flurry of activity. Minnesota has now acquired Hansel Robles, Alex Colomé and Anderson as bullpen options alongside Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey, Cody Stashak, Jorge Alcala and Caleb Thielbar -- the makings of a solid group that was greatly depleted with the departures of Trevor May, Matt Wisler, Sergio Romo and Tyler Clippard to free agency.

Considering Anderson's relative lack of experience, his place in a Minnesota bullpen likely won't include high-leverage situations, but manager Rocco Baldelli and pitching coach Wes Johnson have consistently spread the workload among their relievers with a focus on limited usage and rest over the last two seasons.

Anderson also fits into the Twins' recent mold of emphasizing slider usage, as the right-hander threw his slider on 53 percent of his pitches last season, generating a 39.7 percent whiff rate with the offering. It's a hard slider that averages 88.3 mph and is used as his out pitch.

In gaining a controllable young reliever, the Twins had to part ways with a controllable young outfielder, which was luckily an area of excess for Minnesota.

Wade saw time in the outfield and at first base in 2019 and '20, and he showed a strong eye and plate discipline. A lack of power in his bat limited Wade's playing time, with Jake Cave serving as the preferred fourth outfielder for much of his stint with the Twins. Cave remains on the team, and the expected establishment of top prospects Alex Kirilloff, Brent Rooker and Trevor Larnach in the Majors throughout this season could have pushed Wade off the roster in any case.