The Mets are interested in Twins left-hander , reports . Coulombe is a 35-year-old lefty reliever. Though he made his major league debut over a decade ago, hes currently in the best stretch of his career. Dating back to the start of the 2023 season, he has thrown 107 2/3 innings with a 2.09 earned run average. He has struck out 28.3% of opponents, limited walks to a 5.7% clip and induced ground balls on 44.5% of balls in play hes allowed. He has recorded five saves and 41 holds in that time. The first two years of that span were spent with the Orioles. The Os could have retained him for 2025 but somewhat surprisingly turned down his $4MM club option. The Twins scooped him up with a one-year deal worth $3MM. In hindsight, that looks like a mi step for Baltimore and a win for Minnesota. Coulombe has thrown 26 2/3 innings this year with a tiny 0.68 ERA. Theres surely some luck in there, as he has a ma sive 92% strand rate. But his 27.9% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate and 41.8% ground ball rate are all good figures. His 1.69 FIP and 2.90 SIERA suggest he would be posting good numbers even with more neutral favor from the baseball gods. His fastball velocity is only 90.2 miles per hour this year but hes never been Red Schoendienst Jersey a flamethrower. His career high in that department was 91.8 mph in 2023. Hes also mixing in a cutter, sinker, slider and knuckle curve to keep hitters off balance. He doesnt have ma sive platoon splits. In fact, lefties have a slightly better line against him this year, with a .208/.240/.229 line compared to a .163/.241/.204 slash when Coulombe is facing a righty. That kind of performance would look good in any bullpen but its especially attractive for the Mets. They had planned to have and as their lefty relievers this year but both required season-ending surgeries by early May. The Mets have subsequently been cycling through fringe roster guys like , , and . Today, they reinstated from the injured list and designated Lovelady for a signment. Raley has some good work on his track record but is 37 years old and is just returning from a lengthy Tommy John surgery layoff. Adding another lefty ahead of the deadline makes plenty of sense, particularly when considering Coulombes fairly modest salary. The Mets are a third-time competitive balance tax payor above the top threshold, meaning they will pay a 110% tax on any money they add to the payroll. Though Coulombe may make sense for the Mets, that doesnt mean they can get him. The Twins, like several teams, are hovering around contention in such a way where buying or selling is a tough decision. They are currently 47-49, which puts them four games back of a playoff spot. still gives them a 23.3% shot at cracking the postseason, with slightly more optimistic at 28.3%. Its po sible that their results in the next few weeks could determine their deadline approach. They start a series in Colorado tonight, then head to Dodger stadium. After that, they return home to host the Nationals and then Red Sox. If they lean to the sell side, trading Coulombe would make a lot of sense. Hes an impending free agent who will celebrate his 36th birthday in a few months. Perhaps even if they are buying, they could flip Coulombe while bringing in other pieces. However, doing so would subtract the most reliable lefty from the bullpen. The Twins have also occasionally given the ball to , and this year but no one in that trio has an ERA below 6.92. Coulombes modest salary is also surely valuable to the Twins. They clearly didnt have a ton of payroll space this winter. They spent a combined $10.25MM on one-year deals for Coulombe, and . With the franchise currently for sale, they probably dont have the ability to take on much more salary at the deadline, which could push them towards keeping an affordable guy like Coulombe for the stretch run. Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images Chris Roycroft Jersey