Every Tuesday afternoon, I appear on KAUS 1480 AM, the Twins' radio affiliate in the Austin, MN area, to chat baseball with host Dean DeBoer. The segment is always a lot of fun and Dean is clearly a bright Twins mind, but one thing that amuses me is his constant lamenting of the team's bullpen. Of course, he's not the only one to do so, and he's certainly not the only Twins follower out there who would like to see the team pursue a top-flight reliever as the trade deadline approaches. I suppose the fan base's mid-season yearning for relief help was an inevitability as soon as Joe Nathan was lost for the season during spring training. No one can be blamed for cringing when Jon Rauch quickly surrendered the Twins' extra-inning lead on Saturday by coughing up a homer almost immediately after Drew Butera had stunningly put the Twins ahead with a solo homer in the top of the 10th. But, despite a few hiccups, Minnesota's bullpen has been surprisingly effective this year and has not prevented the team from winning many games. In fact, it has barely cost them any. Despite being without their best reliever, the Twins' bullpen ranks third in the majors with a 2.89 ERA. While bullpen ERA can be a misleading statistic in some cases, it's not here; this has clearly been one of the most reliable relief units in baseball, and that's reflected by the fact that the Twins are 36-1 when carrying a lead into the seventh inning. Twins relievers have allowed only 23 of 81 inherited runners to score -- a 25 percent strand rate that places them solidly below the league average of 31 percent. A big part of the bullpen's surprising effectiveness has been Rauch's outstanding performance at the back end in place of Nathan. While some relievers seem to struggle with the mental aspects of slamming the door shut on tight games (see: Hawkins, LaTroy), Rauch appears to be a rare example of a guy who thrives under the pressure associated with the closer role. The right-hander has posted a 2.57 ERA and 1.14 WHIP while converting 17 of 20 save opportunities. Even in blown saves, he's been able to limit the damage as the Twins have not lost a single game this season that he has entered with a lead. His current numbers -- most notably his walk rate -- parallel the ones he posted with the Nationals in 2008, which was the only other time in his career that Rauch has been asked to serve as closer for an extended period of time. During his time with the Nats in '08, Rauch posted a 44-to-7 K/BB ratio over 48 1/3 innings; this year, he has posted a 21-to-3 K/BB ratio in 28 innings. For a pitcher who has displayed mediocre (at best) control throughout his career, those low walk totals are extremely impressive and they suggest that when Rauch is handed closing responsibilities, he can go out and throw strikes. For all his positives, though, Rauch is not dominant. His .705 opponents' OPS is hardly stellar for a closer, nor is his pedestrian 6.8 K/9IP rate. There's no telling whether he'll be able to continue at this rate throughout the remainder of the season. Many would like to see the team pursue someone like Heath Bell to improve the Twins' chances of finishing off tough lineups in the playoffs. Yet, a dominant closer hardly guarantees postseason success, as Nathan (and several other top-tier closers) proved last autumn, and given Rauch's high-end performance in high-leverage situations this season, there's little reason to believe he'd cower against the Yankees or Red Sox in October. If the Twins want to make a big splash at the deadline, they'd benefit more from adding a starting pitcher or an infield bat. Pawning off top prospects for an elite bullpen arm who could serve as closer just doesn't make sense considering how well Rauch has done. Meanwhile, trading for a lesser reliever who could simply help boost the bullpen in the middle innings should not be a consideration, given that the organization possesses plenty of usable relief arms in Triple-A (most notably Kyle Waldrop, Pat Neshek and Anthony Slama). They might not be flashy, but the Twins' bullpen has been far from a liability this season. In fact, they've been one of the most reliable in the game. Barring an injury, the Twins would be foolish to focus on adding external relief help at the trade deadline. Bill Smith has bigger fish to fry this time around.