February 12th Part II

TWINS SIGN VETERAN HERNANDEZ

The Twins and right-hander Livan Hernandez have agreed to a one-year contract worth $5 million in base salary.

According to MLB.com, the contract will include performance-based incentives that could raise its value to $7 million, which is the amount Hernandez earned last season with the Diamondbacks.

Hernandez, who turns 33 on Feb. 20, was considered to be one of the top free-agent pitchers still available on the market. He was 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA last season with Arizona.

Before signing Hernandez, the Twins' rotation was expected not to feature a starter over the age of 26, and had lost a significant portion of its innings pitched from last season after trading Johan Santana to the Mets and losing righty Carlos Silva to free agency, as both pitchers combined for 421 innings in '07.

Despite their youthful rotation, the Twins front office had recently made it clear that they were only interested in adding a veteran pitcher if he would improve their staff. The club cited last season's free-agent acquisitions, Sidney Ponson and Ramon

Ortiz, as examples of veterans who merely delayed the arrival of some of their younger starters.

Hernandez, will give the Twins a proven workhorse. He leads the Majors in innings pitched since 2003 and has tallied at least 200 innings pitched every season since 2000. The right-hander is 134-128 lifetime with a 4.25 ERA, and is probably best known for helping pitch the Florida Marlins to the 1997 World Series title, and winning the World Series MVP.

One concern is that Hernandez has spent his entire 12-year career in the National League, pitching for Florida, San Francisco, Montreal, Washington and most recently, Arizona, and whether he will be able to adjust to the more offensively potent lineups in the American League remains to be seen.

The Twins rotation now could feature Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Boof Bonser, Kevin Slowey and Hernandez. Other pitchers expected to vie for spots this spring are right-handers Nick Blackburn, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Zach Day, and left-handers Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing and Randy Keisler.