Twins land veteran hurler Hernandez

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02/12/2008 1:47 PM ET

Righty gets one-year deal to help fill voids left by Santana, Silva
By Kelly Thesier / MLB.com

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Twins rotation won't be quite as young as expected in 2008.
Facing the possibility of a rotation where no starter was above the age of 26, the Twins added some veteran experience to the mix on Tuesday when they agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract with right-hander Livan Hernandez.

Hernandez's contract will include performance-based incentives that could raise its value to $7 million. That is the amount the right-hander earned last season with the Diamondbacks, when he went 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA.

By adding Hernandez, who turns 33 on Feb. 20, the Twins got the guy who was considered to be one of the top free-agent pitchers still available on the market.

"Livan is exactly what we were looking for to help our rotation," Twins general manager Bill Smith said on Tuesday afternoon. "We feel that he's the best guy available and that he fills the bill for us."

After trading ace Johan Santana to the Mets and losing pitcher Carlos Silva to free agency this winter, the Twins had lost a significant portion of their innings pitched from last season. Santana and Silva combined to throw 421 innings for the Twins in '07.

Hernandez will give the Twins a proven workhorse that had been previously lacking in the staff. He leads the Majors in innings pitched since 2003 and has tallied at least 200 IP every season since 2000.

"He's been durable," Smith said. "He's never been on the disabled list. He's an innings-eater. And I think he's going to be a good influence on the rest of our staff."

The departures of Santana and Silva had also left the very young Twins rotation without a true veteran presence to help guide the staff. Scott Baker and Boof Bonser were the two "veterans" of the group, each with a total of 48 career starts to his name.

Despite having what looked to be a very youthful starting staff, the Twins front office had recently made it clear that they were only interested in adding a veteran pitcher if he would improve their rotation. The club cited last season's free-agent signings, Sidney Ponson and Ramon Ortiz, as examples of veterans who only ended up delaying the arrival of some of their younger starters.

But Hernandez is a guy that the Twins are counting on to help deliver on the field and off of it.

"I think he's going to be a help to all of our staff -- Francisco Liriano, Baker, Bonser, Kevin Slowey and the list goes on," Smith said. "He'll give us that veteran presence that was missing."

A native of Cuba, Hernandez holds a 134-128 lifetime record with a 4.25 ERA in 350 career starts. Generally considered a clutch performer, Hernandez is perhaps best known for his outstanding performance throughout the 1997 playoffs for the Marlins, which culminated in his winning the National League Championship Series and World Series MVP Awards.

One potential 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. Now comes the challenge of having to face the more offensively potent lineups in the American League.

"He's going to have some adjustments, certainly," Smith said of the change in leagues for Hernandez. "But again, he's a battler, and we think he'll make the adjustments and that he'll fit in well in our rotation."

The Twins rotation now could feature Baker, Liriano, Hernandez, Bonser, and Slowey. 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.

Adding Hernandez's contract brings the Twins expected payroll for '08 to near $55 million. That's still close to $16 million less than the club's Opening Day payroll of $71 million last season.

There is certainly room in the budget to make more moves and Smith said the club hasn't completely nixed the idea of making any other changes before the start of Spring Training.

"We're reporting on Sunday for pitchers and catchers, but we're always continuing to look," Smith said. "If we can find the right fit or somebody that makes our club better, we'll do it. There are still some very good players left on the board that don't have jobs yet. Sometimes it's a matter of a fit for your organization and we were happy that Livan Hernandez fit in well with us right now."