Twins Add Free Agent Catcher Kurt Suzuki

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MLBTradeRumors.com reported earlier today that the Minnesota Twins and free agent catcher Kurt Suzuki have agreed to terms on a one-year deal. The deal is said to include a $2.75 million base salary with incentives added.

Suzuki split time between leagues this past season, spending time with the Washington Nationals and the Oakland Athletics.

Suzuki performed below many of his career-averaged statistics in 2013, slashing .232/.290/.337 and hitting only five home runs through 316 plate appearances. For his career, he owns a more respected triple-slash line of .253/.309/.375.

According to Fangraphs.com's WAR (Wins Above Replacement) system, Suzuki is one of the league's better defensive catchers. For his career, he's been worth about 12.2 wins above replacement value, offense and defense considered-- including a 0.4 WAR in 2013.

Suzuki experienced career-best numbers between 2008 and 2011, where he hit at least 13 home runs during three of those seasons, but hasn't hit more than 15 home runs in any given season for his career.

Suzuki should spend considerable time behind the plate for the Twins in 2014, but could also help Josmil Pinto in his attempt to become an everyday, major-league-caliber player, playing the role as a veteran mentor.

Twins send Catcher Ryan Doumit to Braves for Lefty Sean Gilmartin

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Reports indicate that the Minnesota Twins have shipped switch-hitting, part-time catcher Ryan Doumit to the Atlanta Braves for Lefty Starter Sean Gilmartin, their then-4th-best prospect according to MLB.com. 

Gilmartin comes as an addition to an already-loaded Twins' farm system, as MLB.com ranks him as the 13th-best prospect in Minnesota. He'll likely start 2014 with the Rochester Red Wings, Minnesota's Triple-A affiliate. He will get the chance to rebound after a disappointing 2013 campaign, which saw him average 5.74 earned runs per nine innings at the Triple-A level, his biggest sample size in 2013. He started 17 games at this level, pitching in a total of 91 innings. He averaged 6.43 K/9 while averaging 3.26 BB/9. Gilmartin doesn't showcase an overpowering fastball as it sits in the upper 80s, but features an above average changeup and slider. He also mixes in a curveball, but isn't known for relying on it. This information can be found on MLB.com, under the Twins' profiles of their 20-best prospects.

Ryan Doumit and his total salary expense of $3.5 million will be headed to Atlanta, tweets Darren Wolfson. He will likely spend most of his time at catcher, rotating with the likes of Evan Gattis and Gerald Laird, though Doumit spent limited time as a corner outfielder in Minnesota, and may continue to do so in Atlanta. Doumit, who's role with the Twins was frequently the designated hitter, will not be able to fullfill this role often now that he'll be primarily playing in National League parks. Not known for his defense, Doumit put up solid offensive numbers as a Twin, hitting 32 home runs in 1,066 total plate appearances. He held a batting average of about .260 during this span.

Terry Ryan and Co. likely now plan on using Josmil Pinto at catcher in an increased capacity during the 2014 season. Pinto showed through a limited 83 plate appearances in 2013 that he may be above average offensively as a hitter, though he may need to improve his defensive play to be considered the everyday backstop. Pinto impressed during his short stint at the major-league level in 2013, compiling a triple-slash line of .342/.398/.566. He hit a total of 4 home runs, batted in 12 runs and was able to score 10 times during this stint, though an inflated .440 batting average on balls put in play (BABIP) may indicate that he was particularly lucky and may experience a regression of some sort in 2014.

This trade will currently go down as a somewhat low-profile deal, but has the potential to be significantly impacting to both teams. The Twins continue to add to their highly-regarded farm system in their pursuit of heightened-future success as a club, hoping that Gilmartin is an impact-type player come time for a playoff run. The Braves add to their already-playoff-caliber club an offensively dangerous veteran who can contribute immediately, and at a reasonable price.

Minnesota Twins Agree to Deal with Mike Pelfrey

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Reports indicate that the Minnesota Twins and Mike Pelfrey have agreed to a 2-year, 11 million deal with more than 3 million in incentives included. Jon Heyman broke the story a short while ago on Twitter.

Mike Pelfrey spent 2013 with the Minnesota Twins, his first season in the organization and pitching primarily against American League clubs.

It wasn't the type of year that Pelfrey or the Twins wanted, but considering that he was just coming off Tommy John Surgery--which saw him miss most of the 2012 season--some of his statistics--just one season since he opted to have his elbow surgically repaired--were somewhat impressive and may indicate a rebound in 2014.

He proved some skeptics wrong last season. Many doubted his goal to start the season on the active roster. He achieved this accomplishment, making his first start against the Detroit Tigers on the 4th of April, not allowing any earned runs trough 5.1 innings pitched. A fairly impressive debut for a pitcher coming off major injury against one of the best offenses in the league.

A number of the following starts for Pelfrey weren't as impressive, as he ended the season with a 5.19 ERA, 5.95 K/9, 3.12 BB/9, 43.2 GB% through 29 starts totaling 152.2 innings pitched.

On the positive side, Pelfrey showed considerable progression this past season in his task to return to form. In contrast to his below-average total K/9 in '13 of 5.95, Pelfrey averaged a much better rate of 7.2 after the All-Star break, also showing more life on his fastball. He averaged a total of 92.3 mph on his fastball in 2013, just 0.2 mph less than his career average.

Pelfrey was also relatively unlucky in 2013, seen by his 3.99 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and bloated .337 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls put In Play). Although his '13 BABIP is relatively high, he hasn't averaged a significantly lower BABIP for his career, which is .312; this connection may indicate more toward his style of pitching as a cause than a lack of luck.

The Twins hope that the progression Mike Pelfrey showed after the All-Star break translates into 2014 and continues beyond that, as their new multi-million dollar commitment to Pelfrey shows they have considerable expectations from him as a back-end starter.

Minnesota Twins, Jason Kubel Agree to Minor-League Deal

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The Minnesota Twins reportedly agreed to terms with free agent outfielder Jason Kubel on Friday morning, finalizing the initial steps toward completing a reunion with the team that drafted him in 2000. The seasons that followed his rookie year in 2004 with Minnesota were mostly positive, where he greatly contributed to the team's regular-season success that resulted in four postseason appearances during this stretch. 

It's a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training, a pact that seemingly presents little risk for the Twins. Kubel will likely compete for a starting role with Minnesota, spending time primarily in left field and as the designated hitter. 

Kubel will bring some much-needed pop into the Twins' lineup; however, he's a left-handed batter, and may be challenged in pulling the ball into the right-field seats at Target Field. This was an issue for him at home games in his first stint in Minnesota's relatively-new ballpark, as he only put the ball into the seats on 12 separate occasions in 448 at-bats between 2010 and 2011. He was much more productive in away games during this span, as he hit 21 home runs in 535 at-bats. 

His home and road splits between 2010 and 2011 may not give a crystal-clear picture on his ability to consistently hit home runs, as seen by his 2013 power numbers, where he only hit 5 home runs in 290 at-bats between stints with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Indians.

2013 was clearly a down year for Kubel, but he was much more effective during the prior season with Arizona, where his greater offensive production can be seen by his triple-slash line of .253/.327/.506, including a career-best 30 home runs.

If Kubel is able to produce even slightly close to this 2012 production, the Twins will have signed one of the best bargain-deals this offseason.