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Hernandez Signs With Minnesota

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The Associated Press

Published: February 13, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Twins added some seasoning to their suddenly raw rotation.

Right-hander Livan Hernandez agreed Tuesday to a $5 million, one-year contract with the team that could earn him an additional $2 million in performance bonuses, raising the average age for a group ransacked by the departures of Johan Santana and Carlos Silva.

Santana was traded to the New York Mets, and Silva signed with the Seattle Mariners. Another starter from last season, Matt Garza, was dealt to Tampa Bay.

"If we could find the right guy, we were going to add that," General Manager Bill Smith said. "We certainly weren't afraid to go in without veteran starters, but it's going to give those young players someone to look to."

Last year, Hernandez made $7 million while going 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA in 33 starts for Arizona. He pitched for the Diamondbacks in the NL Championship Series.

Hernandez, a native of Cuba, has been quite durable during 10-plus years in the majors, logging at least 199 innings each season since 1998. As a rookie in 1997, he won a World Series with the Marlins.

In the past eight years, the two-time All-Star - who has never pitched in the American League - led the majors with more than 1,837 innings and 32 complete games. He is 134-128 with a 4.25 ERA in 350 career starts.

The Twins have always been against paying big bucks for free-agent pitchers, preferring to develop their own and selectively hand out lucrative contract extensions to some of them.

They've occasionally tried to supplement the staff with relatively cheap veterans, a move that brought them Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson last season.

Those signings allowed for more development in the minors for a pair of prospects - Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey -who are front-runners for spots in the rotation this spring.

RANGERS: Free-agent outfielder Kevin Mench signed a minor-league contract with the team with which he made his major-league debut. Last season, Mench hit .267 with eight home runs and 37 RBIs in 101 games for the Brewers.

LEGAL: Former baseball star Darryl Strawberry will pay the IRS more than $430,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest.

Strawberry was convicted of tax evasion in 1995 concerning income from autographs and memorabilia. He is agreeing to pay the IRS for tax years 1989 and 1990.

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