The Twins keep spending; sign Livan Hernandez. We want a centerfielder.

The Twins signed Livan Hernandez today and we are actually pretty excited about the pick-up. He is coming relatively cheap ($5 million per year) and when you figure that’s about half of what Carlos Silva will be making next year, that’s a pretty good deal. Livan can eat up innings – no that’s not a fat joke – and he will help some of the young kids learn how to pitch.

We are still trying to figure out if the Twins think they can compete this year. When you look at what they have spent so far this off-season it seems like they could have gotten a pretty good bat or arm for $16+ million:

Hernandez $5M+
Craig Monroe $3.82M
Adam Everett $2.8M
Mike Lamb $2.7M this year
Nick Punto $2.4M

I think they think they can compete by filling holes. If so, the Twins still need a centerfielder. Jason Pridie and Carlos Gomez aren’t going to be ready for 500+ at-bats. Corey Patterson and Kenny Lofton are still out there waiting for a team and we think either of those two guys would fit in pretty nicely at the top of the order. Fitting into the "we can win now" way of things, the Twins are reportedly close to signing closer Joe Nathan to an extension. We will believe it when we see it.