Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported this morning that the Minnesota Twins have signed pitcher Livan Hernandez to a one year deal worth 5 to 6 million dollars plus performance based incentives possibly adding another million or so to make the deal worth the 7 million he made last year. Livan who pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks last year will be 33 this season and will provide a veteran presence for the Twins young pitching staff.

The Good: Livan has pitched over 200 innings in each of his last 8 seasons. He eats up innings and has produced double digits in wins in each of these last 8 seasons. Bringing in a proven veteran can the pressure off the young Twins staff who really have no clue what the starting rotation will look like this year.

The Bad: Livan’s contract that may hit 7 million is no drop in the bucket. A 7 million dollar contract puts him only behind Morneau, Cuddyer and Mauer and just above Nathan. The Twins payroll is low this year with the departure of Santana, Hunter and Silva, but is that smart use of money for a team that many don’t think will contend?

The Ugly: In the past three years Hernandez’ stats have dropped in an ugly way.

• Wins have dropped from 15 in 2005, to 13 in 2006, and 11 in 2007
• ERA has increased from 3.98 in 2005, to 4.83 in 2006, and to 4.93 in 2007
• Home Runs allowed have increased from 25 in 2005 (.9 hr/9ip), to 29 in 2006 (1.2 hr/9ip), and to 34 in 2007 (1.5 hr/9ip)
• Strikeouts per 9 innings have decreased from 147 in 2005 (5.38 k/9ip), to 128 in 2006 (5.33 k/9ip), and to 90 in 2007 (3.97 k/9ip)

So does this mean the Livan Hernandez experiment for the Twins is likely to end up like the Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson experiments of 2007? Livan’s sliding stats sure point that way. But I guess it depends what the Twins are looking for. If they are looking for wins and someone to lead them to the Central Division Championship I think are they mistaken. If they are simply looking for someone to take the pressure off the youngsters, eat up some innings, and provide some veteran leadership, they may get that but at a very expensive price tag. I’m guessing this spending of money will take some of the heat off the Twins for the low payroll this year and PR wise with the masses it may work for the Twins if Hernandez can pitch 200 innings. But I’m also afraid it would have been wiser to stick this $5 to $7 million in the bank and save it for 2010.

Today the New York Mets organization held their press conference to introduce Johan Santana to the assembled media in New York. It looked like a packed house to meet Johan, but not so much of a top notch press conference. It seemed a bit confused and not so smooth. Johan did well though, maybe a tad nervous, but came off as a happy and down to earth guy, just as he did here in Minnesota. The Mets introduction of Johan Santana video is just about 30 minutes long and Johan appears just after the 11.00 minute mark.

With the Santana deal now complete, new Twins prospects Carlos Gomez and Philip Humber have landed on the Twins 40 man roster, while Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra are listed as non-roster invitees for the 2008 Twins spring training. I think we can venture a guess as to where these guys will end up in the Twins system.

• Carlos Gomez saw 58 games and 125 at-bats for the Mets last year. He also had 36 games and 140 at-bats for the Mets AAA New Orleans Zephyrs. Carlos has speed and dynamic fielding ability but he is suspect at the plate with a lack of discipline and poor walk to at-bat and walk to strike out ratios. My guess is that he will stick with the big league Twins and platoon in center field.
• Philip Humber pitched 7 innings for  the Mets and 139 innings for the AAA Zephyrs last year. He should get a good chance to show what he has in spring training but will most likely be with the Twins AAA Rochester Red Wings.
• Kevin Mulvey does not have any innings pitched in the Majors but moved up quickly to the Mets AAA last year and was named the Mets 2007 pitcher of the year. His minor league career of 2 years produced 173 innings pitched and a 3.02 ERA. With the Twins approach to young pitching he is bound to start at AAA and maybe get a call up mid season.
• Deolis Guerra is the youngest of the bunch and has 178 innings pitched and a 3.28 ERA for the Mets A teams over the past 2 years. People have high hopes for this youngster with his blazing fast ball clocked in the mid nineties. Maybe Deolis can make the Twins AA New Britain Rock Cats this season.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today is reporting that the Minnesota Twins have traded Johan Santana to the New York Mets for 4 prospects including outfielder Carlos Gomez and pitchers Phil Humber, Deolis Guerra and Kevin Mulvey.

My first reaction is why isn’t the Met’s top prospect outfielder Fernando Martinez included in the deal? Trading Johan and not getting a team’s top prospect for him indicates the Twins got stuck. It seems Twins GM Bill Smith should have pulled the trigger at the winter meetings and grabbed the Hughes deal from the Yankees or the Ellsbury or Lester from the Red Sox.

It’s time to digest this a bit, get a confirmation of the deal and see if Santana gets a contract signed with the Mets. I’ll get back to you with a some analysis and see where these guys will fit into the roster and lineup.