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.

According to the Twins 40 man roster, new Twins Carlos Gomez and Philip Humber have their new numbers with the Minnesota Twins.

• Carlos Gomez is # 22
• Philip Humber is # 38

Kevin Mulvey has been assigned spring training non-roster invitee number 88 and Deolis Guerra non-roster invitee number 89. It shouldn’t take long to start seeing Carlos Gomez jerseys walking around the Twin Cities.