Minnesota Twins sign Rich Hill & Homer Bailey to fill back half of rotation

The Minnesota Twins finally made a free-agent move on Tuesday, signing the pair of veteran starters to one-year deals.

The Minnesota Twins dove into the free-agent market on Tuesday morning and while many of the top starting pitching has been devoured in the opening weeks, the Twins have been on the lookout for value since. That led the Twins to take a risk on a pair of veteran starters in Rich Hill and Homer Bailey, who the team announced were signed to one-year deals for the 2020 season.

Neither pitcher is going to make fans rejoice, but they stand to be solid adds to a rotation that lost a majority of their depth to ineffectiveness and injury last season.

Bailey broke in as a top prospect for the Cinncinati Reds back in 2007 and has bounced around the major leagues, spending last season between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics. The 33-year old posted a 13-9 record and 4.57 ERA overall but turned things on when he was traded to Oakland last July, going 6-3 with a 4.30 ERA and a 4.53 K/BB ratio.

Hill, on the other hand, is a little bit of a riskier proposition. The left-hander will turn 40 this March and is recovering from “primary and revisionary surgery” on his pitching elbow last fall. Regardless, Hill has been effective when on the mound as he went 4-1 with a 2.45 ERA with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season and has been strong for the past four seasons, going 39-19 with a 3.00 ERA and a 10.6 K/9 ratio with the Dodgers and Athletics.

As mentioned, these signings won’t conclude the search for “impact pitching” (a quote sliding closer to the doomed “This is how we baseball” slogan in 2018 by the day), but the signings should at least give the Twins depth and possibly upside moving forward.