Holy moly, it’s a post-Christmas miracle. After over a month of inactivity, the Minnesota Twins actually make a move in free agency.
This isn’t another one of the minor league deals they’ve been handing out, either. On Wednesday the Twins signed former Kansas City Royals reliever Josh Staumont to a one-year deal.
Staumont was non-tendered by the Royals this fall after being placed on the injured list back in June with a neck injury. It was only a strain, nothing more serious, but it ended up costing him the rest of his season as a result. In the time he has spent in the majors, Staumont has been perfectly decent, posting a 4.01 ERA and 1.38 WHIP over his five seasons in the Majors.
It’s not a huge deal for Staumont, which is to be expected given the Twins payroll situation. Slashing the budget back in November set a pretty lame tone after the phenomenal postseason the Twins had, but it hasn’t prevented them from making deals that could pay off. If anything, we can consider it a reason to spend cautiously and wisely, something the team hopefully has done with Staumont.
He’s getting a deal just under $1 million, and is expected to add much-needed depth to Minnesota’s bullpen. The Twibs have already lost Emilio Pagan to a deal with the Reds, and midseason acquisition Dylan Florio left in free agency as well. Staumont is hopefully going to turn into a guy like Donovan Solano or Michael A. Taylor — the latter of whom the Twins acquired from Kansas City last year — in that they’re low cost additions that have meaningful impact on the roster.
Signing Staumont also answers the question of whether or not the Twins would make a move before the end of the year. It’s nothing major, but could be the appetizer before Minnesota truly starts making moves in 2024.