Twins -SIGN- Phil Hughes

[mntwinsfan]

Twins To Sign Phil Hughes
By Aaron Steen [November 30 at 9:53pm CST]
The Twins have agreed to a three-year, $24MM deal with Phil Hughes, LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune reports. A source with knowledge of the talks tells Neal that the Twins are likely to announce the deal this week, with Hughes expected to undergo a physical as early as this weekend. Hughes is represented by Nez Balelo of CAA Sports.

A still-young 27, Hughes appears to have succeeded in translating the promise of his stuff into a larger contract than many projected. While he's steadily maintained his low-90s velocity since breaking into the big leagues in 2007, the right-hander owns a career 4.54 ERA in more than 780 innings. Home runs have always been a problem for Hughes, as he's averaged almost 1.2 per nine innings for his career. This year, he posted a 1.48 HR/9 en route to a 5.19 ERA in 145 2/3 innings. The Twins no doubt hope that a transition to Target Field, a much more spacious ballpark than Yankee Stadium, will be a panacea for Hughes' longball issues.

Durability is also a concern for Hughes, as he's never reached the 200-inning mark in his career and has just three times surpassed 100 innings. He struggled down the stretch in 2013, posting a 6.32 ERA in the season's second half. Over his career, Hughes has logged DL time for back and shoulder issues.

Coupled with the recent Ricky Nolasco signing, the deal represents something of a spending spree for the Twins, who haven't generally allocated significant resources toward free agents. In fact, as Neal notes in his article, the Nolasco and Hughes deals represent the two largest contracts the club has ever given to outside free agents. The struggles of the 2013 Twins rotation, which ranked last in the majors in ERA and K/9 in 2013, apparently prompted the club to commit to major upgrades.





Twins making some nice moves to fix the rotation. Now we need to sign a catcher (Saltalmachia) would be nice and maybe a bat to replace Morneau.

[Porter]

The Twins are now singing to Phil Hughes!

Hopefully Target Field is a better fit for his stuff. Him and Nolasco are high risk pitchers IMO.

[Hammer]

hes awful, good riddance

[HollywoodLeo]

I've always hated that song.

[LJMets1989]

I think Hughes could end up being a bargain. He was largely victimized (if I recall) by HRs, which were plentiful in NY and will be less so in Target Field. That said, it also leaves my Mets as one of the few top teams vying for Bronson Arroyo, who I greatly prefer.

[Mach]

Hey, he was only overpaid by 23 million!

[Mach]

I think Hughes could end up being a bargain. He was largely victimized (if I recall) by HRs, which were plentiful in NY and will be less so in Target Field. That said, it also leaves my Mets as one of the few top teams vying for Bronson Arroyo, who I greatly prefer.

A lot of Hughes' problems come from the fact he doesn't have an out pitch so he has to labour through starts on top of being a fly ball pitcher. The Yankees ruined him pretty good, though he didn't help himself either.

[mntwinsfan]

I think he will be fine in Minnesota. Our park is much bigger not so much a homerun park. His era and home runs against will be lowered by a run and a half a game.

[Kingdom]

Twins are hiring Nickelback to sing the Phil Hughes anthem

[Mach]

Twins are hiring Nickelback to sing the Phil Hughes anthem

I can't decide who that's worse for, so I think that's a good match.

[Mach]

I think he will be fine in Minnesota. Our park is much bigger not so much a homerun park. His era and home runs against will be lowered by a run and a half a game.

That should be the case, but I don't think it'll help him with his 110 pitch 5 inning starts.

[Kingdom]

I can't decide who that's worse for, so I think that's a good match.

You saw where I was going.

[LJMets1989]

That should be the case, but I don't think it'll help him with his 110 pitch 5 inning starts.

That's the thing. It'll help his pure results (He'll give up fewer HR and therefore likely fewer runs), but he will never be an ace until he cuts his high pitch counts. With that said, for 3/$24, that's a pretty good deal in this pitching environment for a guy who could be a useful starter.

[mntwinsfan]

Only 27 years old. When was the last time we added payroll? All I have to say it's about fn time.

[Mach]

That's the thing. It'll help his pure results (He'll give up fewer HR and therefore likely fewer runs), but he will never be an ace until he cuts his high pitch counts. With that said, for 3/$24, that's a pretty good deal in this pitching environment for a guy who could be a useful starter.

It's certainly not terrible, though I wouldn't have given it to him.