Twins Sign Luis Ayala

by Tony_O on Feb 6, 2009 6:02 PM EST

Joe C from the star Tribune on the report...Interesting Signing here.

The Twins reached agreement today on a one-year, $1.3 million contract with free agent reliever Luis Ayala, pending a physical, Ayala’s agent Joe Longo told the Star Tribune.

Ayala, 31, went 2-10 with a 5.71 ERA and nine saves in 86 appearances last year with the Nationals and Mets, handling a heavy workload despite a groin injury.

After getting traded from Washington to New York, Ayala stepped into the closer’s role for the Mets and converted nine of 11 save opportunities. The righthanded sinkerball specialist went 2-2 with a 3.19 ERA the previous year with Washington.

The Twins agreed to pay Ayala up to $575,000 in performance incentives. After losing setup man Pat Neshek to an elbow injury in November, they’ve explored numerous trade and free agent options.

“He’s happy to go in there and fight for that setup job,” Longo said.
http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/christensen/2009/02/06/agent-twins-reach-agreement-with-ayala/

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Comments

Shooot

errrr Hunt

um, yeah not happy to be a Twins fan right about NOW.

by SteveHoffmanSlowey on Feb 6, 2009 6:54 PM EST reply actions

Ayala

not happy, the Twins have better in house options

by WITwinsfan on Feb 7, 2009 11:27 AM EST reply actions

I don’t think $1.3 million is a lot to risk. If the internal options earn more opportunities than Ayala, so be it. But if Ayala can return to the form he had before surgery, it;‘s a steal. Low risk, high reward. On the other hand, sinker ballers don’t tend to do as well after TJ surgery than fire ballers.

"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot

by cmathewson on Feb 7, 2009 12:25 PM EST reply actions