Multiple reports state that free agent right-handed starting pitcher Lance Lynn agreed to a one-year, $12 million contract with the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon.
With the signing of Lynn, the Twins continued their busy off-season in what has been one of the slowest off-seasons in MLB history. The acquisition of Lynn joins Jake Odorizzi, Logan Morrison, Addison Reed, and Fernando Rodney as a group of players that will help bolster a Twins team that made the American League Wild Card Game in 2017.
After missing all of 2016 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, Lynn returned to the St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation, and became the team’s most durable pitcher in 2017. He went 11-8 with a 3.43 earned run average that ranked seventh in the National League, and struck out 153 batters across 186.1 innings of work.
Lynn will likely be the Twins third or fourth starter for the majority of the 2018 season, with third perhaps being the most likely option. Right now, as things project, Jose Berrios will be the team’s Opening Day starter with Ervin Santana dealing with a finger injury. Either Lynn or Odorizzi would likely start the second game of the season for Minnesota, and then be followed by Kyle Gibson and Anibal Sanchez before the rotation turns back over to Berrios.
The 30-year-old Lynn, who will turn 31 in May, has the chance to earn up to $14 million this season if he reaches performance-based incentives in his contract. Those performance-based incentives will more than likely be tied to how many innings he reaches in 2018, as is generally the case with pitchers. Since the Cardinals issued Lynn a qualifying offer, the Twins will also forfeit the 95th overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft.
For his career, Lynn has a 72-47 record, and a 3.38 earned run average.
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