Twins agree to deals with Gibson, Santiago, Kintzler

By AP
Published

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Twins agreed to one-year contracts with starting pitchers Kyle Gibson and Hector Santiago, reliever Ryan Pressly and closer Brandon Kintzler on Friday while avoiding arbitration with their four remaining eligible players.

Santiago agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal, Gibson got $2.9 million and Kintzler got $2,925,000. Pressly also agreed to a one-year deal for $1,175,000.

Santiago went 3-6 with a 5.58 ERA in 11 starts for the Twins after being acquired in a midseason trade with the Angels. Gibson went 6-11 with a 5.07 ERA in 25 starts last season while dealing with a strained shoulder.

Gibson is coming off a deeply disappointing 2016 season, when he went 6-11 with a 5.07 ERA in 25 starts while being bothered by a strained shoulder. The 29-year-old right-hander produced solid seasons in the middle of Minnesota's rotation in 2014 and 2015, though, and will get a big raise in his first year of arbitration eligibility after making $587,500 last season.

Santiago, who was acquired in a trade last summer from the Los Angeles Angels, made $5 million last season. He was 10-4 with a 4.25 ERA in 22 starts for the Angels prior to the deal, but he struggled with the Twins while going 3-6 with a 5.58 ERA in 11 turns. Like Gibson, he's also 29 and one of the incumbents who'll be counted on for improvement in the attempt to lift one of the worst rotations in baseball out of the big hole the Twins have been in.

Kintzler was one of the few bright spots for Minnesota last season, eventually taking over the closer role following an injury to Glen Perkins and recording 17 saves in 20 attempts and making 54 appearances with a 3.15 ERA. The 32-year-old right-hander started the year in Triple-A after spending parts of the previous six seasons in Milwaukee's bullpen. He made $1.08 million last season.

Pressly bounced back from an injury-shortened 2015 to appear in 72 games out of the bullpen for the Twins last season. The 28-year-old right-hander posted a 3.70 ERA. This is his first year of arbitration eligibility.

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AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell contributed to this report.