Will Livian Hernandez Boost the Twins Rotation?

The Minnesota Twins have had as rough of an offseason as any team in Major League Baseball. The club lost the face of the franchise Torii Hunter early this winter, and on top of that they lost the Major's best pitcher Johan Santana in a trade with the New York Mets.

The Santana deal was particularly hard for Twins fans to stomach as they soon learned that the club had turned down much better offers from the Yankees and the Red Sox months earlier. The club did provide some optimism for Twins fans with the news of the signing of Livian Hernandez. Hernandez has pitched at least 199 innings since 1998, and does not believe in the term pitch count. Hernandez has thrown over 150 pitches in previous outings with his former clubs.

Hernandez made a splash when he came over from Cuba to sign with the Florida Marlins in 1997. All Hernandez did was become the World Series MVP for the Marlins as they won their first World Series in just over it's 5th year of existence. Hernandez has recently become a journeyman pitcher as he will be joining his fourth franchise in 6 years.

Hernandez has yet to pitch in the American League however, and his unique pitching style may cause hitters who haven't faced him some problems. Hernandez like his brother El Duque,throws from a variety of arm angles and can be extremely frustrating to face as he takes his sweet time in between pitches.
Hernandez finished last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks and posted an unimpressive 11-11 mark with a 4.93 ERA. Taking a look at his stats on ESPN.com it may appear that Hernandez is on the other side of his prime, while this is no doubt true, he still can provide the Twins some value this season.

After the loss of Santana the Twins will have one of the leagues more inexperienced rotations as the likes of Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser all have serious questionmarks as we inch closer to Spring Training. Hernandez can save the bullpen from being overworked if one or more of the young hurlers succumbs to injury, or does not fulfill their hype. Hernandez is also only two years removed from posting a sub 4 ERA with the Washington Nationals. Hernandez will have trouble posting a sub ERA in the American League as many pitchers ERA's tend to rise by at least half a run when switching leagues. The overall talent in the American League is far superior to the National League, and the Designated Hitter also accounts for the disparity in ERA's between the two leagues.

Hernandez will be benefited by a strong infield as Adam Everett will be making his Twins debut as well this season, Everett is a favorite of stat hounds as his defense is consistently ranked as one of the best in the Majors. Nick Punto can't hit worth a lick, but does provide some value for the team with his glove. Carlos Gomez should also do an adequate job of replacing Torii Hunter in CF from a defensive perspective.

The Twins have taken a huge step back compared to the Tigers and Indians this off-season, but although this deal will not make Twins fans forget about Santana, it will provide some stability, and a few more wins for the Twins this season.