Matt Capps will return to the Minnesota Twins this season, likely as the closer, as the team re-signed the veteran relief pitcher during Monday's winter meetings. The 28-year-old appeared in 69 games for the Twins last season as he pitched a total of 65.2 innings.
The Twins signed Capps to a one-year deal with an option for an additional seasons, according to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman. He will likely move into the closing role Joe Nathan occupied before signing with the Texas Rangers earlier this offseason.
Capps finished last season a 4.25 ERA and lost his closing role after blowing nine of his 24 save attempts by July, leaving the experts at Twinkie Town a bit torn on his re-signing with the club.
In November, Twinkie Town seemed semi-okay with bringing Capps back at the right price, writing "the Twins are interested in bringing him back, and I have to agree that for $2 to $2.5 million it's not a bad choice. Capps is better than he pitched in 2011, but he's not my favorite and I'd much rather have him as a middle reliever than a closer."
That sentiment changed on Monday afternoon, however, as Jon Marthaler wrote the following:
This is one year and an option year too long, plus there's one too few draft pick in the deal.
You know, you wouldn't necessarily think that a 99-loss team would spend so much time trying to retain its own players, would you?
Hopefully Capps exceeds expectations, however limited, or Twinkie Twon might not be the happiest website on the internet this season.