The Minnesota Twins nearly waited until the final buzzer before agreeing to deals with two of their pitchers prior to the MLB's annual arbitration period. The front office got it done, however, as they signed Francisco Liriano and Glen Perkins before things got messy.
The Twins announced both of the deals on Tuesday and, according to the team's website, Liriano will make $5.5 million in 2012 while Perkins earns $1.55 million for his efforts. It's a bit surprising considering both players struggled last season, but it does seem to be a better option than the crapshoot that can be arbitration.
Minnesota isn't in the clear quite yet, however, as they still have an infielder to agree with before arbitration officially begins on Feb. 1.
The lone Twins player eligible for arbitration who remains unsigned is second baseman Alexi Casilla. Casilla, 27, filed his arbitration figure at $1.75 million, while the Twins offered $1.065 million.
Casilla, who batted .260 with a .322 on-base percentage and .368 slugging percentage in 97 games in 2011, made $865,000 last year.
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