DEC. 29: Duke will receive $2.15MM, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. Per Berardino, via Twitter, Duke can add $200K bonuses for making his 40th and 50th appearances, $300K at #55 and #60, and another $500K if he takes the ball 65 times.
DEC. 26, 9:05pm: Duke’s guarantee is “just over” $2MM and he can earn up to $1.5MM more via incentives, Berardino tweets.
5:30pm: The Twins have officially announced Duke’s one-year contract.
10:10am: 1500 ESPN’s Darren Wolfson tweets that Duke’s contract is a Major League deal that is expected to be worth between $1.5MM and $2MM. Minnesota’s 40-man roster is full with the addition of Duke.
DEC. 25: The Twins have agreed to a deal with veteran lefty Zach Duke, as KFAN’s Paul Lambert first tweeted. Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press confirms on Twitter, adding that the deal is still pending a physical. Terms of the arrangement aren’t yet known. Duke is a client of ISE Baseball.
Duke, 34, is coming off of a limited 2017 campaign. Despite undergoing Tommy John surgery in mid-October of 2016, he managed to bounce back in time to make 27 appearances for the Cardinals.
As might have been expected, given his rapid return, Duke showed some rust. He recorded only 5.9 K/9 and allowed far more hard contact (37.0%) than usual while posting a 3.93 ERA over 18 1/3 frames. On the other hand, the southpaw allowed only a .197/.284/.364 batting line to opposing hitters (with minimal platoon splits) and generated rates of swinging strikes (10.9%) and groundballs (50.4%) that were not out of line with the figures he has maintained in recent seasons.
[Related: Updated Minnesota Twins depth chart]
For Minnesota, the move gives the team a potentially solid second lefty to pair with Taylor Rogers at what will likely turn out to be a marginal commitment. If Duke can rebound to anything like the form he showed over the prior three seasons — over which he posted a 2.74 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9 over 180 1/3 innings — then he’ll surely represent a true bargain.
The Twins have already added Fernando Rodney to bolster a questionable late-inning unit. Perhaps, then, the organization will turn its focus to addressing other needs, though surely additional bullpen moves will at least be considered. The 2017 unit, after all, rated 22nd among all MLB teams by measure of both fWAR and ERA.
Zach Duke is an anagram for “Duck Haze”. I thought there would be more options, but that’s the only one.
Well, “Zuckhead” as well now that I think about it.
THAT was uplifting.
Did you know that in Duck Hunt for NES, the player 2 controller could control the duck?
The key was to get the duck behind the tree or the bush and then have it go in all directions. It was really only effective after level 10.
Fascinating. I feel like I really missed the memo on this as I just learned of it today.
I’m a fan of Duke Chaz, personally.
I feel both simultaneously smarter and dumber after having read this thread
Y’all @ MLBTR didn’t believe Meat Sauce when he reported it this morning it seems, and waited for a more national voice to confirm it.
He seems to be the Twins news breaker these days. Also had the Rodney signing.
I wouldn’t trust a report from an entity called Meat Sauce either. Maybe I’m old fashioned.
I mean, he even got credited by national writers as the first to report the Zach Duke signing, so I guess he’s becoming a fairly reliable source.
I’m thinking 1/4 with incentives plus a team or vesting option for a second year?
we needed a second Lefty with Taylor Rogers in the pen this isn’t flashy but it will be cheap and keeps the door open for a bigger move
I got it one piece at a time, and it didn’t cost me a dime
well its a 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 automobile
Napoli, Duke. Two names and two players who are so similar, it’s easy to understand how the writers were confused, and thought that Napoli was the one in serious talks.
Is this the first time someone’s ever signed on Christmas?
There is literally an article posted today, with Christmas day transactions.
There was literally just a post from a few hours ago that answers that exact question
Somebody literally posted how there was literally a post about this literally three minutes earlier.
Great minds literally think alike I guess
What a great Christmas present the twins organization gave their fans
Right, and the card was signed “zzzzzzzzzzzzzz”. No need to interrupt your hibernation for this one, Twins fans.
None of you were laughing when Dan Schaatzeder won game six in 1987.
I was actually. Was listening to an old George Carlin tape.
Even in 1987 George Carlin had old material
And even his old material was relevant then and now.
I got pitching lessons from him as a kid, really nice guy. He was still driving his signing bonus roughly 10 years after his career. it was a Porsche.
Same birth date as Joe Mauer. Meaning? Nothing. just noticed it.
The Twins are making a bunch of cheap, high-upside signings. Smart.
Merry Christmas
bottom of the barrel signings ,why not Mike Minor? Why not Jake McGee,why not Boone Logan? the Twins are on pace to reduce payroll for a 4th straight year
Mike Minor has already signed with the Rangers. Jake McGee has already re-signed with Colorado. Boone Logan is still available. Meat Loaf once said two out of three ain’t bad, but I’m sure he would agree that one out of three is.
Boone Logan was said to be in agreement with the Brewers, but it never got announced. Something must’ve come up
I am positive they will sign a high-end SP. 50/50 it’s Darvish.
Twins need J.D. Martinez too.
Why? I’m fine with Buxton, Kepler, Rosario. It would be a waste of money. I know people are always questioning Kepler, but it was his first full season in the show last year. Give him a chance.
exactly no need for a $140 million upgrade
That’s not even remotely true.
Kepler was worth about 2 wins last year as a 24-year-old. That’s not bad at all. The Twins are a bit hamstrung by Mauer, who is a good hitter for a catcher but not really the kind of hitter you want at first base, but their real need is for pitching. I’d leave the outfield alone.
He’s not your prototypical first basemen but Mauer was actually quite a bit above average last year, 116 OPS+. Not the superstar he was at catcher but hardly hamstrung, he had a 3.4 WAR last year.
No they just need a few real pitchers. Hitting and fielding the twins are competitive. I’m not sure how the defense was this year but with a real ace the twins have the roster to make a real push.
but was he 23 mil good?
he will be traded to Pittsburgh with a few other low level prospects for Garrett Cole in july.
Cole won’t be in Pittsburgh by next July.
Either the twins front office will come out of the off-season looking like geniuses or they’ll roll a bunch of sevens. A lot of questions on rebound candidates they seem to be targeting. Although Darvish kind of fits that same bill in a way. So keep doing what you’re doing twins.
This will need to be a 2-year deal im thinking
Maybe 2/$8m
$2m in ’18- $6m in ’19 m/o in ’20
Meetings in the near future slated with the agents for:
Mike Napoli
Ichiro Suzuki
CC Sabatha
Bartolo Colon
When word of these meetings leaked out, Tony Oliva now contemplating a comeback
You follow baseball closely, huh?
What’s funny is they were in talks with Sabathia. He already re-signed with the Yanks.
Just FYI, the Duke addition puts them at 40. They don’t need to remove someone to add him like the update says. Which is also what Wolfson said.
DARN!! Forty man roster is full, forget about Darvish – there’s no room for him !!
I’m pretty sure sending someone through waivers is not the biggest obstacle for the twins signing Darvish.
Lol
It’s sarcasm guys..
Sarcasm and blog posts aren’t really a good fit. It just doesn’t read the same for everyone. There is no secondary indicator like facial expression or time of voice changes. Just can’t fault someone for not getting sarcasm online.
twins suck they are signing people that could be signed for less in feb. No difference makers will lose more games than last year to bad
Who says Duke would be on the market in February still?
we got him for 2 million how much cheaper do you want it
When asked to confirm the financial terms of his contract, Duke stated,” That’s about the size of it, kid”.
Additional Development:
Rumors are circulating (from an undisclosed source) that when comments were requested of them on the Zach Duke signing, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine admitted they thought they were negotiating a contract with Zack Morris.