Twins to sign Joel Zumaya?

According to a tweet by Jason Beck of MLB.com, the Twins have reached an agreement with RHP Joel Zumaya on a major league contract that will reportedly pay him between $800,000 and 1.7 million, based on incentives.

Obviously, especially in this case, the Twins are wise to not report it themselves until Zumaya passes a physical.

A caution to Twins fans expecting to see the Zumaya of 2006 that threw 100-101 mph with a sharp slider and little control. Reports of his tryout several weeks ago were that he is touching 92 mph with his fastball.

However, Zumaya is still just 27 years old. The last time he pitched was at Target Field in 2010 when he bounced off the mound after throwing out his elbow.

As a 21 year old rookie in 2006, he posted a 1.94 ERA in 62 games. From 2007 through 2010, he averaged 27 appearances and 31+ innings. He did not pitch in 2011.

I must admit that Zumaya is a name that intrigued me coming into the offseason, but based on there being 50 scouts at his tryout, I assumed that the Twins would not be in the mix. Now, I’m just very curious how this will go.

What do you think?