The Twins have signed 31-year old righty swinging Steve Holm and 27-year old righty swinging Rene Rivera to minor league deals. Holm played in 82 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 56 of 228 (.246 avg, .725 OPS) with 34 runs scored, 4 homers and 37 RBIs. He last played in the majors in 2009 with the Giants. Holm has played in 53 games in his first two years in the majors and he is 24 of 91 (.264 avg, .760 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 6 RBIs. Rene Rivera played in 44 games in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 47 of 162 (.290 avg, .824 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 7 homers and 28 RBIs. Rivera last played in the majors way back in 2006 with the Mariners. Rivera has played in 53 games in his first 3 years in the majors and he is 34 of 150 (.227 avg, .585 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Twins will likely stash these two guys in the high minors next season in case one of their catchers get hurt in 2011.

The Minnesota Twins have signed 28-year old righty swinging 2B/3B Matt Brown to a minor league deal. Brown played in 82 games in Rookie+AAA-ball last season and he was 77 of 311 (.248 avg, .746 OPS) with 41 runs scored, 10 homers, 34 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Brown last played in the majors in 2008 with the Angels. Brown has played in 15 games in parts of his first two years in the majors and he is 1 for 24 (.042 avg, .231 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 RBI and 11 whiffs. I doubt that Brown does anything for the Twins in 2011.

The Twins have signed 29-year old lefty starter/reliever Chuck James to a minor league deal. James pitched in 26 games (7 starts) in AA+AAA-ball last season and he was 10-1 with 2 saves, a 2.32 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors in 2008 with the Braves. He has pitched in 64 games (55 starts) in his four years in the majors and he is 24-19 with a 4.48 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Chuck James was a decent pitcher before getting hurt in 2008 and he appears to be close to being all the way back. He will likely get a good chance to make the Twins’ bullpen next spring.

The Twins have dealt 27-year old switch hitting catcher Jose Morales to the Rockies for 21-year old lefty reliever Paul Bargas. Morales played in 19 games for the Twins last season and he was 7 of 36 (.194 avg, .545 OPS) with 4 runs scored and 7 RBIs. He played in 74 games in parts of three years with the Twins and he was 47 of 158 (.297 avg, .725 OPS) with 19 runs and 14 RBIs. This deal locks Drew Butera into Joe Mauer’s backup role in 2011 unless the Twins bring in another catcher. Bargas pitched in 58 games (0 starts) in A-ball last season and he was 5-4 with 5 saves, a 3.59 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Bargas has now pitched in 77 games (1 start) in his first two years in the minors and he is 8-5 with 7 saves, a 3.12 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP. Bargas has only given up 74 hits in 98 innings while whiffing 98 batters in the minors so far in this career showing that he has pretty good stuff. I like this deal for he Twins.

The Minnesota Twins have signed 26-year old switch hitting 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka to a 3-year, $9 million dollar deal with a club option for 2014. Nishioka played in 144 games in Japan last season and he was 206 of 596 (.346 avg, .905 OPS) with 121 runs scored, 11 homers, 59 RBIs and 22 stolen bases. He played in 817 games in 8 years in Japan and he was 911 of 3,111 (.293 avg, .790 OPS) with 518 runs scored, 55 homers, 300 RBIs and 174 stolen bases. Nishioka will likely be the Twins’ starting 2B for the Twins in 2011 and beyond.