The Twins have signed 28-year old righty reliever Casey Fien. Fien pitched in 23 games (0 starts) in rookie+AAA-ball last year and he was 3-2 with 3 saves, a 4.44 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors back in 2010 for the Tigers. He has pitched in 11 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 0-1 with a 8.36 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. Fien will get a chance to win a bullpen job for the Twins this coming spring.

The Twins have signed 27-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Aaron Bates to a minor league contract. Bates played in 106 games in AAA-ball last year and he was 113 of 358 (.316 avg, .847 OPS) with 57 runs scored, 7 homers, 37 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He played in 5 games for the Red Sox back in 2009 and he was 4 of 11 (.364 avg, .962 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 0 homers and 2 RBIs. Bates will likely be stashed in AAA-ball in 2012 for the Twins.