The Twins have signed former Montreal Expos starting pitcher Zach Day to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. An announcement is expected today.

Day, 29, who had rotator cuff surgery in June 2006, made nine starts last year for Class AAA Omaha (Royals), going 1-1 with a 3.93 ERA.

The righthander will have a chance to make the Twins’ rotation this spring but might need to start the year at Class AAA Rochester. He was signed as veteran insurance, as the Twins continue to explore trade options for Johan Santana.

Day went 18-19 for the Expos from 2002 to 2004. After that franchise moved to Washington, he pitched 12 games for the Nationals in 2005 before getting traded to Colorado. He rejoined the Nationals after being waived by the Rockies in April 2006. Last year, he signed a minor-league deal with the Royals.

The Twins had a scout watch Day pitch in workouts in Cincinnati this fall, and Day’s shoulder was back to about 85 percent full strength. Day expects to be back to 100 percent by the start of spring training.

Update: Day was one of 17 non-roster players the Twins invited to spring camp today. They also just announced the signing of lefthander Randy Keisler to a minor-league deal. Keisler made four appearances, including three starts, for the Cardinals last year, going 0-0 with a 5.19 ERA.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 11th, 2008 at 9:38 am and is filed under Twins thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.