The Twins reached agreement today on a one-year, $1.3 million contract with free agent reliever Luis Ayala, pending a physical, Ayala’s agent Joe Longo told the Star Tribune.

Ayala, 31, went 2-10 with a 5.71 ERA and nine saves in 86 appearances last year with the Nationals and Mets, handling a heavy workload despite a groin injury. 

After getting traded from Washington to New York, Ayala stepped into the closer’s role for the Mets and converted nine of 11 save opportunities. The righthanded sinkerball specialist went 2-2 with a 3.19 ERA the previous year with Washington.

The Twins agreed to pay Ayala up to $575,000 in performance incentives. After losing setup man Pat Neshek to an elbow injury in November, they’ve explored numerous trade and free agent options.

“He’s happy to go in there and fight for that setup job,” Longo said.

As La Velle noted, the Twins signed Matt Guerrier to a one-year, $1.475 million deal today, clearing their plate of their final pending arbitration case.

Meanwhile, I spoke to Joe Crede’s agent, Scott Boras. It sounds like the free agent third baseman is ready to sign somewhere, even if the Twins appear to be dragging their feet.

The reports I’d been getting had Crede at 75 percent, coming off his second back surgery in two years.

“Joe Crede has been cleared to play and is ready to compete every day, as any other player would be going to camp,” Boras said. “And he’ll be doing so in about 10-14 days.”

The implication was clear: Crede wants his deal signed in the next week and intends to be full-go when major league position players report to spring training. The Giants and Twins are among the teams interested.

Crede, 30, is believed to be seeking a one-year deal with a base salary of at least $5.1 million — the amount he made last year — with incentives that will pay him as an All-Star third baseman if he stays on the field.

The Twins have been hesitant to commit that much guaranteed money to Crede until they know he’s healthy. Also, there’s the concern that he’d be able to stay healthy while playing on the Metrodome’s artificial surface.

“Joe Crede is healthy,” Boras said. “The playing surface he plays on is not an issue.”

A simple post about the Twins’ new groundskeeper hire led to some pretty hilarious comments. You guys were on fire.

Wish I had something new to report today, but there just isn’t any news.

In speaking with Twins officials this week, they seem about 90 percent certain there won’t be any notable changes to the roster before spring training. Obviously, we’ll let you know if that changes.

The Twins are convinced it’s better to do nothing than to do something silly, just for the sake of making a move. They insist other teams have been asking for too much in trades.

They’re convinced their internal bullpen options (Jesse Crain, Jose Mijares, Matt Guerrier, Boof Bonser, etc.) are just as likely to pan out as late-inning setup guys as the remaining free agents.

I’d say the best chance of a move would be a Joe Crede signing, but I keep hearing he’s at 75 percent, and the Twins don’t want to shell out $5 million in guaranteed money (plus incentives) unless they know he’s healthy.

If they can get the asking price down in guaranteed money, or if Crede would get closer to 90-95 percent, they might have a match. If not, they’ll move forward with their third base platoon of Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher.

The Twins have hired Larry DiVito to be head groundskeeper at Target Field, the team announced today. It’s the team’s first head groundskeeper hire since 1961, their first year at Metropolitan Stadium.

Over the past 14 years, DiVito has worked as head groundskeeper for the Washington Nationals, grounds crew supervisor for the Los Angeles Dodgers and and head groundskeeper for the Pawtucket Red Sox.

OK everyone, time for a deep breath.

I did some checking today, and the Twins have lost their appetite for a Jarrod Washburn trade. Also, the glitch that makes you scroll through multiple pages to see the bottom of our blog comments is only temporary.

I’m still not sure to what extent the Twins and Mariners have talked recently, but it’s very possible the M’s wanted the Twins to revisit the Washburn idea to free up some payroll.

As baffling as it still sounds, the Twins did agree to take on Washburn’s contract in August (including all $10.35 million for 2009) before M’s president Chuck Armstrong nixed the deal.

“I did not want to move him just to save money,” Armstrong later told the Seattle Times.

As one Twins source put it today, “They missed their chance.”

I pursued the story because I thought we might be getting the tip of the iceberg. I figured it was possible the Twins could take on Washburn’s salary and part with Delmon Young to get a big return from Seattle.

How about RHP Brandon Morrow? No, I was told. The Mariners view him as an untouchable.

What about C Jeff Clement? As we thought, he’s not a good fit for the Twins, who have Joe Mauer entrenched at catcher. Even if you got creative with Clement and made him a first baseman, there’s Justin Morneau, and the Twins have Jason Kubel at DH.

Since we’re talking Twins and Mariners, what about Adrian Beltre? He’d be a great fit, but he has a no-trade clause and the Twins would expect to have to compensate him — in addition to the Mariners – if they wanted him.

Many expect the Mariners to go into the season with Beltre and then look to trade him at the July 31 deadline.

Around the horn

(*) The Twins have made multi-year offers to Matt Guerrier but have made little progress in their negotiations and appear determined to take this all the way to an arbitration hearing.

Guerrier is one of the biggest pros in the clubhouse. He wore down under an enormous work load last season after Pat Neshek got hurt. The gap is big (Guerrier asked for $1.75 million, while the Twins offered $1.2 million), but the Twins would be wise to find some middle ground here.

(*) The Twins continue to shy away from reliever Juan Cruz because he is a Type A free agent and would cost them a first-round draft pick.

(*) A Joe Crede signing remains a real possibility for the Twins. There are some in the organization who really want to take the chance, and others who think it’s too big of a risk.

A key point to consider: What chance does a player coming off a back injury have of staying healthy while playing on FieldTurf?