MLB free agency: One free agent each team should sign

Minnesota Twins: Jason Vargas

The Twins are going to the playoffs this year despite rolling out a rotation that has included Bartolo Colon, Dillon Gee, Kyle Gibson and Adalaberto Mejia. Teams that give starts to this group are supposed to finish in last place, and the Twins FIP of 4.74 is one of the worst in the league, but crazy things happen in baseball.

Minnesota defied the odds in every way imaginable to get to the playoffs, riding Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios while hoping everyone else did a semi-competent job on their turn to start. With a weakened AL Central, that was more than enough to get the job done. Expecting that approach to work out as well next year would be foolish. Remember, the Twins nearly made the playoffs against all statistical models in 2015 before losing 103 games with most of the same roster in 2016. Ask the Orioles how quickly a team’s fortunes can change when pinning your hopes on a mediocre starting rotation that has to beat FIP to win every year.

Financially, the Twins are at a disadvantage to the rest of the league, so they won’t be going out and making a play for the top starting pitchers. They should have no problem affording one of the second-tier names like Jason Vargas. Much like Twins ace Santana, Vargas rides his cutter and changeup to get weak contact.

Despite losing almost two full years to elbow trouble, Vargas is 57-41 since 2012 with a 3.85 ERA. He can be counted on to eat up innings and keep his team in the game like a veteran starter should. His style of pitching should play well in spacious Target Field where he will also benefit from the cooler weather of Minneapolis early in the year.