The Twins have signed right-handed reliever Josh Staumont to a one-year deal, the team announced on Wednesday, finally making their first roster addition of the offseason.
Staumont played in 21 games and had pitched 20 innings in 2023 for the Kansas City Royals before his season was cut short by surgery to fix thoracic outlet syndrome, which is a group of conditions in which there’s pressure on blood vessels or nerves in the area between the neck and shoulder, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Staumont had a 5.40 ERA and allowed 12 runs on 16 hits while striking out 24 in his abridged 2023 season. The five-year veteran pitched a career high 65 2/3 innings in 2021, recording a 2.88 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 64 appearances.
Staumont has played for the Royals for all five years of his MLB career.
The Twins hope Staumont can help bolster a bullpen that lost a key reliever in Emilio Pagan to free agency this offseason. The Twins still need to find a way to address their starting ranks, with Cy Young runner-up Sonny Gray and Kenta Maeda also having departed in free agency.
