Damn.  I’ve hated Jim Thome for years, and now… I have to root for him.  Jim Thome signed a 1-year/$1.5 million deal with the Twins today in which he will be a spot-start DH and a veteran pinch hitter in most cases.  Everyone in Twins camp is excited for this move, now the Twins finally have a power bat to come off the bench and bring that verteran leadership.  Unfortunately the Twins are apparently more concerned with signing 39 year old bench players then going out and getting a legit power threat to play 3B for the 4th year in a row, but that’s ok I guess.  NOT.

As far as the deal is concerned, it’s a good signing because Thome still hits HRs and has 564 for his career and has never been mentioned in any steroid allogations so that’s a plus for me.  Thome will relieve Kubel of DH duties maybe once a week and Kubel can at least play OF to keep his bat in the lineup.  Thome will probably pinch hit 2-3 times a week for guys like Punto, Harris and Casilla.  That type of strategy can help the Twins if Thome’s hitting HRs but at the same time all those guys are way faster than Thome so if they get on base they are actual stolen base threats.  If Thome gets on base it’s an automatic pinch runner situation.

Grade for the Twins: B+.  Twins got their veteran, powerful home run hitter they wanted on the bench and for a good price.  What more could you ask for?