It happened: The Twins have signed Bartolo Colon
The Twins have a new arm in the system. And he's the oldest player in any major league system.
Bartolo Colon signed a minor league contract with Minnesota, the Twins announced during Friday night's game, and the 44-year-old will report to their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester, New York, in the next few days.
If he makes his way back to the majors, the Twins will become Colon's 10th big league team. He debuted 20 years ago with Cleveland and won a Cy Young Award with the Indians in 2005.
Even in his early 40s Colon has been a serviceable starter, going 44-34 with the New York Mets over the last three seasons. This year, though, he signed a $12.5 million contract with the Braves and then struggled. In 13 starts he went 2-8 with an 8.14 ERA before getting cut on June 29.
The Star Tribune says the Braves are on the hook for most of Colon's salary, with the Twins paying only a pro-rated portion of the major league minimum of $535,000 if he makes the big league team.
