After an offseason of trying to trim payroll and curb spending, the Minnesota Twins have made a minor but exciting upgrade to their bullpen.

Per Dan Hayes of ‘The Athletic.’

Josh Staumont’s contract w/ the #MNTwins is for just under $1 million. He’s arb eligible one more season beyond 2024. Staumont had thoracic outlet syndrome surgery last summer.

Certainly, after the surgery, there’s risk that Staumont doesn’t get back to his prior form. But at that price point it’s a risk worth taking as Staumont was at one point a very solid reliever in the American League Central.

The righty made his major league debut in 2019 with the Kansas City Royals and served as a key member of the bullpen until going down in 2023. He’s 9-7 in his career (169 appearances), working nearly exclusively as a reliever. He’s posted an impressive 4.01 ERA, including a dominant 2.45 in the COVID 2020 season and a 2.88 in 64 games in 2021.

He’s thrown 168.1 innings in his career and has registered 191 strikeouts, which is the kind of swing and miss stuff that teams salivate over.

He’s also just 30 years old and is under control through the 2025 season, so there is time for Staumont to try to get back what he showed with the Royals.

The Twins won the American League Central this past season and won a playoff series by beating the Toronto Blue Jays in the wild card round. Unfortunately, they were beaten in the ALDS by the Houston Astros.