The Twins have received lefthander Kris Johnson from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for righthander Duke Welker, who was with the Twins for less than two months.
Johnson, 29, was 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA in four games (one start) with the Pirates. He spent the majority of the season at Class AAA Indianapolis, where he was 10-4, 2,39 in 26 games (21 starts).
The Twins received Welker on Oct. 5 as a player to be named later in the deal that sent Justin Morneau to the Pirates.
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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