Capps takes big pay cut to stay with Twins
Closer re-signs for 1 year at $4.75M US after making $7.15M last season
The Minnesota Twins have finalized their one-year, $4.75-million US contract with closer Matt Capps.
The deal was done Wednesday after Capps passed his physical. Minnesota avoided a salary arbitration hearing with the right-hander in January, signing him to a one-year deal worth $7.15 million, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.
Capps's contract includes a $6-million club option for the 2013 season. He will make $4.5 million in 2012, and the Twins must pay him a $250,000 buyout if they decline to exercise the option for a second year.
He can earn additional performance bonuses based on his number of games finished.
Capps was acquired in a July 2010 trade with Washington for prized prospect catcher Wilson Ramos and finished with a combined 48 saves for the Nationals and the Twins that season.
But last year he slumped to 4-7 with a 4.25 earned-run average in 65-plus innings. He had 15 saves and blew seven opportunities.