Twins sign right-handed pitcher Chris Archer

FORT MYERS, FL – The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have signed right-handed pitcher Chris Archer to a one-year contract through the 2022 season.

Archer, 33, pitched in six games (5 starts) for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2021, going 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA (19.1 IP, 10 ER), eight walks and 21 strikeouts, spending most of the season on the Injured List with right forearm tightness. The two-time American League All-Star (2015 and ’17) made his major league debut for Tampa Bay in 2012 and has pitched in 218 career games (215 starts), going 61-81 with a 3.87 ERA (1254.1 IP, 540 ER), 428 walks, 1370 strikeouts and a .240 opponent batting average with the Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2013 and fifth in the AL Cy Young race in 2015.

Since 2014, the right-hander ranks eighth in the AL in strikeouts (1030) and 15th in innings pitched (924.1). The Raleigh, North Carolina native was originally selected by Cleveland in the fifth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Clayton High School in Clayton, NC. Archer will wear uniform number 17, moving Bailey Ober to number 16.

To make room for Archer on the 40-man roster, the Twins have outrighted left-handed pitcher Lewis Thorpe to Triple-A St. Paul. Thorpe appeared in two games for the Twins in spring training, allowing one run on two hits in 3.2 innings pitched with two walks and five strikeouts.