Twins sign SS Everett

The Minnesota Twins on Thursday signed shortstop Adam Everett to a one-year contract.

As a member of the Houston Astros last season, Everett batted .232 with two home runs and 15 RBI in 66 games. The 30-year-old missed most of the second half of the season with a fractured right fibula, suffered on June 14.

The Astros traded five players to acquire All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada from the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, leaving little doubt that Everett would not be re-signed.

Everett, who had spent his entire career with Houston, has a career batting average of .248 with 35 home runs and 214 RBI in 649 games since 2001.

With the Twins, Everett will have a chance to replace shortstop Jason Bartlett, who was dealt to the Tampa Bay Rays on November 28 in a six-player trade which brought outfielder Delmon Young to Minnesota.

Originally selected by the Boston Red Sox in the first round of the 1998 draft, Everett was traded to Houston along with pitcher Greg Miller in exchange for outfielder Carl Everett in December 1999.