Dickey, who will be invited to spring training, fulfills the Twins' longstanding interest in finding out whether a knuckleball pitcher would flourish inside the still air of the Metrodome. Of course, it's only a brief experiment now, since 2009 will be the team's final season indoors.

But Dickey's 2-0 record and 2.00 ERA out of Seattle's bullpen last season rekindled the Twins' interest in the 34-year-old pitcher. Dickey will be given a chance to earn the long-relief job in Minnesota's bullpen, an opportunity that may indirectly solve the Twins' eighth-inning dilemma. With Dickey and Philip Humber available for spot starts and long relief work, former starter Boof Bonser could be permanently moved into a setup role.

"We like how Boof looks when he just goes out and lets it fly," manager Ron Gardenhire said during the winter meetings in early December. "His fastball really hops, and he's got that great curveball."

Dickey is a low-risk solution during a winter when the Twins are discovering that relief pitching is overpriced on the free agent market. The team is unwilling to tie up its payroll over the next two to three years on risky investments like journeyman relievers, and it hopes to fill those vacancies -- particularly the setup role that opened up when Pat Neshek underwent elbow surgery -- internally.