As everyone knows by now, the Detroit Tigers made a huge splash yesterday by inking Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract. The deal ranks as one of the largest in baseball history, putting Prince in the same company as Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols in terms of total contract value.

The impact of this move on the Tigers has been well covered. Detroit ran away with the division in 2011, finishing 15 games ahead of second-place Cleveland and 32 games ahead of the 2010 Division Champs. While they were set to enter the season as the likely favorite in the AL Central, the devastating injury to Victor Martinez had seemingly opened the door for their division rivals.

Then yesterday happened. Prince signs the fourth-biggest free agent contract in history, and suddenly the Detroit Tigers have the best 3-4 punch in baseball to complement a pitching staff that features the best pitcher in the American League. What does this mean for the Tigers - and the AL Central - in 2012? Here's a couple takes, after the jump:

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Did you know only 11 men have played more games wearing a Twins uniform than Michael Cuddyer?

Neither did I.

Given the news today, it appears we’ve seen the end of Cuddyer’s 11-season career with the Minnesota Twins, and his 14-year tenure with the Twins organization. Michael Cuddyer will leave Minnesota as one of the more popular players in Twins history, joining Joe Nathan as long-time fan favorites that have hung up their Twins jerseys this off-season.

Cuddyer’s appeal to fans is easy to explain – he is a well-regarded clubhouse presence, brings a strong work ethic and embodies the idea of Minnesota Nice. He arrived on the scene just as the Twins became relevant again, and has been a regular contributor throughout the team’s recent decade of success. And let us not forget the dimples. Oh man, the dimples.

During his 11 seasons with the club, Cuddyer left his mark on the Twins record books. After the jump, we’ll take a look at where Cuddyer ranks on some of the team’s all-time leaderboards:

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Assuming the Twins finalize the rumored 3-year, $21 million deal with Josh Willingham, the front office will turn towards improving the team’s pitching staff, which compiled the second-highest ERA in the Majors last season.

But how much money will they have to spend? The Twins appear to be trimming payroll this season, after spending a franchise-record $118 million in 2011. Some reports have the team shooting for a $100 million payroll this season, though some guess it may get closer to $110 million when all is said and done.

Let’s do our best to figure out where we currently stand. Below I’ve laid out a chart that estimates our payroll commitments for 2012 based on our current projected roster. I’ve included rough estimates for arbitration eligible players (stolen directly from this page at MLB Trade Rumors), and assigned a generic $500,000 salary to each player that has yet to hit arbitration. Because these are just guesses and estimates, please keep in mind that the totals come with a reasonable margin of error.

The big chart, after the jump:

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As part of the club's 40th Season Celebration in 2000, the Minnesota Twins created the Twins Hall of Fame, which they've since used to honor 23 players, coaches and executives "who have contributed to the organization's growth and success since the Twin Cities broke into the Major Leagues in 1961."

Earlier this week, the team released the newest ballot for the Twins Hall of Fame and announced the 2012 inductees will be revealed at TwinsFest, which is set for January 27-29 at the Metrodome. According to the team's website, "voting is conducted by a 54-member committee, which includes local and national baseball writers, Twins broadcasters, Twins Hall of Fame members, local TV and Radio members, select Twins front office personnel and the fans." Fans can make their selections at http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/fan_forum/hof_ballot.jsp before midnight on January 4. At most, two players will be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2012.

For those interested in taking part in the voting, I put together a chart that includes the total Wins Above Replacement (WAR ) generated by the players currently in the Twins Hall of Fame and those currently being considered for inclusion. The WAR totals listed below only reflect the wins created by these players while wearing a Twins uniform, excluding value they may have generated for other teams or for the Senators before they moved to Minnesota in 1961.

The chart, and more, after the jump:

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Could Josh Willingham be the consolation prize for the Minnesota Twins if they lose out on the Michael Cuddyer sweepstakes?

As we discussed last night, Joe Christensen of the Star Tribune reported yesterday that the Twins have recently been in contact with agent Matt Sosnick, who represents both Willingham and Ryan Doumit. This was the first time I had seen the Twins officially linked to Willingham, who will be a Type-A free agent following a monster (29 homers, 98 RBIs) season with the Oakland As in 2011.

Willingham makes complete sense for the Twins, who are at risk of losing both Cuddyer and Jason Kubel this offseason. Of course, a consistently productive right-handed hitter coming off a 29 homer season makes sense for a lot of teams, so the Twins will obviously face stiff competition if they plan on making a serious run for the 32-year-old outfielder.

So how does Willingham stack up against Cuddyer and Kubel, the players he may be replacing in the lineup?

I'll explain the chart after the jump:

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Judging from reaction to Monday's big news, it's clear the vast majority of Twins fans had lost faith in Bill Smith and seriously doubted his ability to return this team to its status as the class of the AL Central.

Fans had every reason to be frustrated with Smith's tenure as GM. Smith took over during a tumultuous time for the franchise, overseeing both the departure of long-time star Torii Hunter and trading away the team's best pitcher  for an underwhelming collection of prospects. He swapped Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young. He traded JJ Hardy to make room for Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He moved Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps, and then brought back Capps just to watch his strikeout rate implode and ERA explode. The list goes on.

On the other hand, Smith made several smart, mid-level moves that did pay off: Pavano, Thome, Hudson, Rauch, Fuentes, and, of course, the acquisition of J.J. Hardy. But any goodwill Smith may have garnered from fans with those moves meant little when compared to the disappointment and anger he elicited from fans for the many moves he made that seemingly failed so spectacularly.

While I am entirely supportive of the decision to relieve Smith of his duties as GM, and couldn't be happier to see Terry Ryan take over the position, I do have to say I've spent the past day or so experiencing quite a bit of sympathy for Smith. I'm not talking about the public firing, which, while difficult, certainly comes with the territory. No, I'm talking about his track record as GM, which, however flawed, was certainly impacted by a string of bad luck and terrible timing that magnified every questionable move he made as GM

I'll dive into that after the jump.

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The Minnesota Twins officially announced yesterday that they had declined Joe Nathan's $12.5 million option for 2012, choosing instead to pay his $2 million buyout and bid for his services on the free agent market.

This was bittersweet news for Twins fans. Intellectually, most Twins fans agree that picking up Nathan's option - which would have covered his age-37 season - would have been a mistake, especially given the number of holes on the team that need to be filled this offseason. But Nathan ranks as one of the most popular players in recent Twins history. On an emotional level, the prospect of seeing Nathan end his career in a different uniform is a painful possibility for many Twins fans.

If this is the end of Nathan's tenure with the Twins, I thought it'd be a good time to step back and put Joe's career in some perspective.We'll dive in after the jump:

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"It's still early, but Michael Cuddyer clearly being targeted by a number of teams, and the Red Sox will likely be among those."

-ESPN's Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) on Twitter last night

As the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers prepare for Game 1 of the 2011 World Series, executives from the other 28 teams only have one thing on their minds: preparing for 2012.

For the Twins, preparing for 2012 means many things: plugging the gaping hole at shortstop, adding a pitcher or six, making contingency plans at first and behind the plate, and, of course, figuring out how to handle the expiring contracts of Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel.

It's clear the Twins want to keep Michael Cuddyer, who has now spent 11 seasons with the big club after being drafted by the Twins in 1997. Cuddyer was the Twins most productive hitter in 2011 and has always been an outstanding and beloved member of the organization. He also has been the club's primary insurance policy for Justin Morneau for two straight seasons.

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GM, President face the fans

Twins General Manager Bill Smith and team President Dave St. Peter held a conference call with season ticket holders yesterday. The Strib provided a good roundup here, but below I've pulled out some highlights.  If you were on the call and have some insights to add, we'd love to read them in the comments section:

Michael Cuddyer

Smith said he'd like to see Michael Cuddyer finish his career as a Twin.  As we all know, Cuddyer is a free agent this off-season. There is every reason to think the Twins are making re-signing Cuddyer a priority this off-season: he was one of the (very) few bright spots last season, and he provides valuable insurance for Morneau at first.

Joe Nathan

Even if Nathan's 2012 option isn't picked up, the team is interested in keeping him. This makes perfect sense - the bullpen was a disaster last season, Nathan pitched effectively after his return in July, and he has always been an ideal organizational guy. The big question: how much and for how many years? Joe will turn 37 in November.

Off-Season Priorities

Bill Smith's list: A starting pitcher, some relief help and a back-up catcher.  He said the team also needs to "figure out" shortstop - specifically citing the poor defense at the position this season - and that the team may be looking outside the organization for help. 

This pretty much sums up the holes on the team that can't simply be filled by praying for good players to get healthy.  It was heartening to see Smith mentioning the need for a back-up catcher, seeing as how he shipped off Wilson Ramos and Jose Morales over the past two seasons. More on that topic below.  Also, if you haven't read Steve Adams piece on one possible starting pitching target from yesterday, click here.

Read more after the jump:

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Following last night's loss to the Seattle Mariners, the Minnesota Twins have now scored 582 runs on the season, the second worst mark in the American League and 104 runs (or 15%) behind the league average.  At 3.8 runs per game, the Twins are on pace to score 616 runs in 2011, or 165 runs fewer than they scored in 2010.

Obviously the Twins offense is not the only culprit behind our miserable season: even if the Twins offense were scoring runs at the league average rate, they'd still likely have a sub-.500 record (more specifically, they'd have a .445 winning percentage according to their Pythagorean expectation).  That being said, we all know that the Twins can't hope to compete in 2012 without a substantially better offense.

We'll be spending countless hours discussing and debating potential solutions to the Twins offensive woes in the coming months, but I thought we could start out with some simple accounting.  If, in fact, the Twins offense in scoring runs 15% below the league average, where are we losing those runs?  We'll dive in after the jump:

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Let's take our minds off of Bruce Chen and 100 losses, shall we?

Below I've listed some player comparisons that I found interesting, entertaining, or, well, frustrating.

Let's start with a simple one:

Here we have two virtually-identically players.  They're both outfielders with great speed and great gloves, but questionable offensive skills.  Any guesses?

Player A: Carlos Gomez in 2008 (his first season as a Twin)

Player B: Ben Revere, 2011.

Let's try some more, after the jump:

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1. Even after last night's offensive barrage, Twins batters are hitting a collective 247/306/360.  Their 665 OPS ranks second-to-last in the AL, behind only the historically awful Seattle Mariners.

2.  What does a 665 OPS look like? Juan Pierre currently has a 668 OPS.  Juan. Pierre.

3. The Twins have given 50 or more plate appearances to 18 different players.  Only three of those players - Cuddyer, Thome and Kubel - have hit above the league average (as measured by both OPS+ and wRAA).

4. The Twins have combined to post a weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) of .295.  That's second worst in the league behind (you guessed it) the Seattle Mariners.  But even that doesn't do it justice.  Below is a chart of the ten worst team wOBAs in the AL since 2000:

That's some pretty impressive company.  The 2010 Mariners lost 101 games, and the 2002 and 2003 Tigers combined to lose 225 games.   

5. Now I have to admit: that last chart is a little unfair to the Twins.  Fangraphs' wOBA doesn't adjust for league or park, and the 2011 Twins are playing in a pitchers' park at a time when league-wide offense is on the decline.  Luckily, we have a different measure - weighted Runs Created (wRC+) - which does have the appropriate adjustments.  Here's where this current Twins team ranks among the worst American League offenses of the 21^st Century:

6. And, no, it's not fair to chalk up our miserable offense to our pitcher-friendly home park.  The Twins are just the second-worst offense in the AL at home (.676 OPS, .300 wOBA).  On the road, however, they're the worst-hitting team in the AL (.655 OPS, .290 wOBA).

Well, that was fun.  On the bright side, Kansas City blew a late lead last night, meaning the Twins still have a half-game lead on the last-place Royals.  In fact, if you believe in the predictive power run differential, we should actually feel lucky to be where we are right now.  The Astros have won three straight games, and have improved their run differential by 10 runs in the process.  That now leaves your Minnesota Twins with the worst run differential in baseball (-149).  Gross.

Last season, the Minnesota Twins entered the All-Star Break with a pedestrian record of 46 wins and 42 losses, having just slipped to third place and sitting 3.5 games behind the division leader.

This season, the Twins entered the All-Star Break with a pedestrian record of 41 wins and 48 losses, having just crawled their way out of the cellar to pull within 6.5 games of the division leader.

Last season, the Twins exploded after the All-Star Break.  They won nine of their last 12 games in July, then posted a .643 winning percentage in August and a .630 winning percentage in September.  By September 22, they had a 12 game lead over the rest of the division.

This season, the Twins imploded after the All-Star Break.  They've won just 14 of 39 games since the break, and have fallen 15 games out of first.  In total, the team's -132 run differential ranks as the third-worst figure in the majors, behind just the Orioles (-140) and the Astros (-155).  And at least the Orioles have a shortstop that can hit.

Watching last night's disaster got me thinking: have we ever seen a Minnesota Twins team fall so fast, so quickly?  This is a team that won 94 games last season, and 87 and 88 games the two seasons before last.  This was a team that entered the year viewed as either the class of the division, or, at the very least, a team good enough to compete for the division crown.  Now, with just 34 games left to play, the 2011 Minnesota Twins are closer to being the worst team in baseball than the best team in their division.

So, again, my question: is this the most disappointing season in Minnesota Twins history? In an attempt to answer this subjective question, I put together three charts.  I'll explain each after the jump.

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On Monday, Jesse reposted his excellent August Transaction Primer, providing a useful explanation of how teams can swing major deals even after the July 31^st trade "deadline."  If you haven't read it yet, do it now.  With the Twins facing an eight game deficit and the worst run differential in the division, it's very possible Bill Smith could be pretty active later this month.

Yesterday, the folks over at MLBTradeRumors.com posted a laundry list of names that could be moved this August.  Here are the names they mentioned for the Twins: Joe Nathan, Carl Pavano, Matt Capps, Jason Kubel, Jim Thome, and Kevin Slowey.

I think this is a pretty good list.  Let's take a closer look at these players, and their contracts.

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After last night's incredible comeback victory against the reigning AL champs, the Minnesota Twins improved to 48-55, but remain seven games behind the division-leading Detroit Tigers.  With just 59 games left on the season, the Twins playoff hopes are dim - they not only need to make up a seven game deficit, but they also need to leapfrog three other teams to win the division.

The Twins' disappointing season is the result of many factors, which not only includes a dizzying array of injuries, but some hugely disappointing performances from players that were coming off outstanding 2010 performances.  In fact, it's a testament to the mediocrity of the AL Central that the Twins can even be thought of as contenders at this point, considering how little production we've received from established players like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Francisco Liriano, Matt Capps, Delmon Young, and others.

That's what makes the following chart so frustrating (after the jump):

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At first, it appeared too good to be true.

Through the first seven weeks of the season, Alexi Casilla was a disaster.  An absolute disaster.  Between April 1 and May 23, Casilla played in 39 games, coming to bat a total of 112 times.  In those plate appearances, he posted a horrific .188/.252/.248 batting line, with just four extra-base hits and four runs batted in. 

Then something funny happened.  Casilla started hitting.  In the final week of May, Casilla batted .400 with four extra-base hits in those seven games alone.  Casilla would up hitting .288/.351/.424 for the month, though the vast majority of his production came from just his last 30 plate appearances.

Like I said, it initially appeared too good to be true.  Near the end of May Jesse wrote a piece entitled "Alexi Casilla is Going Streaking." It was a good column.  In it, Jesse cautioned against putting too much weight in Casilla's seven-game hot streak, considering it was immediately preceded by seven weeks of sheer futility.  While the column was hopeful - we were all praying Casilla could hold down one of the middle infield positions, especially considering the lack of viable alternatives in the organization - it also contained a justifiable amount of skepticism. 

As it turns out, Alexi Casilla's late-May turnaround was just a sign of things to come.  From the end of May through the All-Star Break, Casilla has been one of the better offensive middle infielders in the game. 

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When you're a fan of a team having a bad season, you spend July contemplating which players your team will shed at the trade deadline, and which organizational needs your team should be trying to fill.

When you're a fan of a playoff-contending team, you spend July praying your team's GM will pull the trigger on a blockbuster trade that will not only propel you into the playoffs, but carry you through October as well.

So what the heck do you do when you're a fan of team like the 2011 Minnesota Twins, enduring a roller coaster season that has seen the team bottom out on June 1 (17-37, 16.5 games back), then rebound with 5- and 8-game win streaks to pull within 6.5 games of first on June 21, just to drop the next six games to fall 10 back on June 27?

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Michael Cuddyer's tremendous play in June has all but erased his dismal start to the season.  After hitting a combined 262/322/372 in April and May, Cuddyer has destroyed opposing pitchers over the past three weeks, hitting 333/403/683 and raising his season OPS to a respectable .794.

Judging solely by OPS, Cuddyer's 2011 season looks right at home with the rest of his career:

Ignoring the dip in 2008 - during which he played just 71 games, posting a .699 OPS battling through multiple, painful finger injuries - Cuddyer's career has roughly fit with what we would expect from a normal aging curve.  His best seasons came at 27, 28, and 30, and his last two seasons (age 31 and 32) look remarkably similar to the two seasons that immediately preceded his "peak" years (ages 25 and 26).

If we look a little deeper, however, we find a much more interesting pattern developing in Cuddyer's career, a pattern that could have a tremendous impact on his future with the Twins and his role on any Major League ball club.  Cuddyer, who has never hit right-handed pitching all that well, has seen his platoon splits swell over the past three seasons.

Read more after the jump:

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On July 30 of last season, Bill Smith finalized a trade that proved to be extremely controversial among Twins fans:

Washington Nationals trade RHP Matt Capps to Minnesota Twins; Minnesota Twins trade C Wilson Ramos to Washington Nationals and Fort Myers Miracle trade LHP Joe Testa to Potomac Nationals.

A day later, another trade was finalized between two different teams, to much less fan fare (and dispute):

Arizona Diamondbacks trade RHP Chad Qualls to Tampa Bay Rays.  Tampa Bay Rays agree to send a Player To Be Named Later to Arizona Diamondbacks.

Like many Twins fans, I was dumbfounded by the Capps-Ramos swap, especially considering Jon Rauch's relative effectiveness at turning two and three-run ninth-inning leads into wins.  I held my ire in check the day the trade was announced, however, not wanting to jump on Bill Smith too quickly for making the type of win-now moves Twins fans had been clamoring for during virtually the entirety of the Ron Gardenhire era.

That was until I saw the eventual price the Rays paid to add Qualls just 24 hours later.

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With last night's loss to Detroit, the Minnesota Twins wrapped up the first two months of the season with a dismal record of 17 wins and 36 losses, the worst season-opening record of any Twins team since 1982.

Fun fact: the 1982 Twins finished the season with just 60 wins, and remain the only 100- loss squad in Twins history.

A month ago, as the calendar flipped from April to May and with the Twins sitting on a .346 winning percentage, Ron Gardenhire was still expressing cautious optimism about the season.  One bad month was not the end of the season, Gardenhire correctly noted.  The team was focused on righting the ship, getting back to .500, and then setting their sights on capturing another division crown.

One wonders if we'll hear the same confidence today as the calendar flips to June.

Now that we have two complete months in the book, I thought we could step back and compare the teams brutal April with our horrendous May, and at least look for some rays of hope - or at least some signs of improvement from this disappointing squad. 

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The worst offense in baseball.

More than 20% of the way into the 2011 season, and the Minnesota Twins, sporting the biggest payroll in team history, currently have the worst offense in baseball.

Don't worry, I'm not going to provide another gut wrenching look at how bad the Twins offense has been during the first weeks of the season.  BeefMaster handled that task on Monday.

And I'm not going to rehash all the reasons for the Twins offensive woes.  Everyone here understands how injuries have decimated the lineup, forcing us to lead the league in guys named Rene while finishing dead last in nearly every meaningful offensive category.

I do, however, want to make a pretty simple point: there is nothing hurting this offense more than the absence of a healthy Joe Mauer.

I know that's not a groundbreaking statement.  Mauer is the cornerstone of the franchise and the team's highest-paid player.  Stats as simple as batting average and as complex as Wins Above Replacement all agree: Joe Mauer is good at baseball.

But I do believe that some fans don't fully comprehend how important a healthy Mauer is to the Twins everyday lineup and what role his bad health and absence has played in our team's inability to score runs this season. 

We'll take a closer look after the jump.

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Well, we've seen prettier.  We've seen more masterful.  But for Twins fans recovering from the worst April in recent memory, it sure felt awfully sweet.

Francisco Liriano made history last night, pitching the season's first no-hitter, and the 264^th in Major League history.  To say the performance came as a shock would be a severe understatement: Twins fans have been digesting news that Liriano was a start or two away from losing his rotation spot for the past several days.

The fans at Twinkie Town, however, knew he had it in him.  Jesse's headline yesterday read: The Hangover Ends Tonight. 

There is a lot to talk about from this game, and we all deserve to take full opportunity of one of our few chances to celebrate so far this season.  It's hard to believe that one dramatic game will turnaround our dismal season (this one didn't seem to work), and a six-walk, two-strikeout game does little to assuage the significant question marks surrounding our struggling ace.  But at the very least, last night's game gives us the opportunity to say:

Later today, the Minnesota Twins will take on the last-place Chicago White Sox.

After the jump, I've compiled some interesting factoids about Liriano's unconventional no-hitter.  Some of them I'm sure you've already seen, others I haven't seen presented yet.  I, for one, am fascinated by this type of miscellanea - please add your own in the comments.

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Over the past few days, one of the biggest storylines in baseball has been Bud Selig's (premature?) announcement that MLB would likely expand the playoffs by two teams in 2012, adding an additional Wild Card in both leagues.  While we did have a brief discussion on this topic in FanPosts, I thought given yesterday's rainout, it might be a good day to open up discussion on this fairly controversial topic.

According to media reports, the new playoff format would have the two Wild Cards in each league face off in a one or three-game series.  Presumably, the winner would then take the role of the current Wild Card winner, facing the league's first or second seed for a chance to play in the Championship Series.

Personally, I enter any conversation about expanding the baseball playoffs with a heavy dose of skepticism.  For me, the primary issue is maintaining the integrity and importance of the regular season.  Compare Major League Baseball to the NBA and NHL.  In baseball, the regular season is used to weed out three-quarters of teams, leaving the top quarter of teams to compete for the championship.  In the NBA and NHL, on the other hand, more than half of all teams make the playoffs.  This system cheapens the regular season; the net result of months of regular season play is reducing to simply removing below-average teams from the postseason tournament.

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In early March, Ron Gardenhire raised eyebrows when he announced Nick Blackburn would be given a rotation spot, leaving Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey to fight for the final spot on the Twins opening day starting staff.

Baker, who was the Twins 2010 Opening Day starter, and Slowey were considered by many Twins fans to be far superior pitchers to Blackburn.  Fans had reason to be skeptical of Blackburn: last season, Nick sported the second highest ERA in baseball among starters with at least 160 innings pitched.

In truth, Blackburn's 2010 was a tale of two seasons.  From the beginning of the season through July, Blackburn was atrocious: 104 innings, a 6.66 ERA, terrible peripherals, and a 943 OPS against.   Following a well-deserved demotion, Nick came back on August 23^rd and finished the season strong: in 8 starts (and one relief appearance), he posted a 3.16 ERA, holding opposing hitters to a 622 OPS.

We know Blackburn was facing significant health issues in 2010, and is reportedly feeling better than ever after off-season elbow surgery.  Nick entered the 2011 season looking to use his improved health to build off his strong finish to 2010, and, so far, the results have been pretty encouraging.

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Last night, the Minnesota Twins offense exploded, torching Royals pitchers for four (4!) runs over 10 innings. The offensive barrage marked the third time this season the Twins have scored more than three runs in a game, which, I'm guessing, could be some sort of record.

Yes, friends, the Minnesota Twins are currently sporting the worst offense in baseball.  By a pretty considerable margin.  Thankfully, we've managed to scrape together four wins in our first ten games, despite our scuffling offense.

Yesterday, BeefMaster (here) and Adam (here) gave us some great examples of just how pitiful the Twins offense has been this season.  Unfortunately for you, dear readers, I had been working on a list of my own. 

So, at the risk of beating a dead horse, I present more fun facts about the worst offense in baseball:

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Given all the wonderful things to talk about from last night's game, it sure feels strange to be writing about a single at-bat that turned out to have zero impact on the game's outcome.

In the ninth inning of last night's glorious victory over the Yankees, with the Twins having just tied the game during a dramatic eighth inning rally, Jason Kubel stepped in against Mariano Rivera and delivered a lead-off single.  As I said, the hit turned out to have no impact on the outcome of the game - Danny Valencia, Justin Morneau, and Matt Tolbert were quickly retired after Kubel's single - but it was a pretty significant hit in terms of win expectancy, shifting the odds of a Twins' victory from a coin flip to a 60% favorite.

While it didn't impact the outcome of the game, that at-bat did give us a chance to see another chapter in what has been, for my money, one of the more oddly fascinating hitter-pitcher match-ups in baseball.  While they've only squared off 12 times since the Twins outfielder entered the league in 2004, Kubel and Rivera's relationship has been filled with a remarkable amount of drama.

Continued after the jump.

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• As noted yesterday, Ron Gardenhire announced that Scott Baker will begin the season in the rotation, while Kevin Slowey will be asked to work out of the bullpen. Baker is pretty clearly the superior pitcher, possessing the better track record and better peripherals. It will be interesting to see how Slowey reacts moving to the pen. He's always had trouble the second and third time facing hitters in the lineup.

• Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron posted an article titled, Free Kevin Slowey. Cameron notes what Twins fans already know: Slowey has one of best strikeout-to-walk ratios in baseball, and even with his dangerously-high homerun rates, advanced stats like FIP and xFIP suggest he'd be capable mid-rotation starter for many teams.

• Over the past weeks, we've talked a lot about the Twins' decision to hand starting roles to Brian Duensing and Nick Blackburn, while forcing Baker and Slowey to compete for the last spot in the rotation. Both Baker and Slowey have posted strong peripherals over the past two seasons, even while they've seen their ERAs rise. In 2009 and 2010, Baker posted a FIP of 4.13, which put him in the top 25 of pitchers who have pitched at least 200 innings in the past two years.  Slowey posted a 4.39 FIP, which put him in the top half of pitchers.

Both Baker and Slowey's biggest weakness has been their propensity for fly balls.  Both pitchers give up fly balls at a pretty extreme rate, and in turn give up a lot of homeruns.  But, to be fair, it's pretty clear they've both been hurt by the Twins' outfield defense over the past two seasons.  Between 2009 and 2010, the Twins outfield defense has rated as well-below average by UZR, and disastrous by TZL.  This has certainly impacted Baker and Slowey, who rely on their outfielders far more than normal pitchers.  Baker's BABIP on fly balls in 2010 was 43% higher than league average, Slowey's was 25% higher.

While Baker and Slowey both seem like good candidates to rebound in 2011, it's not clear how much we should expect them to rebound in front of a Young-Span-Cuddyer outfield.

• Michael Cuddyer is seemingly past his foot problems. He's played in two straight minor league games, and is scheduled to make his official spring debut tonight.

• Those chanting "Free Wally" had their prayers answered on Tuesday.

Well, hopefully.

Based on reports from Fort Myers, it sounds hopeful the Twins' franchise player will make his spring training debut as the DH in today's game against the Mets.

Let me be among the first to say: welcome back, Joe.

It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for Joe Mauer over the past year.  He took a lot of heat for failing to duplicate his 2009 MVP performance in 2010, and he saw his year end with an injured knee and another disappointing playoff appearance.  He had surprise (to us, not to him, hopefully) knee surgery in December and last month required a lubricant injection into the knee.  That injection not only delayed his start in camp, but also created a (minor and seemingly temporary) rift between him and Gardenhire.

Mauer is obviously going to face a lot of questions coming back into camp.  People want to know about the knee, if he's ready to "rebound" in 2011, whether he'll be able to adapt to Target Field this season.  Yes, people will certainly want to know a lot of things about the franchise player with the $23 million price tag.

Obviously, we're going to be talking about these issues all season long.  You simply cannot talk about the Twins without talking about Mauer.  In fact, Mauer has the distinction of not only being the most popular figure in the organization, but probably it's most divisive, as well. 

In honor of Joe's return, and in preparation for his eighth season in the majors (yeah, eighth, that made me feel old), I thought we could take a step back just to appreciate how truly special Joe is as a player.  Below I've put down five ways of measuring Joe's greatness - I invite you to add you own.

The way I figure it, we'll have months to have our usual debates over what the man hasn't done or is failing to do.  Today, let's reflect on the remarkable things he has accomplished.  Because we are witnessing something special, and it won't last forever.

The numbers after the jump.

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Denard Span set a career high in 2010, appearing in 153 games and amassing 705 plate appearances.  Unfortunately, that's about the best thing you can say about his season.

OK, that's not entirely fair.  Span rated pretty well defensively last season, and his 2.9 WAR wasn't that far off the average for center fielders.  But his bat...oh, man, his bat.  Using wOBA (which "combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric") Span ranked as the fourth-worst hitting center fielder in baseball last season, sandwiched between Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Bourn. 

This was quite a drop-off from Span's first two seasons in the pros.  Span ranked as the third-best hitter at his position in 2009, and rated even better (albeit in limited playing time) in 2008.  Here are the nitty-gritty details:

Without a doubt, 2010 was a horribly disappointing season for Denard Span.  Yet I remain absolutely convinced Span is going to bounce back with a strong 2011 campaign.  Why do I feel so strongly about Denard's season? We'll get into it after the jump:

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