Jason Marquis and the Minnesota Twins agreed on a deal for the pitcher to join the team for the 2012 MLB season. Marquis is currently rehabbing after fracturing his right fibula while pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011.

Through the season, Marquis went 8-6 over 23 starts with a 4.43 ERA as the Diamondbacks made their surprise surge for an NL postseason appearance.

The injury occurred on August 14 in a game against the New York Mets. Angel Pagan hit a line drive that nailed Marquis in the third inning of the game. Marquis remained in the game, and seemed fine, but in the fourth inning he fell to the ground, grasping his right leg after hitting Josh Thole with a pitch.

Trainers had to help Marquis off the field with an injury that, at first, looked like a rolled ankle. The injury, which takes several weeks to heal, put Marquis on the 15-day disabled list and they replaced him in the rotation. On August 23, the Diamondbacks went ahead and placed Marques on the 60-day DL, effectively ending Marquis’ season.

Since Marquis was about to become a free agent, both sides agreed he had played his final game as a Diamondback.

It didn’t take long for the 33-year old pitcher to latch on with a new team. The Minnesota Twins needed a fifth starter and are looking to rebound from a disappointing last place finish in the AL Central in 2011. The Twins will give Marquis $3 million in a one year contract that will allow him to pitch in the American League for the first time in his career.

One big positive for the sinker ball pitcher is a nice, big pitcher’s park in Target Field to play. In the first two seasons the Twins have played there, the ballpark has been one of the most difficult for home run hitters. Of course, over his 12-year career, Marquis has made a name as a ground ball pitcher.

Marquis has played in Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago (NL), Washington and Arizona over his career. His career ERA sits at 4.51 but he dropped his yearly ERA almost two runs when he moved from the Nationals to the Diamondbacks.

In 2012, Minnesota hopes Marquis will help them turn their fortunes back around.

Source: ESPN

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Michael Cuddyer and Justin Morneau jog during a spring training workout session at Hammond Stadium on February 23, 2011 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

It’s still unclear whether Michael Cuddyer will be back with the Minnesota Twins. But the free-agent outfielder might be more valuable to the Twins than Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan said this morning.

“Everyone always talks about the Mauers and the Morneaus, but Cuddy’s as important, if not more, and I think last year showed how he probably is a little more important to that club,” said Nathan, the Twins’ career saves leader who last month signed a free-agent deal with the Texas Rangers.

“(It’s) just with his versatility,” Nathan said of Cuddyer. “He plays every day. You won’t hear anything (from him) if he’s banged up – he goes out and plays the game. If he’s not in the lineup, something’s got to be keeping him from going out there; it’s not going to be because he needs rest or anything like that.

“I’ve always said he’s a baseball player, and it doesn’t matter where he’s out there, what position he’s playing. He just wants to play the game.”

Nathan said he has no insight as to where Cuddyer, 32, whom the Twins reportedly have offered a three-year contract in the $25 million range, is headed next season.

“I shot a text to Cuddy a while back and didn’t get a whole lot back from him,” Nathan said.

The Twins have re-signed free-agent Matt Capps to replace Nathan as closer.

“Matt has been there before, so this isn’t something new for him,” Nathan said. “I think his comfort level will be fine – he can go in knowing what to expect. He’s

expressed how closing is important to him, so this is great for him, and I think it’s a good move for the Twins.

“He wants to compete and go against that guy in the box and win. I wish them nothing but the best.”

– Pssst: If the Twins can’t re-sign Cuddyer, they’re interested in free agent Reed Johnson, who was the Chicago Cubs’ fourth outfielder – a right-handed hitter who batted .309 with five homers and 28 RBIs in 111 games last season. Johnson, who turned 35 today, is a nine-year major

league veteran.

– A little birdie says the financially challenged Windsong Farm golf club in suburban Minneapolis, after a meeting of the board of directors Wednesday night, is planning to restructure a hefty loan.

Minnesota Twins President Dave St. Peter announced on Thursday, Nov. 3 that Cory Provus would take over the radio play-by-play duties that had belonged to John Gordon before his retirement at the end of last season. I admittedly don’t know much about Provus, besides that he worked on Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcasts for three years.

Yet even with this limited knowledge, I’m already willing to declare him an improvement for the simple reason that he’s not Gordon.

In his 25 years at the job, Gordon was widely beloved for his personable style and his signature “touch ‘em all” line. But I always had one problem with his play-by-play technique: He didn’t particularly like calling the action.

For starters, Gordon had a habit of not updating the pitch count. Whenever I listened to a game, there would always be at-bats where Gordon would be too busy talking to color commentator Dan Gladden—usually about golf—to tell you what was going on. I would have to listen for the umpire or for the crack of the bat to have any idea about what just happened. And when I tuned into a Twins game, it could easily take 10 minutes before Gordon would give a score update.

I also feel that the game was starting to pass him by. In a recent interview, Gordon basically admitted as much. When asked about the heavy use of statistics in modern baseball, he answered, “I wonder why is it necessary to put pitch counts up on the board in every ballpark, except for maybe the broadcasters.” He added: “I don’t quite understand why they think that number is significant to the average fan.”

While I agree that some statistics are overemphasized, the pitch count has not only become important to most fans, it’s also become important to the game. Every MLB manager looks at the pitch count, and it’s a good indicator to how long a pitcher will stay in a game.

It’s not that I have anything against Gordon as a person. He has always been friendly and engaging, and I wish him a happy retirement. But being personable never made him a great announcer, and he shouldn’t be treated as a legend. Indeed, it feels like most Twins fans revere Gordon as a man holier than the Pope and the Dalai Lama combined, and I half expect a pitchfork-wielding mob to appear outside my door because I have criticized him.

I’m curious to see how Provus will do next season. I don’t know if he’ll be any good, but if he calls balls and strikes, he’ll already be a step ahead of Gordon.

Floyd Saunders is a native of Minnesota and a lifelong Minnesota Twins fan.

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