Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

The first Twins baseball game of 2012 is here!  Admittedly, the game today is a B game, which is barely a game at all, but it is something, and someone, somewhere will probably produce a recap and a box score.  A B game is closer to a scrimmage than a real baseball game.  A B game will usually feature less notable players that coaches want to take an extra look at, or in the case of the Minnesota Twins, it gives Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson an opportunity to see the pleothora of pitchers they’ve invited to camp square off against a real opponent (La Velle E. Neal III is reporting that Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn will be among 9 pitchers used in the B game, and here are the rest of the players slated to make an appearance today).  But it does not matter what kind of baseball the Twins will be playing, all that matters is that BASEBALL IS BACK!

Now onward with the links from the week that was:

With today’s B game quickly approaching, be sure to check out The Tenth Inning Stretch’s helpful post listing all the new Twins and the numbers they will be wearing during Spring Training.

Coffeyville Whirlwind is investigating the curious case of Jarvis Brown, who won a World Series ring with the Twins in 1991, but whom I’ve never heard of.  As a young Twins fan, not yet into my 30s, the 1991 Twins were everything to me as a youngster, but I had almost no idea of baseball at the time, not even yet in little league.  Turns out the 1986 1st round draft choice built a career on stealing bases, making his Major League debut earlier in 1991 before lacing it up for the Twins in the greatest World Series ever.

Pitcher Wins.  A terrible stat used to measure some of the greatest pitchers of all time.  While winning 20 games still means something in 2012, it does not mean everything, and it certainly does not mean you are witnessing greatness everytime a 20-game winning pitcher toes the rubber.  But it kind of does.  Winning 20 games is still a nice accomplishment and Bradfod Doolittle explains why he loves Wins so much at Baseball Prospectus in Ode to a Terrible Stat.  (more…)

*I had an interesting conversation with my significant other last night during which I lamented the inner turmoil I will almost certainly face when Cuddyer leaves and I will have to find a new favorite Minnesota Twin.  I’m an adult, and I’m agonizing over who my favorite Twins player is like a 9 year old boy.  Unlike many 9 year old boys (or girls) I’m not leaping straight to Joe Mauer or Justin Morneau as my favorite Twin, but they’re not out of the running.  I haven’t decided yet, as this will likely be a difficult decision to make, requiring more thought than I can afford to give it at the moment.  In the vein of saddness, here is a Michael Cuddyer Eulogy from Twins Fan From Afar.

With yet another busy week behind us, let us look again at the best reads of the week that was:

Here is all of the Josh Willingham signing coverage you are likely to need.  First, an excellent piece by Parker Hageman about how well suited Willingham’s offensive style is for Target Field.  In case you like being skeptical, here is Rob Neyer’s counter argument, which doesn’t say that Willingham isn’t going to be successful in Minnesota, rather that Target Field might not be such a bad place for power hitting righties who hit the ball to the opposite field.  However, it seems fairly evident that no matter where he is hitting the baseball Willimgham’s power will help boost the Twins offense in 2012.  Even my new favorite man crush, Dustin Parkes, weighs in on the Willingham signing, suggesting that it is probably a good deal, but might not be as good as Twins fans hope.  Finally, Twinkie Town weighs in with an estimation of the Twins’ 2012 payroll, including Willingham’s estimated 2012 salary, pushing the Twins dangerously close to their suggested $100 million dollar cap.  (more…)