The Twins said goodbye to one outfielder on Tuesday and welcomed back another one into the organization.

The team announced that outfielder Jason Pridie was claimed off waivers by the Mets and that they had signed former outfielder Jacque Jones, who played for the team from 1999-2005, to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.

Pridie was placed on waivers to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for second baseman Orlando Hudson, who signed a one-year $5 million contract with the club last week.
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Jones, who turns 35 in April, is returning to baseball after not playing in the Majors in 2009. A career .277 hitter with 165 home runs in 10 big league seasons with the Twins, Cubs, Tigers and Marlins, Jones spent last season playing independent baseball for the Newark Bears.

The outfielder broke into the Majors in 1999 with the Twins and batted .279 in parts of seven seasons in Minnesota before signing with the Cubs as a free agent prior to the 2006 season. In 2008, his last year in the Majors, Jones batted a combined .147 with one home run and seven RBIs in 42 games for the Tigers and Marlins.

Twins general manager Bill Smith said that Jones approached the team earlier this winter about an opportunity to get back into the game. Jones even flew to the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis this past December to meet face-to-face with the club.

"He's looking to continue his career," Smith said. "He's one of the good hard working guys that we've had in this organization and he's one of the guys that helped us become a playoff team. So we're looking forward to having him back in the organization in Spring Training."

The Twins have also extended one more invitation to big league camp. Catcher/infielder Toby Gardenhire has been added to the club's list of non-roster invitees. Gardenhire, the son of the Twins manager, will give the team an extra catcher to use in Spring Training with Jose Morales expected to miss most of camp due to wrist surgery.

FOX has announced the regional schedule of its Saturday games for the 2010 season and they are slated to run nine Twins games, the maximum number of appearances for any team.

The Twins are one of four teams to make the maximum number of appearances. The Phillies, the Mariners and the Braves will also be featured nine times. The Yankees will have eight of their games on MLB on FOX, as will the Red Sox, Cubs, Mets and Cardinals.

Here are the nine Twins games that FOX is scheduled to televise:

• May 29 vs. Rangers
• June 19 at Phillies
• July 3 vs. Rays
• July 10 at Tigers
• July 24 at Orioles
• July 31 vs. Mariners
• Aug. 21 vs. Angels
• Aug. 28 at Mariners
• Sept. 4 vs. Rangers
  

The final two Saturdays of the regular season are designated as "wild card" dates, allowing FOX Sports to choose up to three games of significance on each of those days.

There has been a lot of speculation in recent days that the Twins will soon sign catcher Joe Mauer to a contract extension.

But so far there is no deal in place.

A source familiar with the negotiations denied a report by WCCO-TV that Mauer and the Twins have reached preliminary agreement on a 10-year contract.

While no deal is currently in place, negotiations on a contract extension have been ongoing between Mauer's agent, Ron Shapiro, and the Twins. But the two sides have been reluctant to discuss any details of the situation publicly.

The idea of a 10-year deal for the catcher does not seem out of reason based on the catcher's career so far. Mauer, who will turn 27 on April 19, has already won thee batting titles, two Gold Gloves and the 2009 American League MVP Award. He is set to make $12.5 million this season, the final year of a four-year, $33 million deal.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said on Friday he hasn't gotten involved in the negotiations concerning Mauer, but he's optimistic that the club will ink the St. Paul native to a contract extension. His belief is that something will get done before the team reports for Spring Training.

"I don't sit and fret about it," Gardenhire said. "I think the right thing is going to happen. I think we all know the ramifications if something weren't to happen and it were to go the other way. That wouldn't be a good thing for anybody, except for maybe some clubs out East.

"I think everybody knows what needs to get done here. From our owners to our general manager to our fan base, we all know what everybody wants. It is right out there for us ... and I think they'll make it happen."

On Friday, Mauer said he hopes his contract situation doesn't become a distraction for the team. Pitchers and catchers will report to Fort Myers, Fla. on Sunday, Feb. 21 for the start of Spring Training.

The A's announced today that they had claimed infielder Steve Tolleson off waivers from the Twins.

Twins general manager Bill Smith confirmed Monday that the club put Tolleson on waivers to make room on the 40-man roster for Jim Thome but he said that there wouldn't be any other news to announce just yet. The Twins are waiting to finalize Thome's one-year, $1.5 million contract, which includes incentives, until they get all of the results from his physical this weekend, although there is not expected to be any problems.

Tolleson, 26, batted a combined .266 with 27 doubles, eight home runs and 40 RBIs between Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Rochester last year.He was a fifth round pick of the Twins in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.

"We're sorry to lose him," Smith said. "But it's a good opportunity for him to stay on a Major League roster."

The Twins' annual fan festival, TwinsFest, wrapped up on Sunday after drawing one of the largest crowds in the history of the three-day event.

A total of 34,637 fans attended TwinsFest 2010 at the Metrodome this past weekend, the second-highest total attendance in the event's history. The Twins set the record for attendance in 2007, when more than 35,000 fans showed up at the Metrodome.

TwinsFest, which is one of the largest team-run fan festivals in professional sports, is an annual fundraiser for the Minnesota Twins Community Fund. Since its inception in 1989, TwinsFest has raised more than $4 million for programs and organizations supported by the Twins Community Fund.

The end of TwinsFest means that the start of Spring Training is not far away. Twins pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Fort Myers, Fla., on Feb. 21, with their first workout taking place the next day. The rest of the squad will report on Feb. 26, and full-squad workouts will begin on Feb. 27.

Now that the first two days of TwinsFest are over, I thought it would be a good time to share some of the extra tidbits that I've collected so far this weekend.

First up, here are some things that general manager Bill Smith shared with the media today.

-- Acquiring a third baseman doesn't appear to be a huge priority for the Twins right now as Smith said that he's pleased with the club's current candidates.

 "We have a lot of confidence in this group. We've got two young kids coming in Danny Valencia and Luke Hughes. They're going to play in the big leagues, and the four guys we've got have big-league time (Nick) Punto, (Alexi) Casilla, (Brendan) Harris and (Matt) Tolbert. They all have versatility, they can all play around, they can all play multiple positions."

So in other words, it appears unlikely that the Twins will bring back Joe Crede, even on an incentive-laden contract. Crede, who remains an unsigned free agent, is coming off his third back surgery in three years.
 
-- The Twins have yet to finalize the Jim Thome contract because they are waiting on the results of this weekend's physicals. Smith doesn't anticipate any problems, but the club has to make a move when the deal is finalized to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Thome. It's unclear what that move might be.

Manager Ron Gardenhire spoke with the media at length on Friday. Among the things he shared:

-- If catcher Jose Morales isn't ready to start the season following his wrist surgery on Thursday, Gardenhire might be interested in taking prospect Wilson Ramos north with the club to be their backup catcher.

Ramos, who spent last season at Double-A New Britain, is coming off a strong winter ball performance in his native Venezuela, where he batted .332 with 12 home runs and 49 RBIs in 54 games. He also posted a .397 on-base percentage.

"I know what [Drew] Butera is, he's a catch-and-throw guy who can catch," Gardenhire said. "And I'm really kind of interested in Ramos. He's caught the Venezuelan National Team, he caught in the World Baseball [Classic], this kid's got some experience with some good pitching and so forth, he's a big, strong kid, health is an issue, but we're talking about a backup catcher to Joe Mauer."

Ramos is considered to be one of the Twins top prospects, he was ranked No. 2 in their system by Baseball America this month, and he's also been lauded for having a strong arm behind the plate.

-- Gardy said that the current options he has for backups in center field behind Denard Span include Jason Pridie and Michael Cuddyer. He said he'll put Pridie and Cuddyer in center some during Spring Training. It's also likely that Matt Tolbert could be mixed into the outfield during the spring as well.

And finally here are some tidbits that Twins president Dave St. Peter shared about the inaugural season at Target Field during yesterday's media luncheon.

-- The Twins haven't finalized the seating capacity at Target Field quite yet but it is expected to be around 39,800.

-- The Twins have sold the equivalent of about 19,500 season tickets. It's a huge jump from their previous record at the Metrodome, which was right around 11,000. The expectation is still that the team will surpass 20,000 season tickets by Opening Day.

-- The team will host an open house at Target Field for season ticket holders on March 20, followed by one for the general public on March 21.

-- More food options for Target Field will be announced soon, including something involved with Twins legend Tony Oliva.

-- The new Twins main retail store at Target Field will officially open on March 13.

-- In addition to the Twins' two exhibition games against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 2 and 3, Target Field will play host to a college baseball game on March 27.

 

The Twins have agreed to a one-year, incentive-laden deal with Jim Thome, a person familiar with the negotiations said on Tuesday.

The deal is worth $1.5 million and includes up to $750,000 in incentives.

Thome, 39, currently sits at 564 career home runs, five shy of Rafael Palmeiro for 11th place on the all-time list, and while he's entering the twilight of his career, he has continued to put up strong numbers. The slugger batted .249 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs in 107 games with the White Sox before being dealt to the Dodgers in late August.

The Twins pursued Thome to help bolster their bench, which had been lacking a veteran hitting presence. It's not exactly a perfect match as Thome can no longer play the field and Minnesota currently has a left-handed designated hitter in Jason Kubel. But Thome will give the team a quality pinch-hitting threat late in games and Kubel can play the outfield, so there could also be some opportunities for Thome to get some at-bats in the DH spot as well.

The Twins' chances of signing Jim Thome appeared to improve on Monday night when White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen confirmed that his club would not be bringing back the veteran slugger.

Guillen said he informed Thome of the decision on Sunday night.

'To me, it was about at-bats,'' Guillen said during a conference call with reporters. ''I don't want to go through a situation where Jim is not playing two or three days and then the media comes to him and asks him how he's feeling...It can be a soap opera.''

When word first broke on Friday that the Twins had real interest in Thome, the expectation had been that the White Sox were going to let Thome sign elsewhere. But over the weekend during SoxFest, Guillen and general manager Kenny Williams acknowledged that the club had been debating internally for weeks whether or not to make Thome an offer due to their high level of respect for him.

The big factor in Chicago's final decision was that Guillen wanted a DH-by-committee and in the end, that didn't allow him to give Thome the number of at-bats he felt the veteran slugger deserves.

"It was not an easy decision, but the more you hang around, the more years you have, one decision becomes harder than the other," Guillen said. "I wanted to let him know right away because he might have other options, and I don't want him to keep waiting for our decision."

But while the White Sox are now out of the mix, the Twins have other competition for Thome's services. Tampa Bay is interested and now there are reports that Detroit could get involved in the mix as well.

The Twins aren't looking at Thome for a full-time DH job since they already have left-handed hitting Jason Kubel for the spot. But Kubel has the ability to play the outfield, so Thome could get some time in the designated hitter spot in addition to providing Minnesota with a power bat for what right now is a very thin bench.

According to a source familiar with negotiations, Thome has real interest in coming to the Twins. But Thome's decision might hinge on whether he feels that another team can give him more at-bats than the Twins can provide. 

It became clear early in the offseason that the Twins were going to let Mike Redmond leave via free agency with Jose Morales appearing ready to take over the backup catcher role.

On Friday, Redmond, 38, officially became an ex-Twin when he signed a one-year deal with the Indians for the 2010 season. The terms of the deal were not known.

Redmond will be the veteran backup to Indians catcher Lou Marson, and he'll provide some experience to what will be a young ballclub in Cleveland.

The Twins will miss Redmond mostly for the leadership and personality that he brought to the clubhouse. He played the role of mentor to Joe Mauer when he first arrived in Minnesota and over his five years there, he helped  many of the young pitchers in the rotation to develop.

While the Twins knew that Redmond would likely have to go elsewhere to continue playing, many of his Twins teammates agreed that his presence within the clubhouse will be missed.

"It will be hard not to see him in the clubhouse," Michael Cuddyer said the day after the Twins were swept in the ALDS by the Yankees. "He's been the unquestionable leader on this team. Any time Joe needed help with the staff, he went to Red. Any time guys needed help in how to play the game, they went to Red. Obviously he's my best friend on the team and if he doesn't play here again he'll be sorely missed in my eyes. But at the same time, I think he's left his mark here and now these young guys see the way he led. These guys will be able to follow his example."

The Twins may no longer have the man who was known for the naked walk inside the clubhouse, but they'll get a chance to see him plenty of times with the Indians. The two teams will face each other 18 times in 2010.

The Twins have expressed interest in free agent pitcher Jarrod Washburn this winter and it appears that the club may have made a contract offer to the veteran left-hander.

A CBSSports.com report earlier this week said that the Twins were awaiting a response from Washburn and his agent, Scott Boras, on an official contract offer. On Friday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune followed up with a report that the Twins made Washburn a one-year, $5 million offer but that talks between the two sides have been "pretty much dead" since the initial offer was turned down a week ago.

In an interview with MLB.com this week, Washburn said that the Twins are "definitely one of the teams at the top of my list of places I'd like to end up." The pitcher, who lives in Webster, Wis. which is a couple hours northeast of the Twin Cities, likes the idea of playing close to home and feels that the Twins are also a team that has a chance to win.

The Twins currently have four pitchers penciled into their rotation for 2010 -- Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Carl Pavano and Kevin Slowey. There is expected to be plenty of competition for the fifth starter's spot with left-handers Francisco Liriano, Brian Duensing and Glen Perkins and right-handers Anthony Swarzak and Jeff Manship all considered to be options.

Twins general manager Bill Smith wouldn't comment on the reports that the club had made an official offer to Washburn but he told MLB.com this week that his club hasn't eliminated the possibility of adding another starting pitcher.

"We're definitely still looking," Smith said. "I think we saw last year you can never have too much pitching. We have to find a way to defend our AL Central division championship, and we also want to find a way to advance farther into the playoffs and get to the World Series. So you can't stop looking for any position. But pitching, you can never have too much of it."

By signing Washburn or another veteran pitcher, the Twins could possibly trade one of their young starters to fill an infield hole. Other teams have been informed this winter that Perkins is available and he was mentioned in a possible trade scenario for Padres third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff.

While the Twins are looking for a veteran starter, the club appears to be seeking a pitcher who will sign a one-year deal. The Twins are trying to lock up Joe Mauer to a contract extension this winter and they seem reluctant to sign any free agents to multi-year deals due to the impact that Mauer's contract could have on the payroll in future seasons.