This is a fun time of year for nerdy baseball people. Fantasy baseball drafts start entering the watercooler conversations, speculation on the upcoming season is rampant, and the oracles of the baseball universe begin to unveil their fortunes for the coming season. Baseball Prospectus has unveiled their predictions for the 2012 season, and with them have listed player comparibles.

Here are a few of the more fun comps.

Joe Mauer: Mike Sweeney, Victor Martinez
Denard Span: Sam Fuld, Johnny Damon
Josh Willingham: Bob Allison
Justin Morneau: Paul Konerko, Eddie Murray, Kent Hrbek
Joe Benson: B.J. Upton, Grady Sizemore
Trevor Plouffe: Jeff Blauser, Cal Ripken Jr., Stephen Drew
Tsuyoshi Nishioka: Adam Everett, Jason Bartlett
Pedro Florimon Jr: Miguel Tejada
Eddie Rosario: Justin Upton
Miguel Sano: Robin Yount
Aaron Hicks: Grady Sizemore (again)
Max Kepler: Robin Yount (again)
Carl Pavano: Brett Saberhagen (that's for you, Bobomojo)
Jason Bulger: Brad Lidge, Lee Smith, Troy Percival
Scott Baker: Javier Vasquez
Glen Perkins: John Smiley
Anthony Slama: Jose Valverde
Terry Doyle: Brett Tomko
Manuel Soliman: Edwin Jackson

Check out the spreadsheet for the rest, but I advise you to stay away from the actual predictions themselves. They aren't pretty, friends.

Pitchers and catchers report in less than two weeks, which means in two Fridays, there will be something to write about. Until then, you're going to get your thin, baseball-ish gruel and you're going to like it. LINKS, PLEASE:

• While everyone has given the Tigers the 2012 AL Central title already, another Central team that's sorta kinda going all-in for this year is..the Indians? SB Nation's Grant Brisbee looks at their acquisition of Derek Lowe and Casey Kotchman and says it sorta kinda makes sense. Casseroles are used as a metaphor.
• TwinsCentric's Parker Hageman and his precious GIFs break down the hitch in Danny Valencia's giddyup. WARNING: he compares Valencia's swing to that of dearly departed Twin Michael Cuddyer, so if you're still smarting from his exit, maybe consider setting this aside until you're ready to confront your emotions? Until then, we're here for you.
• I enjoyed Jonah Keri's Grantland piece on Edwin Jackson and the acronym TINSTAAPP. I think you will, too. 2014 Twins middle-of-the-rotation guy Bruce Chen gets mentioned, if that floats your boat.
• I feel bad for Josh Hamilton.
• Former Twin Matt Garza has agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Cubs. Remember when we traded him and Jason Bartlett for Delmon Young and Brendan Harris? I do.
• Speaking of the Twins' starting pitching, Hardball Talk's Matthew Pouliot ranked all 30 MLB rotations as they head into 2012. The Twins are ahead of Royals! And that's about it!

So, there you have it. Feel free to discuss these or any other topics as you so desire.

When the Rangers signed Joe Nathan last week, I took the easy route when discussing the future of the closer role in Minnesota. I just went through the free agent list and talked about how likely it might be for Minnesota to sign any of them. That was just an introduction to the conversation.

Because let's be honest: how likely is it that the Twins sign a big name closer? It's not likely at all. For any number of reasons, not the least of which being that the one proven, high-upside closer went to Kansas City as a setup man. We all know, though, that paying for a proven closer isn't the best use of anyone's resources - much less a team like the Twins which has many holes to fill. Not only that, but club history is against it. Can you remember who the last free agent closer for Minnesota was?

Twins Closers
Joe Nathan (2004-2009, 2011): Trade
Matt Capps (2010-2011): Trade
Jon Rauch (2009-2010): Trade
Eddie Guardado (2001-2003): Draft
LaTroy Hawkins (2000-2001): Draft
Mike Trombley (1999): Draft
Rick Aguilera (1997-1999): Free Agent

Aguilera, who the Twins traded for at the 1989 trade deadline, was dealt in July of 1995 before his 10-and-5 rights kicked in. They re-signed him in December of that season, but used him as a starter in '96 before sending him back to the closer's role.

When I asked this question on Twitter and Facebook last night, a lot of you had the answer pretty quickly. But here's one that will really make you dig deep: who was the last free agent closer for the Twins before Aguilera?

First things first: buy Twinkie Town stuff.  It's good for you and good for America.  

Nothing much new out there this morning, so let's touch on some things that haven't been on the main page here yet:

• The Ryan Doumit signing is all official-like, and Terry Ryan confirms that part of the attraction was the former's ability to play multiple positions, including DH.  This would insulate them against the loss of Jason Kubel, Professional Hitter.
• Charlie don't surf, Perkins don't close.  Who will close is a matter for much debate, but the door appears to be open to Matt Capps returning.  I understand he was hurt last year when he was getting brutalized, and I agree that closer isn't close to the top priority for this team, but still.  There's got to be another way.
• The Twins did offer arbitration to JKPH and Michael Cuddyer on Thanksgiving Eve.  Formalities.
• The Royals saved the Twins from themselves by re-signing Bruce Chen, per Jon Heyman.

Thoughts on last night's game:

• An AL Central team can beat the Yankees in the playoffs.  We have evidence of this now.  Turns out that all the Twins need is better defense, offense, health, Justin Verlander and Doug Fister. 
  
• If you missed it, here's Joaquin Benoit removing a bandage from his face last night. 
• Jose Valverde is going to blow a save in either the ALCS or the World Series, and it's going to be an epic, Lidge-to-Pujols core dump.  Mark it.
• More thoughts after I finish this delicious Wolf Cola.  Wolf Cola: it's the right cola for closure.
  
• Joe Girardi has called the server over five times this morning to adjust his breakfast order.
• Why SportsCenter is Awful, Part XVII: the Tigers defeated the Yankees, so let's talk about what the future holds for the Yankees the next 20 gotdamn minutes.  
• Now that New York has been dispatched, I'm directing all my ill will to the Milwaukee Brewers.  I have nothing against them personally, and the very thought of Carlos Gomez vs. Nick Punto in the NLCS gives me shivers of pure delight, but we don't need Wisconsin getting any haughtier than they already are.  They have the best pro football team, one of the best college football teams, and the New Glarus Brewery.  Screw 'em.  Go D'Backs.

There are two more [redacted] Game 5s today.  Will throw up a thread for them later in the day.

There are a lot of questions the front office will need to address this off-season, not just in terms of "Which holes are there to fill?", but also in terms of "Are there holes to fill at first base and catcher?" The first base question may be a bit easier to answer, because while Justin Morneau is hopefully the primary option there's also Joe Mauer, Chris Parmelee, Luke Hughes, and, potentially, Michael Cuddyer available to fill in.

The potential hole at catcher will be a bigger question mark, in the scenario that Joe Mauer's position shift is closer to happening than we'd like to think. By this point it's pretty well established that it's a matter of when, not if, Mauer will make the change. If he needs to begin the transition next season, the Twins will need a catcher who can aid in that transition by catching more often than a typical backup. Not just that, but make a positive contribution on the field in terms of runs and wins.

There are no good in-house options currently. Trades are fun to speculate over, but the best and easiest short-term answer may lie in free agency.

Below is a list of upcoming free agent catchers. I've excluded players with options (Ryan Doumit, Yadier Molina, Kelly Shoppach, Chris Snyder), catchers who haven't played in 2011 (Jason Kendall), and guys who appeared in less than 30 games (Ramon Castro, Josh Bard). Based on what you see here, and what you know, if the Twins were to target a free agent catcher who would you prefer?

Click here to embiggen

In my continuing quest to stay optimistic about my favorite baseball team, you've probably noticed that I tend to talk about the future quite a bit. Continuing on that theme, a couple of weeks ago we looked at where the Twins were placed in the draft order and how that might change in the coming weeks. Specifically, I said:

But as you can see, the Twins are just one game from having the number two overall pick in next summer's draft (and being the worst team in the American League). The Pirates, currently set to draft 10th (after leading their division this season...wow they fell apart fast), are six games ahead/behind the Twins.

It looks like the Twins will draft somewhere between number two overall and, if the Twins go on an unexpected hot streak, maybe tenth overall. But I'd guess not lower than seventh or eighth.

Well, it turns out that our boys haven't ha that unexpected hot streak. And while I know it's hard to wake up in the morning and see another loss in the box score, right now it's not about results for me. It's almost as though these games are spring training games. It's more about how guys look, how the veterans focus and how the younger and more inexperienced players handle themselves against stiff competition.

Of course that has more to do with next year than this year. This year, those results do matter. And so, without further ado, it looks more and more likely like Minnesota will have that number two pick after all.

Reverse standings courtesy of MLB Trade Rumors:

Minnesota still won't catch the Astros for the top overall selection....right?

Halos Heaven is the place to go for all things Angels. It's a fantastic site, and I don't say that just because they're a part of the SB Nation family - they're an active and passionate community. Recently, they got a shoutout from former Twin Torii Hunter. You can check out the original post here, which caught my eye as Torii made his choice as to which team he'd go into the Hall of Fame with...were he to make it.

Torii has always been a favorite of mine, and for good reason. He was a centerpiece of the team as they became competitive again, and he was the one piece that remained as his contemporaries either left the team or left the game. The guy is going to finish his career (barring something unforeseen) with more than 300 career homers. That's a rare feat, and it's something the Twins haven't seen one of their own do since Harmon Killebrew. I know Torii will reach 300 with the Angels (probably), but even Kent Hrbek didn't hit 300. Justin Morneau could do it, but he has to stay healthy and is currently stuck at 185.

Back to the subject at hand, in the video clip below Torii is his typical gregarious, happy-go-lucky self. He's always been that way with the media, even those times where he said something that didn't quite resonate with certain sectors of the Minnesota fanbase. As a result I don't really want to over-react here, but after hearing on previous occasions that Torii wouldn't mind coming back to Minnesota to finish his career where it began (once his contract expires in Anaheim, obviously), it came as a bit of a surprise when he says "I ain't goin' back to the Twins".

This isn't a hate-on-Torii post. More than anything I'm looking for your interpretation. As Twins fans, how do you take this? Is this just Torii-being-Torii and he's just playing around, or has something changed in the last year or so that's led him to actually change his mind about a potential reunion in Minnesota?

Watch for yourself and make up your own mind.