Minnesota Baseball Round-up: Twins Give Zumaya One-Year Deal

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MINNEAPOLIS - The Minnesota Twins made it official with Joel Zumaya on Wednesday, signing the reliever to a one-year contract.

The deal will reportedly pay the oft-injured right-hander $800-thousand with incentives that could make the pact worth a total of $1.7-million. Zumaya has spent his entire career with the Detroit Tigers and hasn't pitched in the majors since June 28th, 2010 when he suffered an arm injury while pitching at Target Field against the Twins. He suffered an elbow injury and underwent surgery for a non-displaced fracture of the olecranon. Another procedure was performed last spring after pain persisted in the elbow and Zumaya missed the entire 2011 campaign.

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The Minnesota Twins continue their Winter Caravan today in North Dakota. The celebrity group will make two North Dakota visits today with scheduled stops in Devils Lake and Minot. Manager Ron Gardenhire, pitchers Glen Perkins and Brian Duensing, coach Joe Vavra, and radio broadcaster Cory Provus are set to appear today.

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Among the items that Governor Mark Dayton included in his nearly $800-million-dollar bonding bill proposal this week was money designated for a new minor league baseball stadium in St. Paul. The St. Paul Saints put in the request to help the club and city fund construction of a 7,000-seat ballpark. Dayton earmarked $27-million for the project. The Saints are committed to pitch in ten-million-dollars, while the city would push in another $10-million. The proposed stadium would be built on the old Gillette factory grounds, a site that would require environmental cleanup and infrastructure improvements. Last year, Dayton had $20-million dollars in the bonding proposal for a Saints ballpark, but that part of the measure was rejected.

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Minnesota State-Mankato is the preseason favorite to win the NSIC baseball crown. The preseason poll is a survey of the league's coaches and the Mavericks received four first place votes. St. Cloud State is tabbed for second, although it received six first-place votes. Winona State received three first-place votes and was projected to finish third. Wayne State, Augustana, Minnesota-Duluth, and Concordia-St. Paul rounded out the top seven. Upper Iowa, Southwest Minnesota State, Bemidji State, Northern State, Mary, and Minnesota-Crookston were the next six. Concordia-St. Paul's Bryan Lippincott was the preseason Player of the Year, while Winona State's Kodey Simon is the preseason Pitcher of the Year.

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