The Twins selected 26-year old righty starting pitcher Jason Jones in the Rule 5 Draft. He will likely have to make the Twins as a long reliever or be returned to his original team. Jones pitched in 27 games (all starts) last season in AA + AAA ball and he was 13-8 with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. Jones appears to be a good gamble for the Twins who are looking for some long relief.

The Twins have re-signed infielder Nick Punto to a 2-year, $8.5 millon dollar contract. 31-year old switch hitting Punto played in 99 games last season in which he was 96 for 338 (.284 avg, .726 OPS) with 43 runs scored, 2 homers, 28 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Punto has now played in 611 games in his major league career and he is 468 for 1,857 (.252 avg, .651 OPS) with 245 runs scored, 11 homers, 140 RBIs and 69 stolen bases. With the contract the Twins gave Punto look for him to get increased playing time in 2009 and 2010.