The Twins have signed 33-year old righty starting pitcher Jason Marquis to a 1-year, $3 million dollar deal. Marquis pitched in 23 games (all starts) for the Nationals & Diamondbacks last year and he was 8-6 with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He has now pitched in 326 games (267 starts) in his first 12 years in the majors and he is 104-98 with 1 save, a 4.55 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. This is a very good spot for Marquis to land as Target Field is a pitcher’s park.

The Twins have signed 24-year old lefty reliever/starter Aaron Thompson to a minor league deal. Thompson pitched in 4 games (1 start) for the Pirates in his first taste of the majors last year, and he was 0-0 with a 7.04 ERA and a 2.48 WHIP. He also pitched in 33 games (16 starts) in AA+AAA-ball last year for the Pirates and he was 5-7 with a 4.73 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. Thompson will likely start the 2012 season in AAA-ball for the Twins.

The Twins have signed 27-year old righty swinging catcher J.R. Towles to a minor league deal. Towles played in 54 games for the Astros last year and he was 27 for 147 (.184 avg, .549 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 11 RBIs. He has now played in 155 games in his first five years in the majors and he is 80 for 428 (.187 avg, .583 OPS) with 40 runs scored, 11 homers and 50 RBIs. Maybe a change of scenery will spark Towles as he will have a legit shot of beating out Drew Butera for the backup catcher job next spring.

The Twins have signed 25-year old righty reliever Kanekoa Texeira to a minor league deal. He pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the Royals last year and he was 0-0 with a 2.84 ERA and a 2.53 WHIP. Texeira has now pitched in 49 games (0 starts) in his first two years in the majors and he is 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He will get a shot to win a job in the Twins’ bullpen next spring.

The Twins have signed 28-year old righty swinging 1B/OF Steven Pearce to a minor league deal. Pearce played in 50 games for the Pirates last year and he was 19 for 94 (.202 avg, .515 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 1 homer and 10 RBIs. He has now played in 185 games in his major league career and he is 108 of 465 (.232 avg, .668 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 9 homers, 52 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Pearce will have a good shot of making the Twins out of spring training due to his versatility.