Friday Links-N-Thinks

Well Twins fans the time is almost upon us. We are a mere hours away from pitchers and catchers reporting to the Twins facilities in Fort Myers, Florida. In all actuality many of the players have already been in Florida as they prepare themselves for another season of Twins baseball. The first workout will be held on Sunday as the team tries to right the ship after a rough 2011.

There will be many headlines to watch with the pitchers and catchers over the course of the next few weeks. I will get into more of those story lines in my posts for next week. But until then, you can enjoy the links I have compiled for you on this fabulous Friday.

• It was made official in a recent court case, the Twins are the White Sox' arch rivals.
• Seth Stohs had two great podcasts this week. On Monday's show, he and Travis Aune talked a lot about the top prospects for the Twins. Tuesday night Stohs was joined by new Twins pitcher Terry Doyle. 
• The new Rays mascot scares me a little...
• This is a very interesting picture of a grip for an offspeed pitch (courtesy of "The tenth inning stretch)
• A great post from Andrew over at "Off the Mark" about the Twins taking a different offensive approach this season.
• "The Armchair GM" did a quick update on Lucas Giolito, a potential #2 pick for the Twins in the draft.
• JC over at "Knuckleballs" examines an interesting quote from Terry Ryan via Rick Anderson about the Twins pitching staff.
• Seth Stohs posted a look at the Aces of Baseball and then Andrew over at "Twins Fan from Afar" put together a good follow up piece about how aces are acquired.
• MLB posted a picture to their Facebook page yesterday and asked the question, "Which do you LIKE more? The sun or the pitcher?"

• New York teams have always been evil.
• Topper from "Curve for a Strike" did a love themed post in honor of Valentines Day.
• I love the Oscars and I love baseball so this type of party would be right down my alley.
• This is taking you fandom of MLB to an extreme. Can you find the Twins logo?
• Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus released his top 101 prospects. There are 3 Twins who made his final cut. 
• It turns out Ramon Ortiz is still alive and he is going to attempt to make the Giants squad out of spring training. 
• A former White Sox pitcher has found his way back into the AL Central.
• Seedlings to Stars took an in-depth look at Brian Dozier and explained why they included him in their top 100 prospect list. 
• The Twins Train posted all of their trips for the coming year. If you haven't made a trip on the Twins Train, you should book a tour NOW.

My Weekly Rundown:

• Monday: Bench Buddies Series: Luke Hughes
• Tuesday: Bench Buddies Series: Other Candidates
• Wednesday: Obituary: Twins bobblehead promotion
• Thursday: Would the Twins take a number out of retirement?

Video of the Week: Joe Mauer is not going to be the coverboy for MLB: The Show this season so the folks over at 2K Spots saw an opportunity. The brought in a special weapon to help their company try to jump ahead of MLB: The Show. She also was on the cover of the recently released Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. Well played 2K Sports, well played...