2012 MLB Free Agents: Twins Reportedly Nearing a Deal to Sign Jason Marquis

The Minnesota Twins are slowly beginning to fill in the holes on their roster.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports is reporting that the Twins are close to a deal with free agent starter Jason Marquis.

The 33-year-old is coming off a solid season in which he made 23 starts for the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks before his season ended on August 14 when a comebacker drilled Marquis and fractured his right leg.

He registered a 4.43 ERA in 132 innings while averaging 5.2 strikeouts per nine innings. With an average fastball of 89.3 MPH, I wouldn’t expect that rate to increase anytime soon.

Marquis has been in the majors since 2000 and has a career record of 104-98 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP.

His best season in the majors came in 2004 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He went 15-7 with a 3.71 ERA and completed 201.1 innings. While Twins’ fans shouldn’t be expecting those sort of numbers, Marquis is still capable of registering 120 innings and posting his typical 4.50 ERA.

One reason for fans in Minnesota to be excited is his ’09 season for the Colorado Rockies. Despite playing in the thin air of Coors Field, Marquis posted a 15-13 record with an ERA just above four while eating up 216 innings.

The aging Marquis should benefit from the enormous size of Minnesota’s Target Field which is one of the biggest in the game. He’ll be battling Anthony Swarzak, and Brian Duensing for positioning in the rotation.

The terms of the contract have yet to be released.