The Timberwolves have agreed to a four-year contract with Kevin Martin, a 6-foot-7 shooter and not much of a defender. Martin turned 30 on Feb. 1, meaning the Wolves have agreed to pay him until he's 34.
The Wild gave up a sizable ransom to acquire forward Jason Pominville in early April. He will turn 31 on Nov. 30. His contract will expire at the end of the 2013-14 season, making him a possible free agent at this time next year.
Presumably, the Wild did not give up forward Johan Larsson, goalie Matt Hackett and this year's 15th overall draft choice (defenseman Nikita Zadorov) for Pominville, if the intention was other than to sign him to an extension. If he's productive at all in the season ahead, that would require a three-year deal and take him several months past his 34th birthday.
Justin Morneau signed with the Twins as a third-round draft choice in 1999. He came to stay as the Twins' first baseman in the second half of the 2004 season. He was the American League's MVP in 2006. He signed a six-year, $80 million contract in January 2008 that will expire after this season.
Morneau had a back problem late in the 2009 season, a concussion and ongoing symptoms that ruined his 2010 and 2011 seasons, and a wrist problem that cut into his 2012 season.
He turned 32 on May 15 and is playing at full health for the first time since the first half of 2010. There will be reminders when that changed for Morneau and the Twins on Sunday, when they play the last of a three-game series in Toronto.
Sunday's game will mark three years, July 7, 2010, since Morneau was kicked in the head by Toronto's John McDonald on a play at second base. It also will mark a revival in Morneau's game that is giving both the team and the player improved options for what lies ahead in his career.
All of us were worked up when Morneau went 168 at-bats -- from April 28 to June 19 -- without a home run. Morneau was among the irritated over this "lack of power," as it was routinely described.