The Twins announced today that they have added eight prospects onto their 40-man major league roster:

LHP Brian Duensing, RHP Anthony Swarzak, C Drew Butera, C Wilson Ramos, INF Luke Hughes, INF Trevor Plouffe, INF Deibinson Romero, and INF Steve Tolleson.

The moves leave the Twins with 39 players on the 40-man roster. Eligible players left unprotected can be selected in the Dec. 11 Rule 5 draft.

I’ll have more on this in our first editions.

Remember when the Metrodome was known as a hitter’s paradise? Not anymore. American League hitters probably can’t wait to say good riddance to the place after the 2009 season, even if there are cold days ahead at Target Field.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Dome was tied with Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium this year as the least-friendly hitter’s park in the AL.

The site uses a Total Baseball formula called park adjustments to determine which ballparks favor hitters and which favor pitchers. A number above 100 is better for hitters and below 100 is better for pitchers.

I’ll be away from this blog for a few days, as La Velle keeps tabs on the Twins, but in the meantime, think about some of these numbers as you continue pondering various offseason moves.

(*) Are Garrett Atkins’ numbers helped by Coors Field in the Humidor Era? Yes.

(*) Would Kevin Kouzmanoff’s numbers improve if he left Petco Park? Oh, yes.

(*) What about Adrian Beltre, coming from Seattle? J.J. Hardy from Milwaukee? Yunel Escobar from Atlanta?

First, here’s a look at each team’s batting park factors (BPF) and pitching park factors (PPF) from this season. You can find them at the top of each team’s page on Baseball-Reference.com.

American League

Team - BPF PPF
Twins - 94 94
Royals - 94 95
Mariners - 95 97
Athletics - 97 97
Blue Jays - 99 98
Angels - 100 99
Indians - 100 100
Tigers - 102 103
Orioles - 102 103
Rays - 103 102
White Sox - 103 103
Yankees - 103 103
Rangers - 103 104
Red Sox - 105 103

National League

Team BPF PPF
Padres - 88 89
Pirates - 94 95
Dodgers - 95 94
Marlins - 97 97
Brewers - 98 97
Cardinals - 98 98
Mets - 100 99
Braves - 101 101
Nationals - 101 102
Phillies - 102 101
Cubs - 102 101
Astros - 103 103
Giants - 103 104
Reds - 104 105
Rockies - 105 106
D-backs - 108 108

The NL MVP award will be announced Monday, followed by the AL MVP on Tuesday, and I’d expect Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau both to finish among the top seven AL vote getters.

When you look back on their seasons, compared to, say Dustin Pedroia’s for Boston, you realize how much tougher it was putting up those numbers in the Metrodome.

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Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau each won a Silver Slugger Award today, as the top hitters at their positions. Both won Silver Sluggers in 2006, as well.

(*) Spoke to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire about his two-year extension: “My only goal that I have now is to win a World Series with the Twins,” he said. ”I was there as a coach [in 1991] and almost there as a player in ‘87, but I really want to win a world championship as a manager.

“I think getting to that new ballpark [in 2010] and maybe getting to where we can keep our players a little bit longer – I think that’s going to be huge. This ballclub is very young over here, and we did a lot this year. Anything can happen once you get going. A couple of the right pieces, and we could be on our way.”

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The Twins have signed manager Ron Gardenhire to a two-year extension, which will keep him under contract through 2011, the team announced today.

Gardenhire’s previous extension had him under contract through next season, so this one will cover the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Gardenhire’s coaches were also given two-year contracts. Bench coach Steve Liddle, pitching coach Rick Anderson, hitting coach Joe Vavra, third-base coach Scott Ullger, first-base coach Jerry White and bullpen coach Rick Stelmaszek are signed through 2010, along with trainers Rick McWane and Dave Pruemer and strength and conditioning coach Perry Castellano.

“Ron and his staff have done an outstanding job over the last seven years, and none was better than the 2008 season,” Twins General Manager Bill Smith said in a statement. “We had a lot of new players and a lot of young players, and our major league staff did a marvelous job with a changing cast of players.

“Continuity has been a great strength of the Twins organization for two decades. The current staff has played an important role in the design and development of the Target Field facilities, and these agreements will carry the staff into the new ballpark in 2010.”

Gardenhire, 51, has posted a 622-512 (.549) record and won four division titles since being named Twins manager on Jan. 4, 2002. He finished second in the American League Manager of the Year voting on Wednesday for the fourth time.

Following up on some points that surfaced in our reporting on the effects of Pat Neshek’s injury:

(*) I don’t think the Twins will acquire Huston Street. I know they like him. I know they kick themselves for not grabbing him in the 2004 draft, when he went to Oakland with the 40th overall pick. That year, with a slew of extra picks, they chose SS Trevor Plouffe (No. 20), LHP Glen Perkins (No. 22), RHP Kyle Waldrop (No. 25), RHP Matthew Fox (No. 35) and RHP Jay Rainville (No. 39).

This year, as Street lost his closing job in Oakland, the Twins had hope of trading for him to use in a setup role in front of closer Joe Nathan.

But Oakland sent Street to Colorado this week in the package for LF Matt Holliday. Now, it’s a whole new ballgame. Dealing with the Rockies is not like dealing with the A’s. While Billy Beane was willing to move Street as a closer-in-decline, the Rockies will try enticing teams that need a closer with the thought of Street regaining his All-Star form.

From today’s Denver Post:

Street could eventually be traded to another team, considering the interest and needs of the Indians, Mets, Cardinals, Brewers and Rays for a closer. The Rockies have told people close to Manuel Corpas he still is the closer, leading to the belief among some that Street would be traded rather than be used as protection if Corpas doesn’t bounce back.

The Twins have a closer. So why pay closer prices in a trade for a setup man? It does sound like Street could be traded again this offseason, but I don’t think it’ll be to Minnesota.

(*) I know it probably surprised people to see a bunch of minor-league prospects listed as potential solutions to replace Neshek in the Twins’ bullpen. Here’s a link to how some of those prospects have been faring in the Arizona Fall League, where Jeff Manship has a 5.04 ERA, Tim Lahey 3.86, Anthony Slama 4.26 and Rob Delaney 7.04.

Let me be clear: The Twins could very well use the trade route to acquire relief help, and perhaps there are some lower-tier free agents with experience who could fill those roles to start the season.

I just don’t see the Twins making a big splurge in the free agent market to solve their bullpen issues, when they are confident they have great pitchers coming through the system who could soon fill the void.