Josh Willingham will be placed on the paternity leave list prior to Wednesday's game. Willingham will leave the team in order to be with his wife, who is expected to give birth. He could be back as soon as Friday.

Josh Willingham's three-run double with two outs in the seventh inning provided all the Twins needed to defeat the Rays 5-4 on Friday. Willingham finished 1-for-4 on the evening, but that one was the biggest blow of the game. His Twins career is off to a fantastic start as he's now hitting .333 with five homers and 12 RBI on the season.

Josh Willingham went 2-for-4 and hit his second homer Monday against the Angels. It's going to be tough for Willingham to post big power numbers while playing half of his games in Target Field, but he's off to a nice start so far. Unfortunately for the Twins, he's about the only one on the team that can be said for. Just three of the nine players in today's lineup ended the game with an average over .143.

Josh Willingham homered and doubled Friday against the Yankees. Willingham has been hitting fifth all spring, though it seems like an obvious move to put his right-handed bat in the cleanup spot in between Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. But manager Ron Gardenhire would probably see that as disrespecting Morneau, so it won't happen right away.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said he expects Josh Willingham to be the team's starting right fielder next season. Willingham has started just 33 games in right field over his eight-year career, but stands to benefit greatly from getting out of Oakland and is considered at least serviceable defensively. In addition to Denard Span and Ben Revere, Trevor Plouffe is expected to be the Twins' fourth outfielder after being moved from shortstop.

The Twins plan to use the money they saved on Josh Willingham's contract to upgrade their starting rotation, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnik. The Twins were rumored to be among the finalists for Chris Capuano and held initial talks with representatives for Jeff Francis and Edwin Jackson. Willingham will cost the team $1 million less annually than what they offered Michael Cuddyer. They currently have Nick Blackburn and Francisco Liriano set to compete for spots in the back of their rotation.

Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com reports that the Twins and Josh Willingham have agreed to a three-year, $21 million contract.

According to Joe Christensen of the Star-Tribune, Josh Willingham is in Minneapolis for his physical. The Twins have reportedly agreed to a three-year, $21 million contract with the 32-year-old free agent outfielder, but they're putting him through two days of physical exams and won't make the contract official until he passes. Willingham posted an .810 OPS with 29 home runs and 98 RBI in 136 games this past season for the A's.

Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that the Twins and Josh Willingham are "very close" to a three-year, $21 million contract. If true, he would be cheaper than what they would have paid to retain Michael Cuddyer. While it's not a done deal like ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reported earlier in the evening Tuesday, the two sides are nearing an agreement. Willingham, who turns 33 in February, batted .246/.332/.477 with 29 home runs, 98 RBI and an .810 OPS in 136 games with the A's this past season. He would presumably be the Twins' starting left fielder in 2012.

Updating a previous item, Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune was told by Twins' officials that a deal with free agent Josh Willingham isn't done yet. This confirms what was reported by Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com earlier Tuesday evening. The two sides could just be dotting the dotting the i's and crossing the t's, but Christensen adds that talks with Michael Cuddyer aren't dead yet. Stay tuned.