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Looks like the Minnesota Twins are getting a new stadium and a new closer. Say it ain’t so, Joe!

This morning, the Twins announced that their closer, and wiffleball fan, Joe Nathan has suffered a significant tear to his ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow which could cause him to miss the entire 2010 season!

It’s sad to see, especially since Nathan, who turned 35 in the offseason, had surgery in October to remove bone spurs from the same elbow to prevent an injury like this from occurring.

The devastating news didn’t come as a total surprise, since it was announced yesterday that Nathan flew to Minnesota for an MRI, just a couple of days after leaving a spring training game against the Red Sox due to elbow soreness.

Nathan has already mentioned the dreaded three words that no fan ever wants to hear — Doctor James Andrews. Except this time, the preferred surgeon of star athletes may be the one to save Nathan’s season, rather than end it. Dr. Andrews, the same person that performed the surgery in October, may consult with Nathan and give him a second opinion.

Here at Major League Wiffleball, we hope this isn’t as serious as it sounds. On the bright side, Joe Mauer started last season on the disabled list, and went on to win the 2009 AL MVP Award. This is different, but it provides some hope.

As a Twins fan, and to show support for a guy that supported us in the past, and even had lunch with us, I’m hoping the doctor’s evaluation was wrong, and getting two weeks of rest will help his arm recover.

If not, the Twins have a young bullpen, and more than one guy capable of stepping-up to accept the new challenge. Jon Rauch (6′ 11″) looks like the most likely person to take over the closer role. Although, fans shouldn’t expect a repeat of 47 saves from either Nathan or his replacement this year.

We have some inside sources with the Twins, so if we hear of any major developments, we’ll post them here, and on our Twitter account.