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While the Twins work on a long-term contract extension for Joe Mauer his presumed backup, Jose Morales, recently underwent surgery to “stabilize a tendon in his right wrist.” Morales is hoping to resume baseball activities in mid-March, but even if he avoids a setback that doesn’t leave much time to be ready for Opening Day.…

Just when the Adrian Gonzalez trade talk seemed to have died down, his agent told the San Diego Union Tribune yesterday that he expects the Padres to deal the 27-year-old first baseman: I don’t ever want to speak for ownership because I have no knowledge of what they have and what they don’t, but the…

Miguel Tejada has never played a position other than shortstop in 13 seasons as a major leaguer, but after signing with the Orioles last month he’ll slide to third base this year. Of course, an MVP shortstop moving to third base is nothing new in Baltimore and Cal Ripken Jr. shared his advice for Tejada…

In an effort to boost revenue streams Target Field will be home to more than just baseball games when the Twins’ new $550 million ballpark opens in a couple months, with Allison Kaplan of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reporting that the team plans to host weddings, bar mitzvahs, reunions, charity balls, and various other…

Yesterday afternoon ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark reported that “the Marlins offered Russell Branyan a one-year deal with a low base salary and lots of incentives.” However, today Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that “two sources said the Marlins have NOT made an offer” to Branyan. In addition to putting “not” all in caps Spencer…

Yesterday the A’s traded Aaron Miles and a player to be named later or cash to the Reds for Adam Rosales and Willy Taveras, only to designate Taveras for assignment approximately three minutes later. While confusing at first glance, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that the end result for the A’s is…

FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Blue Jays are “close” to signing reliever Kevin Gregg. Last week manager Cito Gaston was asked about the Blue Jays’ closer situation and replied: We have a couple of guys that can close, [Scott] Downs, [Jason] Frasor. But we’re going to kind of throw that up in the air.…

The latest news on Joe Mauer is that there really isn’t any news. Mark Rosen of WCCO television in Minnesota reported yesterday afternoon that Mauer and the Twins had agreed to a 10-year contract extension, which naturally got Twins fans incredibly excited. Unfortunately it turns out that Rosen’s report seems to be somewhere between premature…

Reed Johnson and the Dodgers have officially agreed to a one-year deal worth $800,000 plus another $250,000 in potential incentives. Between a part-time role and fractured foot Johnson played just 65 games for the Cubs last season, hitting .255/.330/.412 to basically match his .282/.344/.411 career mark. That production and the ability to handle all three…

FOXSports.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports that Joaquin Benoit is making a comeback after sitting out all of last season following shoulder surgery. Benoit pitched eight seasons in Texas after signing with the Rangers out of the Dominican Republic as a teenager, but he’s now a free agent and Morosi notes a “handful of teams” are…

UPDATE: Buster Olney tweets that the Twins are calling the WCCO report “not accurate” and that while they remain optimistic that a deal will be done, it’s not done yet. Not that I’m going to delete the analysis of the deal I started drafting or anything. 4:16 P.M.:: WCCO TV is reporting that Mauer and…

It sounds like Orlando Hudson is close to deciding on his new team, although reports vary a bit on where he’s likely to end up. For instance, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported this morning that the “Twins appear to be serious in their pursuit of Orlando Hudson.” Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune agrees,

Non-tendered by the Giants in December when he would have been in line for about $2 million via arbitration, Ryan Garko has signed a one-year deal with the Mariners worth $550,000 and another $525,000 in potential incentives. Garko isn’t much of a defender and his bat is mediocre against right-handers, but he crushes left-handers and…

ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports the A’s have acquired Willy Taveras and Adam Rosales from the Reds for Aaron Miles and a player to be named later or cash. Miles went from Chicago to Oakland in the December trade for Jake Fox because the Cubs wanted to dump his $2.7 million salary, but he lasted all…

Glen Perkins filed a grievance against the Twins when they optioned him to Triple-A rather than keep him on the major-league disabled list with a shoulder injury. The two sides have since settled the case, but the move left Perkins just short of the service time needed for arbitration eligibility, costing him about $500,000 and…

BizOfBaseball.com’s Maury Brown notes that on this day in 1936 the Baseball Writers Association of America elected the first class into the Hall of Fame: * Babe Ruth * Ty Cobb * Honus Wagner * Walter Johnson * Christy Mathewson Not a bad little group, but amazingly none of those five players were picked unanimously.…

MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon reports that Orlando Cabrera has narrowed his list of suitors down to the Reds, Nationals, and Rockies. Cabrera hasn’t started at a position other than shortstop since he was a 23-year-old rookie in 1998, so if remaining there is a priority Cincinnati could be the pick. Troy Tulowitzki’s presence guarantees that he’d…

SI.com’s Jon Heyman reports that the Yankees made a final offer to Johnny Damon last week that would have paid him $6 million for 2010, although half the money would have been deferred without interest. Damon turned that down and the Yankees quickly signed Randy Winn for $2 million instead, so now he’s searching for…

Cito Gaston has said previously that he’d like the Blue Jays to bring back Carlos Delgado and MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian reports that the manager “spent time lobbying” for the move while appearing at a team function last night: If there’s some way to bring Carlos back here, I’d love to see him back here, because…

Tampa Bay has signed one of the biggest busts in draft history, inking former No. 1 overall pick Matt Bush to a minor-league contract. When last we saw Bush in July he’d been sentenced to 120 days in residential rehab, 240 hours of community service, three years of probation, and $2,000 in fines after being…

Last week Peter Gammons reported that Boston and Jason Bay “had agreed on the framework” of a four-year, $60 million contract in July, but the Red Sox pulled the offer when an MRI exam raised red flags about the health of his knees. While appearing on WEEI radio today Gammons revealed a few more details:…

Livan Hernandez said yesterday that he’d really like to re-sign with the Nationals, but revealed that he sent the team a contract proposal in December that “did not ask for a lot of money” and general manager Mike Rizzo never even responded. Here’s more from Hernandez, who went 9-12 with a 5.44 ERA last season…

Randall Simon played eight seasons in the majors, batting .283 with a decent .742 OPS as a part-time first baseman for six different teams, but he’s most famous for two things: 1) Braves teammate called him a “fat monkey” in an interview with Sports Illustrated. 2) During the mascot “Sausage Race” in Milwaukee he leaned…

Last month Tigers catcher Gerald Laird and his 22-year-old Yankees prospect brother Brandon Laird were arrested while attending a Phoenix Suns game, with initial reports describing their “loud behavior” and how “the Laird brothers allegedly assaulted the security guards” who tried to calm them down. Gerald Laird insisted afterward that the whole thing was just…

As a Twins fan I’ve been hoping they’ll sign either Felipe Lopez or Orlando Hudson to play second base and hit second in the lineup, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune‘s beat writing tag team threw some cold water on both scenarios recently. First here’s LaVelle E. Neal II on Lopez: Lopez? Scouts tell me you…