Morning Afternoon Evening, Twins fans!

11:42 pm (Jon Marthaler) - I've been checking the wires for the last four hours, and it would seem that nothing is happening at the Belaggio.  So we'll leave you with the quote of the day, from Twins Assistant GM Rob Antony: "If the Twins ran baseball, these meetings would be at the Red Roof Inn."

7:11 pm - This will be my last update of the evening, but definitely continue to post your own updates.  I'll see you in the morning, bright and early!

• The Phillies met with Nick Punto this afternoon.  Between him, Adam Everett and Mike Lamb, ex-Twins infielders have had a busy day.
• In the comments section of LEN III's blog, people keep bringing up the idea of Ty Wigginton...with one optimistic fan even penciling him in to hit fifth.  Sure, the numbers last year look good, but this still smacks of all sorts of crazy to me.  A hitter's park, short porch, extreme home/road splits, that contract...just...no.  No.
• As I write that, I see the Twins are allegedly interested in Mr. Wigginton...even if it's indirectly.  This is from Alyson Footer at MLB.com.
• Also from Alyson, the Twins have expressed interest in Miguel Tejada.  What kind of interest, and how far along it goes aren't listed, but this report was published eight minutes after LEN III's last update.  So that's interesting.
• Finally, Phil Miller of the Pioneer Press is also hearing grumblings about a phone call between the Astros and the Twins in regards to Tejada.  So...NOT dead?
• Finally, a nod has to be given just one more time to MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes and his crew.  A lot of the non-Twins material was found through his site today.

6:30 pm - An evening update from LEN III:

• Neal has now spoken to sources on both sides of the Twins/Phillies rumor, and not only would the Twins need more than Jason Donald in order to shift Delmon Young, but the Phillies are naturally hesitant to part with him due to both Pedro Feliz and Chase Utely returning from injuries.  Right now, this rumor is officially dead.
• In regards to the Giants, that one never got off the ground.  The pitcher coming back would have had to go to the 'pen, and apparently that wasn't in the cards.
• With Jack Wilson, the Twins would want the Pirates to pay part of his salary...good luck with that.  Back to square one at shortstop.
• Miguel Tejada-to-Minnesota rumors?  Dead.

Finally, and this is the best part, it's a quote from Brent Mayne, talking to LEN III about the character of the Winter Meetings:

"It’s like high school with cell phones and texting."

5:48 pm - Some due dilligence on Jack Wilson, while we wait for something else to crop up...

• In 2009, Jack Wilson will be 31 and due $7.25 million dollars.
• In 2010, Jack Wilson has an $8.4 million dollar option with a $600,000 buyout.
• Wilson has had no more than two decent offensive seasons (2004, 2007), and is a career .269/.312/.375 hitter.
• Historically, Wilson does play above average defense.  His RZR has been between .816 and .861 over the last five years, and there isn't a solid downward trend.
• On April 6, 2008, Wilson hit the DL with a strained left calf; he returned May 27.  He also missed three weeks in September.  Prior to this, he'd never appeared in less than 135 games going back to 2001, his rookie season.
• In the grand scheme of things, Wilson would represent a one-year committment.  He'd provide stability at shortstop and, hopefully, hit eighth.  Would he be a good acquisition?  I'm not convinced of that, but it wouldn't be the end of the world.  There are just better decisions to make than Jack Wilson, in my unsolicited opinion.

To read the rest of the update history (and there's been a bit of it today), be sure to read on after the jump!

4:04 pm - More from Ken Rosenthal:  sounds like five teams are interested in David Eckstein.  While Rosenthal runs through the Padres, Pirates and Orioles, I have to think that the Twins might be in on that mix as well.  That's not official of course, but he's a Twins-type at a position of need.  Let's just say I wouldn't be surprised...

3:44 pm - LEN III is back with his afternoon update!

• Not only are the Phillies running "due dilligence" on 23-year old Delmon Young, but it sounds like the Giants are interested as well.
• Neal doesn't know who the Twins would like in return from San Francisco, but says "The Twins do like Jason Donald".  (See below for a brief on the Philadelphia prospect.)  He's had a good time in the AFL.  A pair of sources believe Donald will end up as a third baseman, instead of a shortstop or second baseman.
• Sounds like Dennys Reyes might be the next overweight former-Twin southpaw to pitch for the Reds.

2:49 pm - Ken Rosenthal says the Tigers have signed Adam Everett to a one-year deal worth $1 million, plus incentives.  Bless You Boys is on top of it, but they don't seem too excited about it.  It was between Everett and Jack Wilson, and neither one is worth getting excited over.

2:17 pm - A couple more bits and bobs, and then a quick cruise around some of the relevant SB Nation sites, to see what they have to say about being involved in Twins rumors.

• As brought up in the comments, Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has suggested that the Twins are emerging as a suitor for Pirates' shortstop Jack Wilson, now that leading contender Detroit appears to be on the verge of signing Adam Everett.  Please, let it not be true!
• Bucs Dugout is currently silent on the idea for the moment, but it's been brought up in the comments.  The Pirates are constantly rebuilding, I'm sure they could find something in our system they'd like.
• The Good Phight in Philadelphia hasn't commented on the Delmon Young rumor yet, but I'll keep checking back.
• Crawfish Boxes reports on the news that Miguel Tejada could be dangling, but they aren't too optimistic about either A) getting him traded or B) getting something decent in return for a declining star.
• Purple Row in Colorado doesn't have anything Twins-related being discussed, but they are debating Jason Marquis.
• Finally, one of my favorite SB Nation sites, DRays Bay, charts out potential targets.  Interesting...no Delmon Young?  (Please read heavy sarcasm.)

1:48 pm - Over at MLB Trade Rumors, Tim Dierkes points us to the Philadelphia Daily News.  There, Paul Hagen reports that the Phillies have expressed interest in Delmon Young.  He speculates that the Philadelphia front office may balk when the Twins inevitably ask for Jason Donald in return.

Donald, 24 next season, was a third round draft pick by the Phillies in 2006.  He's a middle-infield prospect who hit .304/.389/.494 in 414 plate appearances in double-A this last season.  He's definitely a better middle-infield prospect than anything in the upper echelons of the Minnesota farm system right now.

1:10 pm - A couple more brief updates...

• Jayson Stark says a source can guarantee that the Rays wouldn't take Delmon Young back.
• The Dodgers have made an offer to Casey Blake, according to Ken Rosenthal.  No news on what type of offer, but we already know what Blake is looking for.
• In the comments of his blog update (check it out for the results of the Hall of Fame vote), LEN III says he hasn't heard of any interest in Tejada on behalf of the Twins, but readily admits that, essentially, things can happen before they're heard about.

12:45 pm - From Ken Rosenthal:

Shortstop Miguel Tejada is another story. The Astros are willing to trade him, and are drawing interest from several teams, including some with openings at both shortstop and third base. The Twins are one team that fits that description.

Tejada is guaranteed $13 million next season and the Astros recognize that they would need to assume a portion of that salary in any trade.

This has already been briefly discussed in the comments, so feel free to jump in on the conversation.  It sounds like Tejada could be used for a plug-in at short or at third.  Could the Twins do this?  Absolutely.  Do I like the idea?  Not really.  Do you like it?  Make your voice heard.

11:15 am - Nick Cafardo at the Boston Globe does some speculating across the baseball world, but that's all it is:  speculation.  Here's what he had to say about the Twins:

• In a story that is dated December 7th, he states the Twins are talking to Casey Blake about third base.  This doesn't jive with what we've heard over the last few days at all.
• Cafardo throws out a list of other third basemen that Minnesota could be looking at to upgrade third base...and it's pretty much a comprehensive list of third basemen who could be available:  Garrett Atkins, Adrian Beltre and Mike Lowell.
• Invoking some excitement he says J.J. Hardy could be had from the Brewers for a package around either outfielders for starting pitchers.  We've discussed this here before.
• The Twins "may also keep Michael Cuddyer and consider him for third base."  Sigh.  No.  A thousand times, no.
• Finally, he suggests that Delmon Young could be the odd man out, in another trade with the Rays.  If Young is to get traded, it makes no sense to deal him back to the team that already felt as though he was worth getting rid of.  To maximize what they could get back from Young at this juncture, the one team they shouldn't be talking to is Tampa Bay.  Maybe it's just me, but I think that's obvious.

10:59 am - Some non-baseball related Minnesota sports stuff to keep you distracted at work while you wait impatiently for random Twins nuggets...

• Huh.  The Wolves fired their coach.  Again.  McHale's taking over.  Again.  All sports have idiot owners, and in any business there will be pride, but how long until Taylor is convinced that he can no longer run the franchise?
• Vikes won again yesterday on the back of T-Jack.  I still think Randall Cunningham every time I see number 7 in purple.  Lions = Still dead.  Packers = dead.  Bears = Hot on our tails.  Vikings = Control their own destiny.  On a scale of 1 to 10 of awesomeness, Adrian Peterson is a 13, minimum.  Off the scale.
• Check out the game charts over at The Daily Gopher.  I admit I'm not as into collegiate sports as professional sports, but this site pretty much covers it all.  Great stuff.
• Last, but not least, the Wild have only allowed 56 goals this season.  Awesome?  Yes.  But alas, they remain stuck on 31 points after dropping a tight one to Vancouver on Saturday.  Ish.

9:05 am - A few more random Twins tidbits...

• According to Ken Rosenthal, both Adam Everett and Nick Punto are being looked at to solve Detroit's issues at short.  The Tigers just picked up their new catcher in Gerald Laird (.276/.329/.398 with the Rangers in '08), which tells me that the Motor City boys might be getting into "just-get-by" mode...which is sort of a holding pattern teams go into before hitting a full rebuild.  But, that's just an outsider's perspective.
• The Cubs, apparently, are interested in Brian Roberts.  If he's available, I'm not opposed to reopening the Casilla-to-short conversation.  I'm sure it's not ideal, but at least it's an option.  It's not exactly moving Cuddyer back to third (or second).
• As Andersklasen mentioned in the comments, Arizona might be targeting Punto as well.  Should be a busy week for our little scrapper.

7:20am - Swing over to the Strib to check out LEN III's late-night edition:

• The front office is holding a strategic meeting this morning to discuss their direction and priorities over the coming week.  Says Assistant General Manager Rob Antony:  "We're ready to get after it."
  
• Dennys Reyes has declined arbitration, meaning the Twins will get a supplemental pick in June.  Sounds like he's seeking a three-year deal worth $4 million a season.  In other news, Glen "Always something fresh and new at" Perkins remains the only Twin on the 25-man roster with whom we can make family restaurant puns.
  
• Nick Punto might have a starting job available with the Dodgers, but wants "to win a World Series with [the Twins]."  Also interested:  Phillies, Mets.  He'll have a number of meetings over the next couple of days.

Keep checking back for updates, and be sure to post your own findings and speculation in the comments!