Delmon Young made a great early impression in a couple of ways. First, he reported about 30 pounds lighter.

"Oh my God," Gardenhire told Young. "What happened, brother? You go through a shrink machine?"

Young then made a good-natured zinger at the expense of teammate Carl Pavano.

"Yeah, well, Pavano's on our staff so I need to be able to catch the balls hit to the warning track," Young said.

Gardenhire laughed and seemed to appreciate Young showing some personality. Not only has Young struggled to live up to his minor-league promise, but he's also given to acting like a sourpuss.

"I like it, Dixie, I like it!" Gardenhire said. "That's good stuff right there."

Pssst: The Twins’ contract negotiations with Joe Mauer have begun moving along at a favorable pace, and now it’s highly likely a deal will be made to keep the all-star catcher in Minnesota. — Pioneer Press

"It's official!!! Casilla recalled. Matt Tolbert to Rochester..."

Glen Perkins is ill so Anthony Swarzak will start for #Twins tonight. Not sure yet whether Perkins can go tom.

Carlos Gomez, in what might be the injury of the year, needed two stitches in his head after getting caught in the revolving door while entering the stadium this morning.

A person close to Gagne said the former Cy Young Award winner was willing to sign a one-year, $3 million deal with about $500,000 in incentives for innings pitched but was told the Twins were moving in a different direction.

Everyday Eddie a Twin again: UPDATE – It is official. Just heard it on XM’s The Show. The trade is Eddie Guardado for Mark Hamburger. Hamburger had been named the Appy League’s top reliever over the weekend.

Yo Adrian: Despite reports that the Twins have given up on their attempts to pry Adrian Beltre away from Seattle, we're hearing those discussions are far from dead. The Twins' No. 1 trading priority is to upgrade at third base.

"This is LaVelle’s news not mine, but he just called in and told one of the editors that he saw the lineup card for tonight’s game. Carlos Gomez has been dropped to the No. 9 spot in the batting order and Denard Span is leading off."

"We've both earned that right; us, by winning the World Series and having the opportunity of having our manager there and our team being represented, and Mariano by what he's done for this role, we're in Yankee Stadium and blah, blah, blah," Papelbon said. "It's not that easy. Everybody thinks it's a cut and dry answer, but it's not.

"If I was managing the team, I would close," Papelbon said. "I'm not managing the team, so it don't matter."