also Known as Lavelle E Neal III..

Casey Blake Might be a Twin as early as next week.

Heard some rumblings today that the Twins might make a contract proposal to free agent third baseman Casey Blake as soon as next week.

The Twins have remained in contact with Blake’s agent in recent days. While teams couldn’t make contract offers until 11:01 p.m. Friday, they could talk about general parameters of deals - and indications are that the Twins have discussed parameters with Blake’s guy.

The big question: What does Blake, who hit .274 with 21 homers and 81 RBI last season, want?

He made $6.1 million last season and there are hints that he might want a three year deal. Is it a wise move to give a 35-year old that many years? Could the Twins talk Blake into two years and an option at $4-5 million per? He’s a solid player from this neck of the woods (Iowa) and has pounded the Twins in the past.

I’m trying to figure out if adding Blake is better than fighting through Dan O’Dowd’s and Doug Melvin’s posturing about Garret Atkins and James Jerry Hardy. And remember, it might take a package that includes one of the current starters to get a deal done - especially for a shortstop who can  hit 25 homers, is 26 and not making big bucks yet.

Do the Twins buy Blake now so they have resources to trade for relief help? The only good FA arm out there belongs to Juan Cruz  - and I haven’t heard his name mentioned as a possibility. 

Stay tuned….

Gophers Center Jonathon Williams is out for 4-6 Weeks

Myron Medcalf and My Ears Contribute to the report.

Tubby Smith said that senior center and co-captain Jonathan Williams is out for the next four to six weeks with a hernia on Dan Berreiro’s radio show on KFAN Wednesday afternoon. That means, Williams may not return until the start of the Big Ten season in late December.

Losing Williams will hurt the Gophers more than losing Damian Johnson. Johnson is set to return soon and has only missed two exhibition games so far. Williams’ injury will force freshman center Colton Iverson to become the starter at the spot. Iverson had a chance to earn that spot, based on the way he’s played so far. My guess is that Ralph Sampson III will move over to the five and back up Iverson. Two freshman big men in a league with a lot of tough post players. That’s a tough situation for any team.

The agent for starting pitcher Scott Olsen and outfielder Josh Willingham said Monday they are being traded from the Florida Marlins to the Washington Nationals.

Agent Matt Sosnick said a news conference in the Washington area was being planned for Tuesday.

“They’ve both voiced they’re excited for a fresh start. Neither of them has really played for anybody else except the Marlins,” Sosnick said in a telephone interview. “They’re both trying to process the information.”

ESPN.com reported, citing sources, that the Marlins would receive second baseman Emilio Bonifacio and two minor leaguers in the deal.

“We have nothing to say,” Larry Beinfest, the Marlins’ president of baseball operations, said while courtside watching the Miami Heat play the New Jersey Nets. “If that changes, I’ll let you know. We’re not planning on doing anything tonight.”

ESPN's Buster Olney on the Report

Matt Holliday appears headed to the Oakland Athletics in a deal with the Colorado Rockies, baseball sources have told ESPN's Jerry Crasnick and Buster Olney.

 

Holliday

Final details are being finalized, though the teams have agreed to terms, a baseball source told Olney. The source said the deal may not be finalized for up to 48 hours.

The deal is also pending completion of physical exams.

Although the package coming back to Colorado has yet to be determined, it's believed that pitcher Greg Smith was one of the players under discussion.

David Forst, Oakland's assistant general manager, declined to comment on the trade.

"It's still an on-going discussion,'' he said. The news comes a day after reported trade talks between the Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals fell through. The Cardinals had reportedly offered the Rockies a package for Holliday that was centered around outfielder Ryan Ludwick, who hit 37 home runs last season. Holliday, 28, finished second to Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins in the 2007 National League MVP race. He hit .321 with 25 homers and 88 RBIs this season. But he'll be eligible for free agency next winter and is represented by Scott Boras, so the Rockies held out little hope to sign him to a longterm deal. Oakland has been weighing offers for closer Huston Street, but it's uncertain if he's part of the Holliday deal. The Rockies have a need for late-inning relief with Brian Fuentes about to leave through free agency.

Two in-state recruits the Gophers wanted very much to stay home have decided to do just that.

 Tight end Ra’shede Hageman from Minneapolis Washburn and defensive end Matt Garin from Eastview made their commitments in back-to-back meetings with the Gophers coaches Sunday morning.

”He went in to (coach Tim) Brewster’s office and gave his commitment, then I went in and did it,” Garin said. 

Garin said he was always leading towards the Gophers, but wanted to check out a couple other situations before making a final decision. He had offers from several Pac-10 schools, Colorado, Boise State and West Virginia.

”It was always going to be Minnesota,” Garin said. ”I just needed to go to my other visits to see if there was anything out there for me and there wasn’t. I liked everything here, coaches (Ted) Roof and (Tim) Cross were great guys to be around.”

Meanwhile, Hageman is a big addition for the Gophers. The 6-6, 250-pounder is very fast and was highly recruited. He had visited Ohio State and Wisconsin and also had offers from Florida, Iowa, iowa State, Michigan State, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

 Later Sunday, the Gophers also got a verbal commitment from Joey Searcy, the defensive tackle from Grandview, Texas.

Kent Youngblood from the Strib on the report.

Joe C at the Strib with the report.

Joe Mauer won his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award today, becoming the first Twins catcher to win the award since Earl Battey in 1962.

Mauer, 25, who also won his second American League batting crown this year with a .328 average, has long been viewed as one of the top defensive catchers in baseball. Now he has the hardware to prove it.

Each year, managers and coaches vote to pick the top defensive player in each league at each position.

Good for Joe, Nice to see him rewarded for his play.

Possibly according to Zulgad at the strib.

Vikings coach Brad Childress confirmed at his press conference that defensive end Jared Allen has an AC sprain in his right shoulder and could miss Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers. 

Allen had an MRI this morning but Childress said he had not met with head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman to discuss the situation before meeting with reporters.

 ”I don’t know exactly what he will be able to do this week or if he will make it to next weekend,” Childress said.

Childress said AC joint sprains range in severity on a scale from 1 to 3. He didn’t know what Allen’s grade was. He said they typically happen when players get dumped on their shoulders.

“There’s a concern [he could miss the Green Bay game],” Childress said. “That’s a painful injury to live with, particularly with the way he plays.”

Allen suffered the injury in the first half but was able to continue to play. We have locker room access later today and we’ll see if Allen is made available.

Update: Just got back from the open locker room period. Allen was in the trainers room getting treatment during the availability period and did not address the media.

If this is True, Bring in KGB!

The Packers have Released Defensive End Kabeer Baja Biamila

Heres the Story from The Strib

It’s been a busy couple of days in Green Bay. On Friday, the Packers surprised everyone by announcing they had signed quarterback Aaron Rodgers to a contract extension. Today, Green Bay cut defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. The Vikings and Packers will meet a week from Sunday at the Metrodome.

Gbaja-Biamila is the Packers’ all-time leader in sacks with 74.5 and appeared in 124 games (74) starts) in nine seasons. The Packers needed to clear a roster spot so they could activate defensive tackle Justin Harrell from the physically-unable-to-perform list.

Somebody get Zygi on the phone, Get Him!

The Latest AP Poll is out.

Jay Glazer on the report

FOX Sports has learned that both of the Minnesota Vikings' Pro Bowl defensive tackles, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams, are also facing suspensions for testing positive for the same product. Losing one of the Williams would be a major blow to the Vikings but to possibly lose both would serve as a major blow to the NFC North contenders.

This would kill any hope of a successfull season let alone the playoffs.