My wife and I did our duty as Minnesotans on Friday and attended the Great Minnesota Get Together. While wandering the grounds, we headed toward the FSN booth to pick up their free reusable bag, only to find that they seemingly handed them out at arbitrary times. As we needed some kind of bag to carry the wife's extra pair of shoes, we walked into the Twins tent to see what they had on hand, luckily they did in fact have a cheap backpack-type bag.

As we perused the Twins merch, I glanced over and noticed an older gentlemen sitting at a table with a few people standing around him when it dawned on me, "Holy crap, it's Tony O!" Seeing the sign behind him that said "Today's Twins: Tony Oliva, 10:00 - 11:00" and checking my watch, which read "11:25", I ran to the cashier, grabbed one of the game-used balls for $10 and headed into a line of three remaining people.

Now, Tony O is my dad's favorite Twin of all time and second favorite ball player (behind Mantle), so I was determined to get the ball signed for him to go with the Tony O bobblehead for which I stood in line over three hours a few years back.

Luckily, Tony could not have been more gracious and cordial, not leaving until everyone in line had their chance, and my dad has another memento for his desk.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

via farm4.static.flickr.com

2:45 pm:  Absolutely nothing coming across the wire.  It does sound like Luke Hughes will be promoted to Rochester.  Huzzah!

1:15 pm:  Sounds like it's Jose Castillo the Twins are interested in...not Rich Aurilia.  This news comes from the San Francisco Chronicle, via LEN III.  Castillo, 27, is hitting .258/.308/.407.  He better have one hell of a glove if this is who we're going after.  Primarily he was a second baseman from '04 through '06, '07 saw him transition to third, where we've seen him play a majority of his defensive innings in '08.

12:55 pm:  About 30 minutes ago, La Velle updated his blog.  He says the Twins are trying to get Liriano up here asap, but if they can't make a move before 3 pm CST they'll have to look at another avenue to make that happen.  Meanwhile, while there's still a" little bit" of interest in Boof Bonser out there somewhere, it was the Giants dangling Aurilia...not the Twins calling San Francisco.

12:05 pm:  Silence.  Maybe it's just lunch time?

11:20 am:  Tim Dierkes at MLB Trade Rumors recaps what Joe C. and LEN III have told us over the last 18 hours.

10:25 am:  From LEN III this morning, the Twins won't move any of Blackburn, Perkins, Baker, Slowey or Span for Adrian Beltre.  The talks aren't dead, but there may be no middle ground.  Also, Howard Sinker would like the Twins to get Jason Bay.

10:15 am:  From LEN III last night, both the Rangers and the Giants have interest in Bonser.  The Giants allegedly had a scout at the game last night.  Also, Tampa Bay has been scouting Craig Monroe.

Umm, anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Oh, what? The Twins won't make a move?

Why make a trade when Cuddy's on his way back? That's like making a trade right there! That's the Twins way.

In fact, we as fans should be happy that the team is playing better than expected and just be content with being in contention. That's the Twins Way!

And when they do make a move, it will be this year's version of Phil Nevin or Bret Boone? That's the Twins Way!

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if anything happens.

Note by Jesse, 10:05 am...

Twins Deadline Primer

Twins position targets:  Third Base, Middle Infield, Middle Relief
25-Man Roster Bait:  Boof Bonser, Livan Hernandez, Craig Monroe, Mike Lamb
Prospect Bait:  Speculative
Third Base Targets:  Adrian Beltre, Bill Hall, Garrett Atkins, Rich Aurilia
Second Base Targets:  Mark Grudzielanek, Rich Aurilia, Brian Roberts
Relief Targets:  Unknown