A quick rundown of the important dates for the Twins in December, which you may have noticed starts tomorrow. (The lack of November snow here in Minnesota has thrown us all off, so I don't blame you if you didn't notice.)
December 1 - Last day for teams to offer arbitration to free agents
The only person here affected is really Carl Pavano; he is a "Type B" free agent, and the Twins will get a supplemental draft pick if they offer arbitration and he signs somewhere else. Orlando Cabrera is Type A, but by the terms of his contract, the team can't offer him arbitration. Ron Mahay, Joe Crede, and Mike Redmond are also veteran free agents, but since none of the three qualified as Type A or B, the team has no compelling reason to offer arbitration to any of them.
December 7 - Last day for free agents to accept the offer of salary arbitration
If Pavano is offered arbitration, he likely will decline it; I suspect he'd rather take his chances on the open market.
December 7-10 - Winter meetings, Indianapolis, IN
This four-day period is the time in which we all go half-blind refreshing MLB Trade Rumors fifteen times an hour. We'll be updating Twinkie Town about as often, I suspect; this is the four days when the Hot Stove League is truly lava-hot.
December 10 - Rule V Draft
The team's 40-man roster is full to bursting at this point; if the Twins want to pluck a player from somebody else's system, they need to make a move in the next week and a half. Last year, the Twins took Jason Jones from the Yankees system, then ended up trading Charles Nolte to New York in order to keep Jones. Jones went 5-11 with a 5.75 ERA in Rochester last year; Nolte was 5-4 with a 5.29 ERA in A-ball with the Yankees. In other words, not exactly a blockbuster. (And yes, I know that Johan Santana was famously a Rule V pickup, but there are a hundred RA Dickeys for every Santana.)
December is usually the month with the most player movement, as free agents find employers and teams fill holes at the winter meetings. It'll be interesting to see if any of the 2010 free agents end up playing at Target Field next spring.