Three teams, three starting pitching situations. Which one would you take?

Twins projection: 1. Santana, 2. Bonser, 3. Ortiz, 4. Ponson, 5. Garza/Silva. (Perkins, Slowey and Baker at Class AAA.)

Yankees projection: 1. RH Carl Pavano, 2. RH Mike Mussina, 3. LH Kei Igawa, 4. RH Darrell Rasner (with RH Chien-Ming Wang, LH Andy Pettitte and RH Jeff Karstens possibly starting the year on the DL and RH Phil Hughes in the minors).

Mets projection: 1. LH Tom Glavine, 2. RH Orlando (El Duque) Hernandez, 3. RH John Maine, 4. LH Oliver Perez, 5. RH Mile Pelfrey. (RH Philip Humber in the minors.)

Jeff Karstens, who held the Twins to one hit over four scoreless innings March 14, reported elbow stiffness after giving up six runs in two innings against the Tigers here today. Chien-Ming Wang threw off flat ground in Tampa, and the word now is that he might not need a full month to recover from his hamstring injury. Andy Pettitte’s back injury might not keep him out long, either. But Karstens is another setback.

Updated rotation: Carl Pavano (suddenly, he’s the healthy one!), Mike Mussina, Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner and the Yankees are just glad off days could keep them from using a fifth starter until mid-April. They don’t want to bring up top prospect Phil Hughes until mid-season.

I’m in Lakeland today for Tigers/Yankees, gathering material for next Sunday’s season preview section. (Don’t miss that, by the way. Grab a print edition next weekend, at least, because it’s one of the most ambitious baseball projects we’ve ever done.) Anyway, La Velle is hunkered down, working on his projects in Fort Myers. Our guy Souhan is covering the Twins/Phillies game today in Philadelphia, and while his coverage is always top-notch, we’ll be blogging-lite.

So if you start following Matt Garza’s relief appearance today, and just feel the need to vent, feel free to let it flow here. La Velle might open his own thread, too. Honestly, it’s too much fun watching you readers go at each other to not open up these forums. By the way, with Chien-Ming Wang out for a month with his hamstring injury, and Andy Pettitte battling back problems, the Yankees could start the season with this starting rotation: 1. RH Carl Pavano (seriously), 2. RH Mike Mussina, 3. LH Kei Igawa, 4. RH Jeff Karstens, 5. RH Darrell Rasner. Yikes!

The Twins sent lefthander Glen Perkins to minor-league camp after Saturday’s game, leaving them with six starting pitchers to compete for five spots. Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Ramon Ortiz, Boof Bonser, Sidney Ponson and Matt Garza are the six remaining starting candidates.

Manager Ron Gardenhire was clearly frustrated with Silva’s performance Saturday, as he gave up nine runs on 11 hits, leaving his spring ERA at 11.02. In his postgame press conference, Gardenhire made it clear that Silva is fighting for his starting job, and if Silva can’t turn things around in his final spring start next week, “we’ll make an adjustment,” Gardenhire said. The manager also said he thinks Bonser looks like he should be the No. 2 starter, but they have yet to configure the rotation behind Santana.

Gardenhire complimented Perkins, who pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief in the team’s 13-7 loss to Pittsburgh, but the Twins want Perkins to begin stretching out as a starter for Class AAA Rochester. Look for much more on the pitching situation in our early editions.

Jason Bartlett left today’s game after getting hit on his right hand with a line drive from Pirates slugger Brad Eldred in the fourth inning. Bartlett was on his knees in pain, prompting a visit from trainer Rick McWane and manager Ron Gardenhire. Bartlett got up, made a few practice tosses and stayed in to finish the inning.

But when Bartlett’s turn came to bat, Gardenhire sent Trevor Plouffe to pinch hit. Bartlett was diagnosed with bruised fingers (the middle and ring fingers) and is listed as day-to-day. He was pulled from tomorrow’s trip to Clearwater against the Phillies but said he could return Monday.

“It’s just a bruise, guys,” he said. “I could have played through it if I had to. It’s just a little tight, a little bruise. I told Gardy I could go tomorrow. He said, ‘Make sure it’s fine, come back tomorrow and throw the ball around.’ “