(*) Jim Souhan weighed in on the Twins’ uneventful offseason today, and offered two alternatives to upgrade at third base and solve the issue of having four starting-caliber outfielders for three spots: 1) Trade Delmon Young for a third baseman; 2) Move Michael Cuddyer to third base.

(*) Sid Hartman has another Joe Mauer update in today’s column, with the catcher saying he is on schedule in his recovery from kidney surgery.

(*) Twins GM Bill Smith confirmed on Sunday that the Twins have agreed in principle to a two-year deal with Jason Kubel, with an option for 2011. The deal will become official once the team gets the results of Kubel’s physical.

(*) Justin Morneau seemed to have a smile on his face from Thursday night through Saturday afternoon, when he and his wife, Krista, flew back to their offseason home in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Morneau needled La Velle at the Diamond Awards banquet for voting him second on the AL MVP ballot behind Dustin Pedroia. Morneau told us he didn’t want to sound bitter, as he actually would have voted Pedroia first himself, but he wasn’t going to miss a chance to poke fun at La Velle.

Morneau also said his eyesight seemed very good in a few recent batting sessions, including one outdoors in Phoenix. Morneau and Cuddyer had laser-eye surgery earlier this offseason.

One other note on Morneau: He gets his hockey fix in Arizona by attending Phoenix Coyotes hockey games, and he’s even gotten to know Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky and Gretzky’s wife, Janet.

Morneau has had the thrill of taking both parents down to meet Gretzky after games. Morneau played goalie growing up so his idol was Patrick Roy. But Gretzky was a favorite, too.

“Of course,” he said. “I’m Canadian. … [Meeting Gretzky is] one of those things you never expect to do, and then you get to know the person, and get to know he’s a good guy.”

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