The Twins have broken off their negotiations with free agent reliever Eric Gagne and appear to be focused on finding eighth-inning relief help through a trade.

What kind of trade? Not sure, but I’ll have more on the Gagne negotiations in tonight’s first editions.

Also, free agent third baseman Joe Crede worked out in front of scouts today in Arizona, and the Twins were expected to be in attendance.

Update (9:45 p.m.): Here’s the link to the Gagne story.

The Twins will have a solid national television presence this season, as Fox is slated to televise nine of their games on Saturday afternoons. ESPN has scheduled two Twins games, with the potential for up to six more.

ESPN has picked six other Twins games as candidates for Sunday Night Baseball*. Teams are limited to five ESPN Sunday games, so only four of those six could get selected, since the Twins and Brewers are already slated for ESPN on Sunday, May 24.

(*I know it seems like the Red Sox and Yankees get 20 games apiece on ESPN, but many of those are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. … ESPN must provide three weeks notice before moving June or July games to Sunday night, and two weeks notice before moving August or September games to Sunday night.)

TBS has yet to release its national TV schedule, but these are the Twins’ games that have been picked by Fox and ESPN, so far: 

April 11: Twins at White Sox (Fox)
April 18: Twins vs. Angels (Fox)
May 18: Twins at Yankees (ESPN)
May 24: Twins vs. Brewers (ESPN)
May 30: Twins at Rays (Fox)
June 6: Twins at Mariners (Fox)
July 4: Twins vs. Tigers (Fox)
July 25: Twins at Angels (Fox)
Aug. 15: Twins vs. Indians (Fox)
Sept. 5: Twins at Indians (Fox)
Sept. 19: Twins vs. Tigers (Fox)

The Twins are simply waiting for the lab work from Jason Kubel’s physical before announcing his new deal, an expected formality. Players were congratulating him all weekend at TwinsFest.

We’re hearing his deal is a two-year contract for about $7 million, with an option for 2011 that would be worth an additional $5 million. His 2009 salary will be about $2.75 million.

Kubel, 26, is on the Twins’ caravan this week in South Dakota, where he’s being honored as a native son. Kubel was born in Belle Fourche, S.D., but his family soon settled in Palmdale, Calif.

If there’s frustration among Twins players for a lack of moves this offseason, I couldn’t sense it at TwinsFest.

Torii Hunter used to have the occasional grumble about the front office’s inaction. Johan Santana, too. But this is not their team anymore.

The Twins could use an eighth-inning reliever. Almost everyone can see that, but Joe Nathan sang the virtues of all the relievers who are coming back, emphasizing that Jesse Crain should be better in his second year back from shoulder surgery and saying Matt Guerrier will be better for all the tough experiences he weathered last season.

Jose Mijares and Craig Breslow did nothing but impress last year, and Boof Bonser has the stuff to be a dominant setup man once he gets comfortable moving from a starting role to the bullpen.

Don’t forget, Nathan had to make that transition himself earlier in his career. Has he given Boof any advice?

“I think the first step for him is accepting it,” Nathan said. “That’s something he’s going to accept for himself. If he takes that role head on, he can go out and show what kind of stuff he has.”

As for the crowded outfield and questions about the left side of the infield, the players weren’t complaining.

“Sometimes the best moves are the ones you don’t make,” Justin Morneau said. “Just because Kansas City’s making moves or Cleveland’s making moves or whatever, that doesn’t mean that we have to do it to show that we’re making moves.

“If it’s the right fit, then it’s the right fit. But if it’s costing us two of our starting pitchers to go get a guy — the guys who got us to where we got last year were the guys in our rotation.

“Do you give up that just to get a bat? You win in this league over a full season with pitching and defense. There’s benefits on both sides [making a move or not making a move], but at the same time, we won a lot of games last year with the team we have.”

(*) 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.”