Spoke to Joe Mauer on Wednesday night. I know everyone’s biggest question is about his next contract, and he did address that, saying talks haven’t really started. But he was responding to an interview request made Tuesday, after he’d won his second Gold Glove.

Turns out, Mauer was in Chicago while we were there for the GM Meetings. I saw an item in the Chicago Tribune about how Mauer was there as part of a new product unveiling for Gatorade. Mauer said it was a deal where the soft-drink company brings in employees from all over the country and introduces its new products. Turns out, Mauer was invited to speak.

“They made it a little easier for me, with a Q&A, and it worked out real well,” he said. Today’s special guest will be Serena Williams. Later, in the conference, it’ll be Usain Bolt. “Some pretty good athletes and then me,” Mauer said.

Does that mean Mauer will be part of Gatorade’s next ad campaign? “Well, I hope to be,” he said. “It was a good thing for me to kind of get to know them.”

GOLD GLOVE #2
Last year, Mauer said winning his first Gold Glove ranked among his proudest achievements. This one meant a lot, too.

“Being a catcher, especially, taking a lot of pride on the defensive side of things,” he said. “You’re an on-field manager. I take a lot of pride on the defensive side. It’s definitely cool to be voted by coaches and people that are watching you every day, that’s a good thing.”

Mauer remains one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, but this year’s numbers were down. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Mauer had a career-high nine passed balls (after having four in 2008) and caught 26 percent of opposing baserunners, compared to 36 percent last year and 53 percent in 2007.

“I think I might have said this last year — it was kind of a struggle, to tell you the truth,” Mauer said. “We had a very young staff. With a young staff it gets tough to control the running game, calling out pitches and trying to put them in situations where they can succeed. I wish I would have been a little better at throwing out runners and stuff, but I think we all know that takes a little more than the catcher.

“It was a frustrating year, but it was a very rewarding year also, to see those guys improve, definitely toward the end.”

I heard that Mauer led AL catchers in range factor. Not sure that’s the most important stat for a catcher, though, if you remember Mauer’s game-saving tag of the Yankees’ Brett Gardner on May 17, it comes in handy. It was one of the most unbelievable plays I’ve ever seen, and it’s interesting hearing Mauer describe what went through his mind.

“One of the things I like to do is kind of envision myself in different situations, so when they come up, it’s nothing new and I’m not overly excited or anything like that,” Mauer said. “That play, just in general, was one of those kind of plays that I’ve never seen before or even thought of, but just kind of reacting to the situation, knowing what the situation of the game was — if that guy scores, we’re done.

“I knew who was on second base before it happened, so you’re thinking, ‘OK our outfielders are going to be in to have a chance to throw this guy out.’ So you know what kind of speed you have on second. When I saw the ball coming my way, my first thing was try to get an out at first. But it was a long run out there, and the guy Gardner was in the back of my head, too, that he’s probably going to score from this. It all happened pretty quick, but you’ve got to know the situation going in, and if I can get that out at first (second out of the inning), the game’s over anyway.”

I’ll have more from the interview in coming days, including — ahem — coverage of a certain award announcement on Nov. 23 (AL MVP).

CHICAGO — An update from Day 2 of the GM Meetings:

(*) Twins catcher Joe Mauer won his second consecutive Gold Glove Award today. Other AL winners included 1B Mark Teixeira, 2B Placido Polanco, 3B Evan Longoria, SS Derek Jeter, OF Adam Jones, OF Ichiro Suzuki, OF Torii Hunter, P Mark Buehrle.

(*) The GMs went about an hour long in their morning session, from 8:30 a.m., to about 1:30 p.m., and apparently did not discuss expanding instant replay. Jimmie Lee Solomon, MLB’s executive vice president of baseball operations, briefed the media and said Commissioner Bud Selig isn’t interested in expanding replay at this time, noting that MLB has only had replay for boundary calls since August 2008. Selig is methodical about change, and apparently the GMs who advocate using more replay kept their thoughts to themselves.

(*) The Twins re-instated three righthanded pitchers from the 60-day disabled list: Boof Bonser, Pat Neshek and Kevin Slowey.

(*) Bill Smith and the other 29 GMs will be available to the media at 3:30. I’ll have more in tonight’s first editions.

CHICAGO — A few bits of Twins news today from the GM Meetings:

(*)  The Orioles claimed righthanded pitcher Armando Gabino on waivers. Gabino made one start for the Twins this season and one relief appearance, posting a 17.18 ERA. He went 6-4 with a 2.94 ERA in 38 games for Class AAA Rochester.

(*) The Twins have selected the contract of reliever Juan Morillo, putting him back on their 40-man roster. Morillo, a hard-throwing righthander claimed off waivers from the Rockies, posted a 22.50 ERA in three appearances for the Twins and went 6-6 with a 3.90 ERA in 46 games for Rochester, notching 87 strikeouts in 67 innings.

(*) 1B Justin Huber cleared waivers and was outrighted to Class AAA Rochester. Huber batted .273 with 22 home runs and 76 RBI for the Red Wings this season and went 1-for-2 for the Twins.

The Twins announced today that they’ve picked up Michael Cuddyer’s $10.5 million option for 2011, which means the right fielder will be under contract for at least two more years.

Cuddyer, 30, batted .276 with 32 home runs and 94 RBI this past season.

Just a quick post here that the Twins have traded CF Carlos Gomez to the Brewers for SS J.J. Hardy. I’ve written a quick story for StarTribune.com that will be posted momentarily, and will have more here throughout the day.

Hardy and Twins GM Bill Smith will be available in a conference call at noon. More later.

Update: Smith did not rule out pursuing a second baseman or third baseman this offseason but noted that Manager Ron Gardenhire likely will keep Nick Punto in the lineup somewhere.

Smith said the Twins definitely will tender a contract to left fielder Delmon Young.

“Absolutely, he’s going to be tendered a contract,” Smith said. “Delmon had a good year last year, he grew up a lot, I know some of the numbers aren’t where anyone — especially Delmon Young — wants them. He grew up a lot, he matured a lot, I think he became a good teammate.

“I know Ron Gardenhire’s very high on him. Joe Vavra — I had a talk with him the other day, and I think people are optimistic Delmon has a chance to blossom, hopefully in 2010 and realize some of the great skills he has.”

Asked how it affected Hardy’s trade value, knowing he’s not eligible for free agency until after 2011, Smith said, “To give up Carlos Gomez, where we’re going to give up four years of control, it’s important to get somebody we’re going to have for more than a year. So it’s a positive for us to have J.J. Hardy and the ability to keep him for a couple years. And let’s see what happens, we may keep him a lot longer than that.”

A few quotes from Hardy:

“I feel like it’s actually going to work out good for both teams, both organizations. Obviously the Twins had two center fielders, the Brewers had two shortstops, and they both needed the opposite.

“For me, I’m excited about the trade. I definitely knew I was going to get traded from the day they did send me down [to Triple-A Nashville in August]. I felt like that was their plan, I didn’t know who [he’d get traded] to, but once I got the call this morning I was pretty excited about it.

“Yeah, I think the change of scenery will be good for me.”

What happened last season?

“I don’t want to think about anymore. It’s over, I was happy when it ended. It was just kind of a nightmare year for me. Even when I was up there, I wasn’t at a level I wanted to perform at, and then when I got sent down, it just made things worse.

“I got off to a really slow start. I feel like there’s been several years now that I’ve gotten off to a slow start and be able to bounce out of it. This year was different for me, I just feel like I never could really get comfortable, and it just kind of snowballed from the first month that was not good.”

What gives him confidence looking ahead to 2010?

“I don’t think the change in the teams is going to be that big of a deal, I don’t think the change in leagues is going to be that big of a deal for me. I told myself come probably May, when I was still struggling and when I got sent down in August, that all that I needed was for the season to end and I’ll be normal again. Every year, I go about the same thing in the offseason, I come to spring training and I feel ready to go, and I feel that’s what’s going to happen next year.”

We’ll have much more on the trade for tonight’s first editions.