Joe C. is, once again, on Alligator Alley and headed to today’s Twins-Orioles matchup in Fort Lauderdale. Mrs. Joe C. is with him, so, for the first time all spring, I’ll have the Strib compound to myself.

I’m not saying that I’m sloppy, but there’s a little bit of a Felix Unger-Oscar Madison dynamic to our living approaches. But that’s O.K. Joe has made it easy for me to keep things tidy. For example, he’s placed post-it notes on the wall above two garbage cans. One reads, `trash,’ and the other, `recycling.’ Joe, I don’t know what my life would be like without you….

Swept through the clubhouse early this morning and did not see Scott Baker (that doesn’t mean he’s not around) so I’m not sure if he’s well enough to throw in the bullpen today.

[UPDATE] Indications are that Baker was unable to make it to the park today, so he might not be able to pitch in a game until the weekend.

This rotation thing is in a mess. Livan Hernandez, the Opening Day starter, is re-enacting Carlos Silva’s spring training from a year ago. Baker may not have his arm strength built up enough to open the season in the rotation (although he would just a week or ten days of extra work, which is far from a catastrophe). And, while the vibe I get is that Franchise will be in the rotation to start the season, he will be a lengthy (as in several weeks)project. That doesn’t strike me as an issue because I’m not sure if this rotation can keep the Twins in contention anyway, and I’d rather see Rick Anderson keep tabs on Liriano for awhile.

So there’s not much going right now. The only thing that’s happened this morning is that I ran into David Ortiz (of all people) at I-Hop (of all places). Boof throws in a minor league game at noon Twin Cities time. Juan Rincon is throwing over there too.

Here’s the lineup that’s headed to Fort Lauderdale.

1. Spanman, CF. 2. Go-Go, LF. 3. Mauer, C. 4. Cuddy, RF. 5. Kubel, DH. 6. Ruiz, 1B. 7. Buschman, 3B. 8. Harris, 2B. 9. Tolbert, SS. Pitching: Humber

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