The Twins cut Randy Keisler, Ricky Barrett, Tommy Watkins, Garrett Jones and Randy Ruiz this morning. Jones was outrighted, which means he cleared waivers. There are now 35 players in camp.

Nothing too surprising here. Ruiz was entertaining to watch at the plate but he really has no defensive position. Who knows? Ruiz may get a shot during the season if the Twins are in a jam and need to call someone up.

Keisler and Barrett officially moving on means that if the Twins want a second lefty in the bullpen it will be Glen Perkins.

Jones clearing waivers isn’t a surprise but I wonder how much playing time he’ll get at Rochester.

Lineups:

Phillies 

1. Victorino. CF. 2. Bruntlett, 2B. 3. Dobbs, 1B. 4. Burrell, LF. 5. Snelling, DH. 6. Helms. 7. Taguchi. 8. Ruiz, C. 9. Olemdo. Pitching: Eaton.

Twins

1. Span, CF. 2. Mauer, C. 3. Cuddyer, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Young, LF. 6. Kubel, DH. 7. Lamb, 3B. 8. Punto, 2B. 9. Everett, SS. Pitching: Livan, followed by Bass, Neshek, Reyes, Daigle.

Trevor Plouffe and Dustin Martin have been added as extra players today.

I think the Twins lineup you’re about to read could be very close to the Opening Day lineup.

Reds: 1. Freel, RF. 2. Patterson, CF. 3. Phillips, 2B. 4. Dunn, DH. 5. Encarnacion, 3B. 6. Hatteberg, 1B. 7. Keppinger, SS. 8. Hopper, LF. 9. Bako, C. Pitching: Bailey.

Twins: 1. Gomez, CF. 2. Mauer, C. 3. Cuddyer, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. Young, LF. 6. Monroe, DH. 7. Lamb, 3B. 8. Harris, 2B. 9. Everett, SS.  Pitching: Slowey, then Nathan, Crain, Rincon, Keisler, Barrett.

[update]: Gardy indicated before the game that, with a day game tomorrow and a road trip to Jupiter on Friday (Gardy will follow MLB rules and bring four regulars) he decided not to start Kubel today. He did, however, say that Monroe would be used some against righthanders during the season, based on who’s hot, who’s slumping and who needs a day off.

A COUPLE GAME NOTES: Dan Gladden, finally, caught a foul ball during the game. He had Kent Hrbek in the booth when the ball came flying back. The Dazzle Man quickly slipped on the glove that’s been collecting dust in the booth, stood up and caught the ball. I didn’t know what happened until a huge roar rose from the road.

Go-Go Gomez was at it again in the seventh inning. He beat out a slow two-hopper to short - by a step - for an infield hit. With a runner on third, Gomez took off for second and didn’t draw a throw - but he dove into second anyway! The middle infielders never left their positions!

Second base umpire Tim Tschida (what a coincidence) waited until Gomez got up and made eye contact with him before he emphatically signaled him safe. Hilarious…

“He needed to slide into second base or he would have ran into the left fielder,” one pressbox wag said.

The Twins spent Thursday locked in negotiations with Dave Pepe, the agent for Twins closer Joe Nathan, about a contract extension.

And for the first time in several weeks, there are strong signals that a deal may be close.

Nathan moments ago expressed renewed optimism that a deal could get done soon. He wouldn’t divulge contract details but indicated that the ice has been broken in a stalemate that could have led to him being traded during the regular season.

Both Nathan and Pepe indicated during camp that it would be very difficult to get a deal done once the regular season begins. That deadline, however, may no longer be a factor.

“Things are headed in a good direction right now,” Nathan said. “We feel very optimistic that something can get done.”

 Check back here for more details as soon as they become available.

I read the posts to Joe C.’s latest blog tonight, and I thought  there was a pretty spirited discussion rolling about how the Twins are putting together their roster down here in Fort Myers, Fla.

One thing I hope the posters here try to avoid is bashing each other and resorting to name-calling. It takes away from the hearty baseball talk that should drive this blog. While I’ve buried my head in my hands at times when debates deteriorate into frat house banter, I still believe were a couple of notches above the nonsense that ruins blogs of other Twin Cities pro teams.

We are blessed with some people who bring a lot to our baseball debates. Jama, Cmathewson, romer, Seth Speaks and mike wants wins are some of the people who come to mind (I know I’m leaving a bunch out).

Things were nearly perfect today until LNP4Life, at 3:08, called Robert a moron. Those two went back and forth but the rest of you steered around that car wreck rather adeptly.

And look, while Craig has driven us nuts at times - forcing me to ban him for awhile - he’s made adjustments like Scott Baker did after being sent down a couple times.

My point is that we’re better than others and we should show it day in and day out. The 162-game season provides us many opportunities to show readers how a good baseball blog rolls.

Now I want to address this Carlos Gomez-Manny Ramirez comparison that was made tonight..

There’s no way Gomez is the clubhouse headache that Man-Ram is. Man-Ram is a sensitive, spoiled brat who is fortunate to be in a Boston clubhouse with players who know when to ignore his behavior and when to bring problems to his attention.

Gomez is ultra-confident and wants to be great. But the diamond is still being polished. He’s tried to show off his arm and has overshot cutoff men while doing so. He twice slid into third base when Scott Ullger told him he had time to come to the bag standing up. But he was willing to listen to hitting coaches last week about his hitting approach.

Gomez can be corrected. Manny is a lost cause - which says a lot about someone who is a brilliant hitter when he wants to play. There must be a better comparison out there.

Anyway, I’ll be at the park Thursday night. Jim Souhan is back down and is ready to offer his observations. Get ready for the final week of camp because it’s going to get crazy…

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