Another casual Sunday morning at the park as the Twins prepare to face Cleveland’s Paul Byrd, who was 4-0 against then last season.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire expects Adam Everett to need at least a week of rehab for his shoulder tendinitis. He won’t hit or throw so he can focus on regaining the strength he’s lost in the shoulder.

Gardy thought about starting Matt Tolbert today but decided to give Brendan Harris another start at second after he played well there yesterday. The Twins are still trying to get their new players to buy into their defensive standards but Gardy praised Harris for how hard he’s worked on his defense since joining the club.

Mauer is getting a day off so Mike Redmond gets his third start of the season.

Justin Morneau asked Gardy for a DH day and got one. So Mike Lamb is at first.

A chunk of the pre-game was spent talking about defense, so Nick Punto’s name came up because he’s the focus of so much anger from fans. Punto was terrible at the plate last year and hits the ball in the air too much for someone with no power. But what can’t be denied is that he’s an excellent defensive player.

When it was mentioned how much Punto gets ripped by fans, Gardy replied: “That’s because he doesn’t help fantasy teams but he can help you win baseball games.”

Gardy, Twins players and media members were surprised by the news that Frank Thomas was released by the Blue Jays. Sounds like the Big Hurt’s mouth got him in trouble again.

Thomas must have really ticked off manager Jay Gibbons. I will contend that three weeks is not long enough to evaluate someone like Thomas before deciding to reduce his playing time.

Someone has to take a chance on the 39-year old future Hall of Famer, right? I initially thought that Thomas was placed on release waivers. But I just looked into this, and the Blue Jays are on the hook for the remainder of his 2008 salary while Thomas can work out a deal with any team. The belief is that Thomas’ agent will try to get something like a two-year deal.

Correction: Now I have been told that the Blue Jays officially designated Thomas for assignment, so they have ten days to trade him, send him down to the minors or release him. No one will trade for that contract or claim him off waivers, I’m guessing, so he will be released and then seek a deal elsewhere. 

I’m not saying the Twins are interested. They’ve got DH candidates in Jason Kubel and Craig Monroe, especially when Michael Cuddyer returns from the DL.

Lineups

Cleveland (7-11): 1. Grady Sizemore, CF. 2. David Dellucci, LF. 3. Travis Hafner, DH. 4. Victor Martinez, C. 5. Jhonny Peralta, SS. 6. Ryan Garko, 1B. 7. Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B. 8. Franklin Gutierrez, RF. 9.  Casey Blake, 3B. Pitching: Paul Byrd.

Twins (8-10): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Brendan Harris, 2B. 3. Jason Kubel, RF. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Delmon Young, LF. 6. Brian Buscher, 3B. 7. Mike Redmond, C. 8. Mike Lamb, 1B. 9. Nick Punto, SS. Pitching: Scott Baker.

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