The Twins met yesterday with the agent for Mark DeRosa and definitely are exploring ways to land the versatile player. DeRosa is 34 but still hit 23 homers and 78 RBI last year in stints with Cleveland and St. Louis (batted .250 but, IIRC, has an injury with the Cards). He could be the best thing the Twins have as a No. 2 hitter in front of Joe Mauer.

There are several third baseman available, and the buyer’s market could grow after Saturday, when some arbitration-eligible players aren’t tendered contracts. For instance, there’s a lot of speculation that Colorado will non-tender Garrett Atkins. That could drive down prices.

There have been rumors that DeRosa is seeking a three-year, $27 million deal, but the market could force him to settle for less. The indications I received last night (early this morning) were that the Twins would find ways to make a two and, possibly, a three-year deal work.

 So don’t expect anything to go down this week. Teams will wait until after the tender deadline on Saturday to survey the market and plan accordingly.

I know there’s a report of the Twins having interest in Adrian Beltre, Pedro Feliz and Juan Uribe. The agents for Feliz have not heard from the Twins. I have not heard anything about Beltre - although the Twins have spoken with his agent, Scott Boras, about Joe Crede and might have asked about Beltre too. And the Uribe link….I just don’t believe it.

Ran into an agent with the same agency that represents Rich Harden. The Twins have not been in contact recently and it sounded like the Mariners had a good shot to land him.

 There continues to be mutual interest between the Twins and former Gopher Robb Quinlan, but nothing is close. And I sense that the Twins view Quinlan as a minor league sign with an invite to camp, while Quinlan is looking for a major league deal.

Update: I forgot to mention that the Twins tried to sign Boof Bonser to a one-year deal in recent weeks but were rebuffed. If he had signed, he probably wouldn’t have been desginated for assignment on Tuesday. It was risky for Bonser, who is coming off of shoulder surgery to turn down a deal. Now, he’s expected to become a free agent on Saturday when the Twins release him.

BTW, I met former Twins Bill Singer and Mike Cubbage at breakfast this morning. Their claim to fame is that they arrived with Jim Gideon, Roy Smalley and $250,000 from Texas in 1976 in exchange for Bert Blyleven and Danny Thompson.

Singer is a scout with Washington. Cubbage is with the Rays.

Singer couldn’t believe Sid Hartman still works.  He’s not the only one. (rim shot)

Heard tonight that the Twins are very interested in free agent infielder Mark DeRosa. There will be more on this in a few hours, as I’m dead tired after a night of grazing through the hotel lobby and talking to folks about Milton Bradley, Ross Gload, Illinois-Vanderbilt basketball, flip cameras, Peter Gammons, Ron Gardenhire, Sparky Anderson, Jim Leyland, the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jason Kubel, newspapers, the Big Red Machine, the Twins batting order, Glen Perkins, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Delmon Young, Larry Young, Dmitri Young, Joe Mauer, Curtis Granderson, being ordained, snowstorms, Patrick Reusse and wake up calls, media relations and any move the Twins are trying to make. Goodnight….

The Twins waited until Tuesday to announce that righthander Boof Bonser has been designated for release or assignment, a move to create space on the roster for righthander Carl Pavano.

Bonser missed all of last season following right shoulder surgery during spring training. He recovered quickly enough for him to contemplate an attempt to pitch in September when the Twins made a late run to the postseason. The Twins decided against that.

With a crowded field fighting for spots on the 2010 pitching staff, someone was expendable. And it certainly helps a team whose 2010 payroll is climbing toward $90 million. 

Bonser was 3-7 with a 5.93 ERA in 2008 and 18-25, 5.12 in 163 games with the Twins. He arrived with Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano in exchange for catcher A.J. Pierzynski in 2003.

The Twins might not be done moving pitchers from their roster. Lefthander Glen Perkins could be traded, and righthander Jesse Crain could be no-tendered by Saturday’s deadline.Â

Twins players and pitching coach Rick Anderson remained in contact with pitcher Carl Pavano in recent days, reminding him constantly how much they wanted him to be a part of the 2010 team.

“He feels tremendously comfortable in Minnesota,” Pavano’s agent, Tom O’Connell said. “He has tremendous respect for his teammates and thinks they are united in trying to win.

“We had to explore free agency, no doubt. But, at the end of the day this was a very easy decision because has made a lot of money in his career and its important to win a championship and the Twins give him the best opportunity to win.”

We’ll see. I think Pavnao brought a lot to the rotation down the stretch. If he didn’t want to pitch to a guy, he would professionally walk him, and go get the next guy. That’s something the rest of the staff can definitely learn from. `Veteran savvy’ is a term that gets thrown around a lot. But Pavano has it. He’s going to have runners on base. He’s going to be slow to the plate and will give up stolen bases. But he doesn’t let it get to him.

As I’ve written before, it’s going to be interesting watching competition for spots on the pitching staff. There might be nine spots already filled. And what if Pat Neshek really is all the way back from elbow surgery?

Ran into the guys from Baseball America this morning. They are working on their top ten Twins prospects list and are leaning toward making Aaron Hicks No. 1 again. Sounds like their top four might go: 1. Hicks. 2. Wilson Ramos. 3. Kyle Gibson. 4. Ben Revere.  Adrian Salcedo has a chance to crack their top ten. 

I’m not exaggerating. Baseball officials and media folk continue to hammer me about Target Field not having a roof.  I’m not putting up much of a fight.

Haven’t heard much about the Twins’ plans for third base here. But I do know that the Padres would like to talk to them about Kevin Kouzmanoff and the agents for Pedro Feliz would like a moment of their time, too. San Diego might be interested in Glen Perkins, who could be had.

Another Twin would could be more available than others: Boof Bonser.

The Marriott is a reporter’s and scout’s dream. We all are members of the Marriott rewards program, so we’re all getting points this week. The problem is that the concierge lounge has been packed in the mornings. But it’s also led to some interesting group discussions.

This morning, I sat with media members from Philadelphia, San Diego, Tampa Bay, Boston and Arizona. We decided that the three places the winter meetings should be held at are: 1. New Orleans, 2. Las Vegas and 3. Orlando. And that the best pressboxes in the league are: 1. Seattle. 2. Baltimore and 3. Anaheim.

Then, I had to answer questions about heaters in the Target Field pressbox. Aren’t they happy that they can stay at the City Center Marriott and walk to the park every day?

Barring a last-minute change of mind righthander Carl Pavano will inform the Twins tonight that he is accepting the Twins’ offer of arbitration, according to a source familiar with negotiations.

It’s official: Pavano has accepted arbitration from the Twins.

Pavano, 33, had drawn interest from a handful of teams and had hoped to receive some multi-year offers but, at the worst, will end up with the Twins on a one-year deal. The sides are expected to try to reach agreement on a contract to avoid arbitration.

It means that four-fifths of the Twins’ 2010 rotation is pretty much set in stone. Pavano will join righthanders Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey in the rotation.

There will be plenty of competition for the fifth spot in the rotation between lefthanders Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing and Francisco Liriano and righthanders Boof Bonser, Anthony Swarzak and Jeff Manship. Some of those pitchers, of course, have more realistic chances than others,