Today is the first full-squad workout and you can bet that, afterward, Gardy and coaches and others who’ll decide the fate of the Opening Day roster will be comparing notes about the 30 or so players in camp who weren’t there in 2007 — as well as some of the holdovers whose play last season raised questions and concerns. In that category is everything from Joe Mauer’s battles to stay healthy to Boof Bonser’s performance to Gardy’s motivational best seller “101 Uses for Nick Punto.”

This is the day when new players will find out, as Livan Hernandez did during the first pitchers’ workout last weekend, that Twins camp is tougher than many other major-league camps. Keep in mind, though, the “training camp” in baseball is pretty much a yuk compared to other sports. We’re not talking two-a-days, dorm life and the torture associated with football. Until the games start, spring training is more like half-a-days. Players don’t report to camp looking to drop weight, but rather to relearn and perfect the basics of the game. See ball, hit ball. Throw to the right base. Hope you don’t take batting practice against a pitcher with too much to prove. In fact, a lot of the off-season hype about conditioning results in blather. I remember the winter a few years back when Doug Mientkiewicz vowed to get stronger and start hitting for more power. Knocked yourself out, Dougie?

Here’s my short list of thoughts as I await the reports of JoeC, LaVelle and (this week) Souhan from Fort Myers:

*Did Boof lose velocity with that weight?

*Joe Nathan’s status. How much is a closer worth on a team that looks to be reloading?

*All of the questions surrounding Francisco Liriano and how the Twins will bring him along in an environment in which every move will be followed.

*By contrast, I don’t want to see of hear the words “Alejandro Machado” until he’s ready to play.

*Center field.

*Leadoff.

*Rotation.

*Adam Everett’s bat. Hitting 8th in the National League is one of the game’s generic curses, but I’m skeptical of talk about him hitting anywhere other than 9th for the Twins. Just pick it and everyone goes home happy.

*Good to know that Delmon Young was such a part of Tampa Bay’s troubles, as Carl Crawford contends. I’m sure the Rays would have a contender if Jonny Gomes had played more.

But that’s about all the snark I can muster right now. Let’s get on with it. There’s an opener in 37 days and I’m itching to know who’s gonna knock Torii off the plate.

other people are here too.

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