The Twins announced this afternoon that they have agreed to a contract extension with closer Joe Nathan through the 2011 season with an option for the 2012 season as well. Salary numbers were not released, but Nathan is expected to earn somewhere near $12 million per season.

In his tenure with the Twins, Nathan has collected 160 saves which is tied for the most in the American League with potential Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera. Nathan ranks second on the Twins’ all-time saves list behind just Rick Aguilera who has 254.

With at least four years remaining for Nathan in a Twins uniform, it looks likely that Nathan will become the all-time team leader for saves if his production doesn’t slow. He’ll need to average just 23.5 saves per season to take the team record.

The Twins announced five moves this morning, and with the moves, several position spots have been decided. Right-handed pitcher Philip Humber, infielder Brian Buscher and outfielders Jason Pridie and Denard Span have been optioned to Triple-A Rochester. In addition, the Twins have assigned pitcher Casey Daigle to minor league camp.

With the five moves, the Twins now have 29 players remaining in camp. Some of them are almost certain to be cut:

With those three cuts, the Twins would then be down to 26 players and if all goes well with Liriano and Baker, Blackburn would also be cut (assuming Bass is the final reliever) to get the team to the league maximum.

Now, with the cuts of Denard Span and Jason Pridie, centerfielder Carlos Gomez has won the centerfield battle. I know I was very excited to see this news, but it’ll be interesting to see what others think. Also, how is Span going to react to this move?

Brian Buscher being optioned means that Matt Tolbert has made the roster as the teams 25^th man. Buscher didn’t play well down the stretch and it may have been because he was focusing more on new positions rather than hitting. Tolbert impressed coaches during camp with his hard work and also hit well at the plate.

The one move that I’m surprised with is why the Twins cut Philip Humber. If they are indeed keeping Blackburn in camp over Humber incase Liriano and Baker aren’t ready, it doesn’t make sense to me. Humber has been the better pitcher so he should get that outing. However, maybe the Twins want to give him one more outing today before they cut him.

In a final note, it looks almost certain that Brian Bass has locked up the final bullpen spot and it also looks as if Brendan Harris will be the team’s starting guy at second.

The Twins knocked off the Baltimore Orioles in an Easter Sunday match up today 3-1. Francisco Liriano assured himself one more chance this upcoming Friday to secure his opening day roster spot. Meanwhile, some players had their final shot to impress the coaches with most final cuts expected tomorrow.

** Liriano needed to pitched near 70 pitches today and needed to pitch solid as well. He did both, and if all goes well for him on Friday, Liriano could find himself pitching in the opening series at the Metrodome. In his outing, Liriano went four innings and allowed no hits and two walks. He also struck out five in his solid outing.

** After Liriano, Philip Humber pitched two more solid innings. While it doesn’t look like he’ll be given the final bullpen spot, if Liriano or Baker aren’t ready, Humber is the likely candidate to fill in. In his two innings of work, Humber allowed just one hit and no runs. So far this spring, Humber has a solid 1.29 ERA.

** The final three innings went to Joe Nathan, Juan Rincon and Pat Neshek. Nathan and Neshek had solid outings yet again, with neither allowing a hit or run. Rincon allowed three hits and one run in his one inning of work.

** Centerfield watch: Denard Span was the only person to play center and went 0-4 with a walk in his five plate appearances. He is now batting below Gomez with a .282 mark this spring. As we’ll mention shortly, this game could be Span’s last with the big-league club.

** Jason Pridie and Mike Lamb were the two big hitters for the Twins. Both collected multiple hits with Pridie going 2-4 and Lamb 2-3.

** Craig Monroe collected the team’s one other hit on a sharp single to left.

** Ron Gardenhire said today that the team has moved up the previous deadline of Tuesday to make final cuts up to tomorrow. The roster will not be totally completed because they will keep starters in camp with the status of Liriano and Baker still uncertain. However, the team is expected to make decisions on the bench spot, the bullpen spot, second base and according to reports, centerfield. The rotation won’t be settled until after Baker pitches Wednesday (and if all goes well, Sunday) and Liriano on Friday.

** Here is the news on Scott Baker that I posted earlier: Scott Baker pitched 33 pitches in a minor league game yesterday before the game was rained out. Baker got to the 60-pitch mark with a 'pen session afterwards. Baker is now scheduled to pitch again on Wednesday (75 pitches), and if all goes well he'll stay in Fort Myers after the Twins leave Saturday to pitch in a minor league game on Sunday (90 pitches).

If everything goes according to plan, Baker will then head north after his start on Sunday and will pitch in the team's fifth game of the season.

** As for Liriano, his outing today of nearly 70 pitches showed the team that he is ready to at least get another shot at advancing further on Friday. If Liriano gets through five or six innings and more so somewhere around 90 pitches with decently good stats, Liriano should be able to skip extended spring training and head north.

** Joe Nathan’s agent left for the day Sunday, but according to reports, will return to Fort Myers tomorrow morning to finalize the four-year deal.

** And finally, the Twins will indeed make cuts tomorrow, but here are some early notes about what is likely to happen: Brian Bass is thought to be the team’s decision for the bullpen spot. We aren’t totally sure, but that is the rumor. Bass by the way will start tomorrow’s game so that could be his chance to lock it up. Matt Tolbert is thought to be the leading guy for the bench spot. The team has been impressed and he is learning to play in the outfield according to Gardenhire. Finally, expect Harris to be the second basemen and make sure to check all day to see who the 2008 centerfielder will be.

Happy Easter Everybody!

The Twins will play on this Easter Sunday, and the game will be on FSN North for those of you that would like to watch it.

It’s a pretty big game for several different reasons. Here are some things to think about while watching the game today:

** Francisco Liriano will take the hill, and this game could decide whether he starts the season in Minnesota or whether the Twins send him to AAA or extended spring training to get more work in. The hope is that Liriano can pitch four or five innings with no pain. While the stats aren’t important during the spring, having decent stats today might help his chances of being taken north.

** Philip Humber is scheduled to pitch after Liriano. With the fifth spot in the rotation likely locked up, Humber will probably be pitching for the final bullpen spot. Perkins pitched poorly yesterday which will hurt his chances, but Blackburn had another solid outing, so the race is still close. And remember, if Baker or Liriano aren’t ready, then all of a sudden another rotation spot will open up for one of the three.

** The other pitchers scheduled to pitch are Jesse Crain, Joe Nathan and Pat Neshek. The only pitcher to watch in this group is Jesse Crain. He seems to be healthy, and if all goes well in this game, he should be a lock for the bullpen.

** The centerfield competition is very close, and there is no clear favorite. One would think that Gomez is the leader since he has stolen ten bases, scored twelve runs and played great defense in his fifteen games. In almost every category, Gomez has been better and has definitely been more exciting. Span does lead in batting average with a .314 mark going into the game (Gomes has a .286 average). While this game won’t probably decide the race, there is one week left and every play counts for both guys.

** The final thing(s) to watch on this Easter Sunday are Matt Tolbert and Brian Buscher. The final bench spot looks to be between these two guys and both should get an opportunity to play at some point. Something to think about is this: Will the Twins consider taking both north and leave Punto behind?

Enjoy the day, I’ll be back with a summary of the game later tonight.

The Twins collected their second loss in as many days today falling to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3. With the loss, the Twins are now 12-11 overall on the spring. Boof Bonser pitched well early and allowed a few runs towards the end of his outing. Carlos Gomez continued to swing a hot bat and put together another good game offensively.

** Boof Bonser stretched it out today and pitched a five-inning outing. In his five innings of work, Bonser allowed six hits, one walk and three runs. With the outing, Bonser is now just one start away from completing his spring work and getting ready for the season.

** After Bonser, Nick Blackburn received two innings out of the ‘pen. Blackburn, vying for a long relief spot, put together another solid outing. In his two innings, Blackburn allowed just two hits and no runs. He also struck out two hitters.

** After Blackburn, the Twins brought in Perkins and in one inning of work, he managed to badly hurt his stock. In his outing, Perkins allowed four hits and three runs. While Perkins is the only left-handed option remaining, Blackburn and Humber may have moved ahead of him in the race for the final bullpen spot and another possible rotation spot (Baker/Liriano).

** Centerfield watch: It was Carlos Gomez’s turn in center today and he put together another solid appearance. Gomez lead the game off with a double and put the Twins on the board early scoring later in the inning. Overall, Gomez went 2-4 with another stolen base and a run scored. Gomez has 10 steals and 12 runs scored in just fifteen games this spring. Span entered for one at-bat and singled raising his average nineteen points (that’s why you don’t go off of batting averages in the spring, they fluctuate so much with so few at-bats).

** Brendan Harris also had a solid outing, going 3-4 on the game. Harris has played very well over the past few games and will likely be the second basemen on Opening Day. The other key hitter for the Twins on the day was Delmon Young, he collected two sacrifices and two RBI.

** Other Twins to collect hits were: Justin Morneau, Brian Buscher, Drew Butera and Boof Bonser (2B).

The Twins fell to the Philadelphia Phillies today by a final score of 3-2 and are now 12-10 overall on the spring. Livan Hernandez pitched five innings, and did a nice job overall. The offense really never got going, and never lead in the game.

** Livan Hernandez has looked shaky at times this spring, but today put together a nice outing. In his five innings of work, Hernandez allowed three hits, one walk and two runs. Hernandez also collected six total strikeouts in the outing.

** After Hernandez, Brian Bass, Dennys Reyes and Pat Neshek each pitched solid innings of work. None of the three allowed a run, and just one of the three, Reyes, allowed a base hit.

** The ninth inning and the loss went to Casey Daigle. In his one inning of work, Daigle allowed two hits, a walk and the game-winning run. It’s a surprise to me that he wasn't cut this morning along with Keisler and Barrett.

** The offense collected just eight hits on the day, and nearly half of those hits went to Cuddyer. On the game, Cuddyer was 3-3 with both of the team’s RBI.

** Centerfield watch: A night after Carlos Gomez received the start in center, it was Span’s turn. Span went 1-3 on the game and was caught stealing. On the spring, Span is hitting .294.

** The other hits in the game went to: Eli Whiteside, Jason Kubel, Adam Everett and Trevor Plouffe.