The Minnesota Twins picked up Craig Breslow from the Cleveland Indians last week. He was claimed off waivers and joined the major league club.

In 35 career games with the Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Indians, and Twins, the 27-year-old lefthanded relief pitcher has a 2.82 earned-run average. In his first appearance as a Twin, Breslow struck out three New York Yankees in 1-2/3 innings. 

Sounds like he might be a nice fit for the Twins' bullpen, which as of late sports few lefties. 

My current favorite Minnesota Twin is Stillwater native Glen Perkins.

How do the Twins always seem to find great, young pitchers to pick up the rotation part of the way through every season? Amazing, really.

I'm trying something new with the Minnesota Twins.

My interest in baseball has gotten me into trouble at times with my lovely wife. And that trouble has drawn to my attention to the fact that I am obsessed with Twins baseball.

It's not healthy.

Since the Minnesota Twins have been frequenting the disabled list, as well as being called up from and sent down to the minors, I had the urge to look at the roster today.

Infielders Howie Clark and Alexi Casilla and pitchers Bobby Korecky and Glen Perkins are some of the guys who've come up after opening day. Those weren't surprises to me.

But there's a new guy on the 40-man roster.

I knew the Minnesota Twins baseball team was young, but the proof was especially interesting.

Yesterday, Joe Christensen of the Strib noted that the Twins' starting lineup -- at an average age of 26.7 years old -- is the youngest in the American League and the second-youngest in baseball. Arizona's lineup is the youngest.

In the AL, the other teams with young lineups include the Oakland Athletics and the Tampa Bay Rays, which have average ages younger than 28.

When Minnesota Twins pitcher Boof Bonser reported to spring training, it was obvious he'd lost some weight -- 20 pounds, it was reported.

Then, a story in one of the big-city newspapers said 25 pounds. The next time I heard someone on the radio talking about it, Boofy had lost 30 pounds.

His rumored weight loss stayed somewhere around 25 pounds for the next few weeks, most of spring training.

Your Minnesota Twins made some interesting roster moves this past weekend.

Carlos Gomez is the starting center fielder. Denard Span and Jason Pridie, both of whom played well this spring, were optioned to Triple-A. Gomez led the three in slugging percentage (.510), swiped a team-high 10
bases, struck out a team-high 10 times, scored a team-high 12 runs,
tallied a team-high 25 total bases, and tied Michael Cuddyer for a
team-high 14 hits.

The Minnesota Twins made the right decision about Joe Nathan, locking him up through 2011. I, for one, am breathing a sigh of relief. The young rotation will need a solid bullpen behind it, including closer Nathan.

Although the terms of the contract weren't announced today, Nathan might just be the richest closer in baseball. 

See the story at http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080324&content_id=....  

As a junior-higer, I published a baseball magazine. Sold it to all of my family members. It was very profitable.

But one feature was particularly fun, and I think I'll duplicate it here. It was called the Swami. This year, the Swami -- aka me, myself, and I -- predicts this Minnesota Twins lineup on the opening day of the 2008 baseball season March 31:

Batting first, Carlos Gomez, center field

Second, Brendan Harris, second base

Third, Joe Mauer, catcher,  

Fourth, Justin Morneau, first base

Fifth, Delmon Young, left field

This morning, an analyst for ESPN SportsCenter predicted that the Detroit Tigers would win in the strong Central Division of Major League Baseball. Cleveland got a mention, too.

He thought Boston and Anaheim will be the other American League powerhouses.

The only time the Twins were mentioned was during the National League segment, while the analyst predicted the New York Mets would be the team to beat, namely because of a guy you might know.

This analyst said the only comparison he could think of for the swap of Johan Santana was the trade of Babe Ruth.