MINNESOTA TWINS

2005 finish: 83-79, 3^rd place in AL Central

Manager: Ron Gardenhire (5^th season)

Free agents: OF Jacque Jones, RHP Joe Mays, LHP Terry Mulholland

On the block: LHP J.C. Romero, RHP Kyle Lohse, IF Michael Cuddyer, DH Matt LeCroy, IF Luis Rivas

Looking for: Offense is a must, and it can come from almost anywhere — DH, second, third base and the outfield

What’s going on: Jacque Jones will be a hot commodity on the market, and that will make it tough for the Twins to keep him, even with their desperate need to add offense. The payroll should rise a little from the $56-million mark, but $47 million already is committed in 2006 to only 10 players, so no huge salaries can be added. Four players — Torii Hunter ($10.75 million), Johan Santana ($9 million), Brad Radke ($9 million) and Shannon Stewart ($6.5 million) will make $35.25 million, or about 60 percent of the payroll. One free-agent possibility is third baseman Bill Mueller. J.C. Romero has fallen out of favor, and as a lefty with some success in the setup role, is the likeliest to go for a hitter. With Scott Baker and Francisco Liriano ready to step into the rotation, free agent Joe Mays likely won’t be re-signed and Kyle Lohse could be traded. Disappointing Michael Cuddyer and Luis Rivas could be dealt or non-tendered after struggling in 2005. Terry Mulholland probably won’t be back after a subpar season at age 42.

HOT STOVE LEAGUE Click for the latest on your favorite teams AL EAST Baltimore Boston N.Y. Yankees Tampa Bay Toronto NL EAST Atlanta Florida N.Y. Mets Philadelphia Washington AL CENTRAL Chi. White Sox Cleveland Detroit Kansas City Minnesota NL CENTRAL Chi. Cubs Cincinnati Houston Milwaukee Pittsburgh St. Louis AL WEST Anaheim Oakland Seattle Texas NL WEST Arizona Colorado Los Angeles San Diego San Francisco

MORE FROM BASEBALL

Baseball Section Front

Red Sox should take measured approach CTB: Handicapping the Halladay chase Blyleven: Pitching to be had beyond Halladay CTB: A prediction — Lackey will sign with Yankees Lincecum wins second consecutive Cy Young CTB: We really didn’t need Lincecum’s pot apology CTB: Yankees more likely to sign Damon than Matsui Grabow gets $7.5 million, 2-year deal from Cubs Pricey gift: MLB offers Series film set for $2,229 Nationals top pick Strasburg won't need surgery Baseball Section Front   Add Baseball headlines to your news reader: