The Twins have designated 28-year old righty starter/reliever Boof Bonser for assignment to make room on the roster for Carl Pavano. Bonser didn’t pitch last season due to injury. Bonser pitched in 96 games (60 starts) in his three years with the Twins and he was 18-25 with a 5.12 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. If he gets healthy he might be able to help some team down the road but the Twins have a lot of pitchers that they like better than him.

UPDATE: The Twins have traded Bonser to the Red Sox for 24-year old righty reliever Chris Province. Province pitched in 43 games (0 starts) in AA-ball last season and he was 2-4 with 1 save, a 2.60 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. In 3 years in the minors, Province has pitched in 88 games (27 starts) and he is 14-12 with 4 saves, a 4.03 ERA and a 1.41 WHIP. It will be interesting to see who wins in this trade as Province does have some upside.

33-year old righty starting pitcher Carl Pavano will be back with the Twins in 2010 after accepting arbitration. Pavano pitched in 33 games (all starts) for the Twins & Indians last season and he was 14-12 with a 5.10 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP. He has now pitched in 226 games (208 starts) in his 11-year major league career and he is 80-78 with a 4.44 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The Twins will probably have to overpay for Pavano in 2010 but they like what he brought to them last year pitching big when they needed him to.

The Twins are going to be a player at the Winter Meetings next week. They are looking for a new starting 2B and 3B. The Twins have a lot of players who they will likely make available in trade like Nick Punto, Brendan Harris, Matt Tolbert, Alexi Casilla, Delmon Young, Francisco Liriano and Glenn Perkins. That’s not all either as the Twins have some good trading chips in the minors. Orlando Hudson and Mark DeRosa seem like good fits in free agency if the Twins elect to go that route. But, the Twins should think bigger and call the Marlins about Dan Uggla and Jorge Cantu to bring some serious thump into the lineup. The Marlins would listen about either or both players as they try to get younger and cheaper. Regardless of whether the Twins make trades or get their new starters through free agency….they will be busy next week.

27-year old lefty swinging OF/DH Jason Kubel finished 24th in the voting for the A.L. MVP Award. He played in 146 games for the Twins last season and he was 154 for 514 (.300 avg, .907 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 28 homers and 103 RBIs. Kubel has now played five years for the Twins appearing in 511 games in which he is 465 for 1,675 (.278 avg, .813 OPS) with 229 runs scored, 71 homers and 279 RBIs. All that has stood in the way of Kubel being a big time player is his knees and he showed what he is capable of when healthy.