Notes, quotes and comments

One reason the Mark Rosen notion — that the Twins and Joe Mauer have the framework of a deal in place awaiting the final details — made sense was the possibility that the two sides were working on a schedule of deferred payments.

That theory was shot down Monday by Jim Pohlad:

We try to stay away from deferred compensation. There's a ton of real-life examples of that kind of thinking. It's either going to be somebody else's problem, or we'll worry about it later. Eventually, you've got to worry about it and then, at that point, it affects your current operation. So it's really not a good thing. In the end you've got to pay the money no matter what. You may as well try to do it when the player is playing for you.

Another indication that the Pohlads are in it for the long haul. Many of the deferred comp cases came from owners who intended to sell the team before they started paying out big bucks to players no longer active.

I think the Pohlads are right to stay away from deferred comp. But it does raise the question: If Rosen's report was accurate, what would be delaying the deal?

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When is a retired number not retired? Usually it's when the player himself returns to uniform. If Rod Carew, for example, had taken the Twins batting coach position a few years ago when it was open, he'd be wearing his retired No. 29.

In the case of the Chicago White Sox, however, it's more open. On Monday the Sox announced that Omar Vizquel would wear No. 11 — officially retired in honor of Luis Aparicio, the Hall of Fame shortstop. (With, I should add, Aparicio's blessing.)

Vizquel has worn No. 13 through his career, but that's Ozzie Guillen's number, and the manager was keeping it.

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The Yankees inked veteran OF Marcus Thames to a contract Monday, adding to a crowded field of candidates for the left field job.

Given the Yankees affection for veterans, the general expectation is that Thames and Randy Winn will platoon in left. Then there's Brett Gardner, who is faster than the other two — and the NUN, New Ulm Native Jamie Hoffmann, the forgotten outfielder on the champs' roster.

It gets increasingly difficult to see how the Yankees can carry that many outfielders.

Meanwhile, I keep looking at the Twins roster and seeing a need for a reserve outfielder who can play defense ... and wondering if there's a fit there for Hoffmann.

Around the division: White Sox

The White Sox so far this offseason have had a theme, and that theme is infielders.

They have:

• Traded two players handed infield jobs at the start of 2009 — Chris Getz (second base) and Josh Fields (third base) to Kansas City for veteran Mark Teahen. Teahen is to be their third baseman.
• Said Gordon Beckham, who dislodged Fields and emerged as one of the American League's better rookies, would play second base.
• Signed Omar Vizquel (photo above) to be a reserve infielder and mentor to incumbent shortstop Alexei Ramirez.

Taking them one at a time:

Off his track record with the Royals, Teahen is exactly the kind of guy Twins fans should want the White Sox to accumulate. He was not a particularly productive hitter for Kansas City, and he's not a sensational fielder either.

But ... I haven't given up on him as a hitter, and it may be he'll blossom. The White Sox' stadium is much more hitter friendly than the Kansas City park, and the Royals the past few years have shuttled Teahen from position to position.

Beckham sounded OK with moving to second base, although the general feeling is that he'd rather be the shortstop, the position he played as an amateur. And there's no shortage of people outside the Sox camp who think he should get that chance, Ramirez having had a rough season with the glove at short last year.

But even in his shortstop days, Beckham was viewed as a guy who would play his way off short sooner or later. "Alexei's better than Gordon at short," was GM Kenny Williams's six-word answer to the question of why not Beckham at short and Ramirez back at second, where he played in 2008.

Which is where Vizquel comes in, at least in theory. The 11-time Gold Glover spent last season playing a similar infield reserve role with the Texas Rangers — where part of his job was mentoring rookie shortstop Elvis Andrus.

It might be a good cop-bad cop routine for Ramirez, with manager Ozzie Guillen (himself no slouch of a shortstop glove) continuing to ride Ramirez hard and Vizquel patting him on the back.