Regarding the pursuit of Shohei Otani: There is currently no posting system for Japanese players to come to the American majors, and the MLBPA -- the players union -- is apparently deeply unhappy that as matters stand, Otani will get a pittance compared to what his Japanese team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, will get.
The union on Thursday set a Monday deadline for an agreement on the matter. If no deal on the posting system is struck by then, it will keep Otani from playing in the U.S. next season.
I'll believe that happens when I see it.
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Two of the players the Twins deleted from their 40-man roster since their season ended have signed with new organizations: utilityman Niko Goodrum with the Tigers, lefty relief specialist Ryan O'Rourke with the Orioles. And pitcher Dereck Rodriguez, son of Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez, signed with the Giants as a minor league free agent.
The Twins have yet to add minor leaguers to their 40. The deadline to do so before the Rule 5 draft is Monday.
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The Twins' radio broadcasts are returning to WCCO.
I'm not sure how big a deal this is. 'CCO isn't what it once was, and certainly losing the Twins after the 2006 season was part of that, but radio simply isn't the kingpin of baseball broadcasting anymore.
Still ... Cory Provus laps the field in terms of the four main broadcast voices for this team, and having the games on the clear-channel giant again will make it easier to find the games when traveling in outstate Minnesota.
I suspect this means the Pohlads plan to unload their radio properties. I don't live in range of Twin Cities FM, and I'm certainly no expect on the radio biz, but I'm a bit baffled that they couldn't make a go of a baseball-based FM station.
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