Continued: Twins decide to pass on Penny

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Twins officials said they didn't mind Brad Penny's price tag but passed on the recently released Red Sox pitcher because Penny wanted a National League job.

Penny cleared release waivers Monday and reportedly signed with the Giants, who owe him only about $77,000 this season.

By claiming Penny, the Twins would have spent about $1.2 million for six Penny starts down the stretch.

The Twins' Mike Redmond and Carl Pavano contacted their former Marlins teammate directly, and there were indications Penny's agent told the Twins' front office about his client's strong NL preference.

In nine years as an NL pitcher, Penny posted a 4.06 ERA. This year, he moved to the AL and posted a 5.61 ERA for Boston.

The Twins also reportedly made a claim for Cubs pitcher Rich Harden, but a Twins official said any chance they had of getting him disappeared when the Cubs trimmed their wild-card deficit to 5 1/2 games Sunday. Harden gave up five runs on five hits and six walks in five innings, taking a 5-3 loss to Houston on Monday.

Monday night was the deadline for teams to set potential playoff rosters, so anyone acquired from outside the organization now isn't eligible for the playoffs.

Manship thrilled

Had the Twins acquired another veteran starter, he likely would have taken Jeff Manship's place tonight against the White Sox. Instead, Manship gets to make his first major league start, and he's excited.

"Absolutely," he said. "Hopefully I can stick in this role."

Crede not retiring

Joe Crede said he is confident the second epidural for his sore back will let him return soon. He hopes to know more by next weekend.

The Chicago Tribune recently speculated Crede might retire at season's end, but he laughed that off.

"I think in baseball years, I'm still fairly young," said Crede, 31. "I know I have years left in me yet. I still have fun playing the game. I have no plans of retiring."

Expanded rosters

Teams can expand their active rosters today, but the Twins have no immediate plans to promote anyone from Class AAA Rochester.

Infielders Matt Tolbert (knee) and Brian Buscher (thumb) are battling injuries, and Anthony Swarzak gave up eight hits in just 2 1/3 innings Sunday, leaving him with an 10.80 ERA in his two starts since being demoted.

"So really there's no options right now," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

Thin pitching depth

Gardenhire bristled at the suggestion his team is out of starting options beyond Manship and fellow rookie Brian Duensing.

"We've got Swarzak down in Triple-A, we've got [Armando] Gabino -- that's two more starters," Gardenhire said. "We have a whole organization full of people that we could try. And we also have Bobby Keppel out here. We're trying to hold off as much as we can because we need him in a long role, and he can go a lot of different places. But we can also hold him out of the rotation, if that's necessary."

Etc.

• The Twins activated Glen Perkins (shoulder tendinitis) from the disabled list and optioned him to Rochester.

• Gardenhire downplayed the chances of Boof Bonser coming back from shoulder surgery to help this year's team, saying Bonser is likely headed to the instructional league.

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