The Twins' interest in Jim Thome is real

We received an e-mail tip today that a Chicago radio station is reporting that Jim Thome will sign with the Twins by day's end.

I called a Twins official, expecting to hear that this is totally far-fetched, and turns out they do have real interest in Thome and haven't ruled out their chances of signing him. Probably not today, mind you, but it's getting late in the offseason and the prices for free agents are falling fast.

The Twins are bargain hunting, and if Thome were to accept a bench role at a severely reduced price -- he made $13 million last year -- there could be a match. The Twins already have a lefthanded hitting DH in Jason Kubel, so Thome isn't a perfect fit, but he'd immediately boost an anemic looking bench.

With 564 career home runs, Thome probably wants to a full-time DH job with a contender. He turns 40 on Aug. 27. Re-signing with the White Sox would make sense, but Ozzie Guillen seems determined to move on with a more versatile lineup, adding speed, etc.

So I don't see anything happening today, but make no mistake, the Twins are interested in Thome. I'll have more for tonight's first editions.