The Twins and Carl Pavano appear to be in a temporary holding pattern, still close to a deal, but still with some details to hash out before he officially comes off the free agent market.
The sides agreed to table the talks through Tuesday, allowing the Twins to focus on potential arbitration cases with Matt Capps, Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins and Delmon Young. The deadline for each side to submit its official arbitration offer is noon Tuesday, and that deadline annually spurs a flurry of negotiations.
Last year, the Twins settled all eight of their potential arbitration cases on the day figures were supposed to be exchanged, giving deals to Pavano (one-year, $7 million), Young (one-year, $2.6 million) and Liriano (one-year, $1.6 million), among others.
Meanwhile, former Twins reliever Brian Fuentes is reportedly close to a deal with Oakland. Various reports have pegged it as a two-year deal with an option for 2013, with at least $10 million guaranteed.
Fuentes would become the third Twins reliever to sign elsewhere, joining Jesse Crain, who got a three-year, $13 million deal from the White Sox, and Matt Guerrier, who got a three-year, $12 million deal with the Dodgers.
Update: Add RHP Jon Rauch to the list of Twins relievers signing elsewhere. The Blue Jays announced that they've signed Rauch to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with Toronto that includes a $3.75 million option for 2012. It's worth noting that the Twins made some attempts to retain Crain but knew the other three relievers were going to walk.
