J.C. Romero's rocky career as a Minnesota Twin is over. The Twins traded the left-handed reliever to the Angels on Friday for Minor League infielder Alexi Casilla. Casilla in 2005 batted .325 with 62 runs scored and 47 stolen bases for Class-A Cedar Rapids. His 47 stolen bases ranked fourth in the Midwest League.

This is pure speculation, but with Romero being sent to the Angels and Old Man Mulholland not being offered arbitration, the Twins no longer have any lefties remaining in the bullpen, so don't be surprised if the team retains Kyle Lohse and Scott Baker as their fourth and fifth pitchers in the rotation, while lefty Francisco Liriano spends a year in the pen like the team did with Johan Santana before he finally made the rotation. The team also has lefty Dave Gassner, who made two starts in place of Carlos Silva in 2005 when it was thought Silva was done for the season, and he might get called upon to move into the pen as well.

This may be only of interest to me, but with Mulholland gone, do you know who the oldest player on the team's 40-man roster is? 34-year-old backup catcher Mike Redmond. Redmond turns 35 on May 5th. And the second- and third-oldest? Juan Castro and Brad Radke are both 33, with Castro four months older than Radke. I only note this because Redmond and Castro were the team's two free agent signings last off-season, while Radke, who was also a free agent at the time, re-signed with the team, meaning that if you consider Radke a free agent signing last season, then the three free agents the team signed last off-season are the three oldest players on the team. But, lest you think the older guys aren't much help, Redmond led the team in batting average in 2005 (among guys with at least 100 at-bats - Glenn Williams hit .425 in 40 at-bats, Joe Mays hit .333 in 3 at-bats, and Jason Tyner hit .321 in 56 at-bats, but Redmond hit .311 in 148 at-bats) and Castro led the team in sacrifice hits (9 - fellow utility infielders Nick Punto and Luis Rodriguez were second and third, respectively, with 7 and 6 sacrifices each). Workhorse Radke, on the other hand, was second on the team behind Santana, with 200-2/3 innings pitched.

» Twins trade Romero for Minor Leaguer [twinsbaseball.com]

While Oakland beat the Royals 16-1, the Angels lost tonight to the Devil Rays 6-4, creating a tie atop the AL West. The Angels have won only 4 of their last 12 games. The best-case scenario for all teams chasing the A's and Angels for the Wild Card spot in the AL is for the Angels to keep losing, because it doesn't look like the A's are going to go on an extended losing streak anytime soon. The Yankees, Indians, Twins, and Blue Jays are all within striking distance, but none of them have been able to make any gains with Oakland running away.