Jacque Jones has officially turned down the Twins offer of arbitration. Reports have it that three teams are after him, including the Royals and the Cubs.

Jones's departure leaves some payroll room, but the is dubious over whether it will help.

With the Twins no longer facing the possibility of having to pay Jones next season, the team can turn its attention back to negotiating with a veteran DH such as Mike Piazza and Frank Thomas. General manager Terry Ryan had put talks on hold after offering arbitration to Jones on Dec. 7....

...The Twins' payroll stands at an estimated $57 million to $59 million (not factoring in incentive bonuses). This includes the $4 million to $4.2 million the team will have to pay arbitration-eligible pitcher Kyle Lohse next season, provided he isn't traded. The Twins will tender a contract to Lohse today, the deadline for teams to do that. Indications are that Ryan has the leeway to push the payroll to slightly over $60 million, and he said there still is room to add a player.

But the Twins could bypass trying to sign a veteran DH, considering that they signed free-agent power-hitting third baseman Tony Batista last week and most players on the market are aging and/or injury-prone. Batista, however, has not played in the majors since 2004, and Ryan said last week he wasn't finished trying to upgrade an offense that was the worst in the American League last season.

Meanwhile, A.J's got a three-year deal with the Bitch Sox. Please check out the link for a good round-up of all of the controversial calls he was involved in over the postseason. (Poor Josh Paul, who was on the wrong side of one of AJ's gambits, has been condemned to the devil. I mean the Devil Rays. Which is far worse.)