New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins Tickets

Twins News:

The Twins have called a 4 p.m. CT press conference for today, when Brad Radke is expected to officially announce his retirement.

The announcement will end a 12-year Major League career that was spent entirely with the Twins. It is not something that is unexpected. Radke has been dealing with pain in his right shoulder over the past few seasons, and prior to the 2006 season, the right-hander had privately decided that it would be his last.

Radke went 12-9 with a 4.32 ERA in 28 starts this past year, though the he struggled through an injury at the end of the season. The 34-year-old suffered a stress fracture of the glenoid bone in his throwing shoulder in late August, but he was able to come back from the injury to make his final regular-season start and pitch in Game 3 of the ALDS against Oakland.

The right-hander was drafted by the Twins in the eighth round in 1991 out of Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit High School. Since joining the Twins' rotation in 1995, Radke has established himself as one of the best pitchers in Twins history. He became the first Twins pitcher to have 10 seasons with at least 10 victories since Jim Kaat had a string of 12 straight such seasons before being traded to White Sox in 1973. Ever the workhorse, Radke threw more than 200 innings in nine of his 12 seasons.

Even while pitching early in his career for less talented teams than the consistent contenders of recent years, Radke managed to put together a career record of 148-139 with a 4.22 ERA. Radke won 20 games in the 1997 season -- when the Twins went 68-94 -- and earned honors as an All-Star the following year.

"He's the guy you want on the mound for you in big games," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said this past season. "There's no one we'd rather see out there than Brad."

Yankees News:

During recent years, the Yankees have been a major player at the annual Winter Meetings. Whether it was the pursuit of free agents such as Johnny Damon and Carl Pavano or potential trades involving Kevin Brown or Randy Johnson, general manager Brian Cashman has had little trouble keeping himself busy.

This year, however, the Yankees have few major holes to fill on their roster, with the back end of their pitching staff and some spots on their bench representing the most pressing areas of need.

"Your roster is always fluid; whatever you do in the winter, you're going to have to adjust on the run come Spring Training and in-season," Cashman said. "You're constantly looking to be better at every position, though some positions are locked down with full no-trade [clauses] and players that you would have no interest in trading or trying to upgrade -- because you wouldn't be able to.

"There are some obvious spots on the roster where things could develop if they make sense," he added. "We'll keep an eye on it and see where it takes us."

The Yankees made headlines on Tuesday with their winning bid for Japanese left-hander Kei Igawa, who should join Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Randy Johnson and Carl Pavano in New York's starting rotation.