Three-Bagger: Johan, Gardy & Free Agent Buzz

* Determined or deluded? Whatever you want to call it, Johan Santana refuses to give up in his mission to pitch in the major leagues once again. The lefty will turn 38 next March, and hasn't thrown an MLB pitch since 2012, but is reportedly heading to Venezuela to showcase himself in winter ball, with hopes of landing a deal for 2017.

Santana signed a minor-league deal with Baltimore in 2014 and another one with Toronto in 2015, but stalled out due to continuing setbacks and bad breaks, including a torn Achilles tendon in the summer of '14. He was still trying to make his way back this year but never emerged with any club.

Pitchers who suffer multiple shoulder capsule tears, as Santana did with the Mets, have an incredibly poor prognosis as far as returning to the mound. Thus far, the two-time Cy Young winner is just another statistic. Given that he was never terribly dependent on velocity, it's conceivable he could work his way back as a crafty southpaw leaning on his signature changeup.

If the Twins take a look at him this winter and see anything they like, there would be little risk in giving him a shot on a minor-league deal. Few teams could offer a more realistic path to a rotation spot, and of course there is the familiarity factor.

* Ron Gardenhire is returning to the dugout. The Arizona Diamondbacks announced on Thursday that they were hiring the longtime Twins skipper to serve as bench coach on their reconstructed staff.

Interestingly, he will work under new D-backs manager Torey Lovullo, who was runner-up to Paul Molitor as Gardenhire's replacement in Minnesota.

A year ago, Gardy was offered the a bench coach position with the San Diego Padres after losing out to Andy Green for the top job. He declined it, and subsequently rejoined the Twins as a special assistant to general manager Terry Ryan.

But now, the 59-year-old will lend his experience in assisting Lovullo, who has been around for a while but is taking on his first gig as a full-time big-league manager.

I, personally, will be glad to see Gardenhire returning to a more visible role in the game. His quips and quotes are tough to beat.

* If the Twins are serious about trying to land free agent catcher Jason Castro, the task might have gotten a little bit easier on Thursday. His former team, the Astros, completed a trade with the Yankees to acquire Brian McCann in exchange for prospects. Houston was among the clubs reported to have interest in signing Castro.

That still leaves several others pursuing the veteran backstop. The Twins are believed to be one of them, although according to Darren Wolfson they still had not made a formal contract offer as of Wednesday.