Third baseman Corey Koskie, who left the Twins for Toronto and a $17 million, three-year contract, turned down the Los Angeles Dodgers' offer of $18 million for three years. Koskie's deal with the Blue Jays includes a fourth year for $6.5 million if he achieves a certain number of at-bats.

 

Koskie was no fan of the cement like Metrodome field until its artificial turf was replaced this year. But at the SkyDome in Toronto, he'll have to endure a cement like field.

 

While in Anaheim, Calif., for baseball's winter meetings last weekend, St. Paul Saints co-owner Mike Veeck tentatively scheduled legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan for a July 29 performance at Midway Stadium. Veeck surprised officials by showing up at baseball's trade show meetings in Anaheim.

 

Wayne Terwilliger, who spent nine seasons as a Twins coach and seven as a coach for the St. Paul Saints, will turn 80 in June, when he'll manage the Fort Worth (Texas) Cats' independent minor league club. "Twig" has been diagnosed with bladder cancer, but said he's doing fine.

 

"The doctor told me I'll probably die of something else," Terwilliger said Monday from his home in Weatherford, Texas. "This probably will be my last year; it will depend on how I feel. I want to go out a winner."

 

Terwilliger, who still throws batting practice to his team, has more energy than most teenagers. His secret?

 

"Stay active," he said. "And I drink a cold beer and a small glass of wine every day. I told my doctor that and he said, 'Don't stop.' "