ANGELS NOTEBOOK: ROMERO CLARIFIES QUOTE.

Byline: DOUG PADILLA Staff Writer

MINNEAPOLIS - Angels reliever J.C. Romero thought he had resolved his issues with his former team, the Minnesota Twins, but he has been putting out new fires lately.

Romero was in the Twin Cities on Tuesday for the first time since being traded to the Angels in the offseason and the mood was somewhat uncomfortable. In his last game pitched in Minnesota last season, Romero flipped the ball to Ron Gardenhire before the Twins manager even made it to the mound to change his pitcher.

On the bench, Romero made a derogatory remark toward Gardenhire and just over two months later he was dealt to the Angels for minor-league infielder Alexi Casilla.

Things seemed resolved when Gardenhire called Romero after the trade to make it known there was no resentment. That was then and this is now.

It seems that earlier this month when Romero called the Angels bullpen the best he has ever been a part of, some Twins took it as a slight.

``If that's true ... some people like to talk, but our pen is not one of them,'' Twins closer Joe Nathan told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. ''We'll be better men for it. We're still happy here.''

Romero was flabbergasted to find out how his comments were interpreted. He said he was just trying to express how happy he was in his new situation with the Angels.

``I think what I said was misinterpreted and some people took it a different way,'' said Romero, who ended the seventh inning Tuesday by retiring Joe Mauer on a fly ball. ''I don't know. I talked to the guys that have known me for a long time like Jesse Crain and Juan Rincon. I don't know who was was thinking I was (disrespecting) them.

``I'll clarify that. When you come from a good bullpen and go to another good bullpen it makes your job a lot easier and that's what I was saying. I'll keep saying the same thing.

``Yes, I was in a great bullpen (with the Twins) but I'm very pleased with my bullpen now and I'm in a great one again.''

--BUSTED: Angels minor-league pitcher Karl Gelinas was among five minor-leaguers across baseball that reportedly tested positive for taking steroids. Gelinas, who was 0-2 with a 7.59 ERA in two starts at Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, was given a 50-game suspension for a first offense.

Gelinas was 11-8 with a 3.81 ERA at Single-A Cedar Rapids last season and was 1-0 with a 1.80 in three games out of the bullpen for Triple-A Salt Lake. The 22-year-old right-hander is a native of Canada.