Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan technically hasn’t decided to have surgery to repair a torn tendon in his pitching elbow, according to the St. Paul Pioneer-Press, and the 35-year-old closer is still planning to rest and rehab with the hopes of pitching this season.

Fantasy owners are being a little more realistic. They’re looking beyond the longshot return of Nathan in the face of a gloomy prognosis, and instead, taking a look at which players on the roster could serve as adequate replacements.

Start with the hometown media, where a Pioneer-Press survey yielded a couple of frontrunners for the job. Twins fans, according to the poll, most wanted to see submariner Pat Neshek take on closing duties, with big right-hander Jon Rauch and lefty starter Francisco Liriano closely behind.

Rauch is the most obvious internal candidate to take a flier on in fantasy. He’s big, nasty and intimidating and he has a little experience closing games with the Washington Nationals. As Tom Powers of the Pioneer-Press points out, though, Rauch’s out pitch — his curveball — is a rarity amongst closers.

Neshek, on the other hand, is a less conventional ninth-inning option who, at best, should serve as part of a closer committee. Health is also a question mark as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2008 and hasn’t pitched in nearly two years. His style and stuff are similar to Oakland Athletics’ reliever Brad Ziegler, who enjoyed a nice, but brief, run as his team’s closer in ‘08.

The Nesheks and Zieglers of the world, sooner or later, almost always give way to more prototypical closers like Rauch and Andrew Bailey, who permanently displaced Ziegler in Oakland last season.

The Twins are exploring all internal candidates — including Rauch, Neshek, Jose Mijares, Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier — and evaluating trade options. All the while, Nathan’s decision — to have season-ending surgery or not — looms over the Twins and fantasy owners alike. One of the game’s best, most reliable closers is likely to be on the shelf, and with no surefire replacement ready to step in.

Until the season begins and the Twins’ bullpen shapes up in Nathan’s absence, fantasy owners are likely to have many more questions than answers. A betting man would put his chips down on Rauch for now, but with the understanding that a committee situation or trade are more likely scenarios than Rauch serving as a full-time closer.